Iran's Nuclear Program Never Existed
New America Media, News Analysis, William O. Beeman, Posted: Dec 05, 2007
Editor’s note: The recently released National Intelligence Estimate says Iran had “suspended its nuclear weapon program.” But Iran’s purported nuclear weapons program never existed, writes NAM contributing editor William O. Beeman. Beeman is professor and chair of the department of anthropology at the University of Minnesota and author of “The ‘Great Satan’ vs. the ‘Mad Mullahs’: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other.”
Iran has never had a proven nuclear weapons program. Ever. This inconvenient fact stands as an indictment of the Bush administration’s stance on Iran.
The recently released 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that Iran “suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003” caught the Bush administration flat-footed. In his panic, Bush grasped desperately at the idea that the weapons program may have once existed. However, the report does not offer a scintilla of evidence that the weapons program was ever an established fact.
Designating 2003 as the date that Iran “stopped” its program is telling: this is the year the Bush administration first decided to create a case for attacking Iran based on the purported danger of its nuclear program.
In February 2003, the U.S. government-designated terrorist group Mujahedin-e Khalq, better known as the MEK (or MKO) “revealed” the existence of Iran’s nuclear facilities to Washington. The MEK, which had been purged from Iran during the period following the 1979 revolution, took up residence in Iraq under the protection of Saddam Hussein. The MEK, sometimes identified as an “Islamic Marxist” organization, is dedicated to the overthrow of the current Iranian government. It has been assiduous in courting American lawmakers to recruit U.S. support for its cause. Legislators such as Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and Florida Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have championed this cause, and neoconservatives Patrick Clawson and Daniel Pipes lobbied for its removal from the U.S. list of terrorist organizations in order to use the MEK in the Bush White House drive for regime change in Iran.
Subsequently, the Bush administration claimed that Iran had “concealed” its weapons program for decades, and began a campaign to shut down all nuclear development.
In fact, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) grants all nations the “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear development. Further, it does not require any nation to report its facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) until fissile material, such as uranium, is actually introduced into the facility.
Iran did indeed have a brief reporting lapse. It revealed the start of its nuclear enrichment experiments at the time they began, rather than announcing this to the IAEA 180 days before experimentation as was required. This was in 2003, and it was the only serious breech of protocol.
The National Intelligence Estimate now identifies 2003 as the date when the weapons program stopped — literally at the point when the Bush administration first became aware of it.
2003 was two years before the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was more than a year before the United States began to lobby for U.N. economic sanctions against Iran. Claiming that “international pressure” had caused Iran to modify its behavior, the Bush administration tried desperately to justify its exaggerated characterizations of the danger Iran posed to the world. The only event that the Bush administration can now claim as constituting “international pressure” is the May 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
If the international community understands that Iran never had a weapons program, President George W. Bush’s statement that Iran could start the program up “again” is clearly absurd.
It is now clear that the Bush administration’s campaign to convince the world of the danger of Iran’s purported immanent nuclear weapons was a sham. The campaign was one in a series of public pretexts to effect regime change in the Islamic Republic. No amount of equivocation, or bluster about Iran’s “continuing” danger can mask the fact that American credibility on this issue has been irrevocably damaged.
The only positive outcome of this debacle may be that the Bush administration may finally accept that differences with Iran can only be solved by actually talking to the leaders of the Islamic Republic. Restoration of diplomatic relations, even at a low level, will begin the process of reducing the hostile atmosphere that has been created, and will start the long, slow process toward the restoration of productive and peaceful relations.
Related Articles
International Affairs
William O. Beeman's stories
Middle Eastern stories
Page
1 of 1
|
User Comments
Ellie Ommani on Dec 13, 2007 at 19:06:27 said:
Dear Professor Beeman,
I was delighted to read your excellent article appearing in New America Media: "Iran's Nuclear Program Never Existed". While those of us with an eye for detail, unlike the absurd President G.W. Bush & Co., reacted to the NIE report with understandable disdain for the inconsistencies and falsifications about Iran's so-called 'nuclear weapons' program before 2003, your points about MEK, Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran's right under the NPT to enrich uranium, etc. were 100% on target!
Some of the ridiculous comments below your article were laughable and pathetic, given that only one of the complainers had anything creative or worthwhile to share with the readers. Happily, scholars like yourself, will not allow stupidity to reign, and I hope you continue with your in-depth analysis to write the truth and expose the liars!
Ingemar Smith on Dec 11, 2007 at 23:25:40 said:
I'm disappointed to hear comments like 'defense of the Iranian government'. What does the gov't need defense from?
Not all but most everyone in this comment thread has lost all sight of reality.
Accusations from the empire? The int'l foreign policy seems to be 'what we say goes'. As childish and crazy as that sounds, most people (who of course think themselves rational and sound) seem to believe it wholeheartedly.
The Iranian gov'ts supposed need for defense from charges of nuclear aspirations is but a reflection of Western insanity, mass delusion and exceptionalism.
Parsing words about when any alleged nuclear program started or stopped totally and so f/king obviously misses the entire point.
The USA is an aggressive, militant nation constantly looking for new and creative ways to convince people that its destruction is justified.
Who is invading, attacking, displacing and killing? Hint-it's not Iran.
Majid on Dec 09, 2007 at 07:44:41 said:
Mr. Beeman your information about MEK doesn’t go beyond what Iranian intelligent service propaganda machine want us to know. I expect more from you than recycling misinformation.
Pooya on Dec 07, 2007 at 10:07:03 said:
Apparently Professor Beeman has firsthand knowledge of what is going on in Iran and by the Iranian regime that no one else does. It is obvious that he has cozy relations with the Iranian rulers and will not hesitate to go to any lengths to defend them. Did any one in NAM ask him for supporting documents for what he wrote? After all he is an academic and knows that he needs to support his writings with proofs. BTW, the existence of Iran's nuclear program was revealed by the MeK in 2002, not 2003.
John Gage on Dec 06, 2007 at 13:28:08 said:
Did any editor at New America Media push William O. Beeman at all when he wrote this defense of the Iranian government?
Maybe he's right, though it's never clear how he knows that "Iran has never had a nuclear weapons program. Ever." If I were a NAM editor I'd ask him why the New York Times wrote the following in an editorial just a few days ago:
"Anyone who wants to give the Iranians the full benefit of the doubt should read the last four years of reports from United Nations’ nuclear inspectors about Iran’s 18-year history of hiding and dissembling. Or last month’s report, which criticized Tehran for providing “diminishing” information and access to its current program." That's a far cry from Beeman's description of Iran's "brief reporting lapse."
Or how about these comments by two writers in a recent NYT op-ed?
"During the past year, a period when Iran’s weapons program was supposedly halted, the government has been busy installing some 3,000 gas centrifuges at its plant at Natanz. These machines could, if operated continuously for about a year, create enough enriched uranium to provide fuel for a bomb. In addition, they have no plausible purpose in Iran’s civilian nuclear effort. All of Iran’s needs for enriched uranium for its energy programs are covered by a contract with Russia."
"Iran is also building a heavy water reactor at its research center at Arak. This reactor is ideal for producing plutonium for nuclear bombs, but is of little use in an energy program like Iran’s, which does not use plutonium for reactor fuel. India, Israel and Pakistan have all built similar reactors — all with the purpose of fueling nuclear weapons."
The writers also ask, "why is Iran developing long-range Shahab missiles, which make no military sense without nuclear warheads to put on them?"
Perhaps Mr. Beeman has good answers for all of these questions. A little more detail and less anti-Bush rhetoric would do his article good. But since the steps necessary for a both a nuclear power program and a nuclear weapons program are the same until a late stage, I wonder: will William Beeman only admit that Iran has a nuclear weapons program when or if they actually assemble a bomb? That Iran is disguising a nuke program in civilian clothing is the fear of many in the world today, especially with Iran's kooky annihilationist rhetoric -- a rhetoric and stance every bit as aggressive as that of our lousy, dangerous president, George W. Bush.
kian kiani on Dec 06, 2007 at 10:45:33 said:
As a native-born Iranian, I would like to suggest that there is no need to attack Iran militarily if the Bush administration pays attention to those who know the situation and use the awesome power of publicity instead of the military.
Millions of dollars are spent in Persian Service of Voice of America but the end result is nothing but scandalous way of management and programming.
It is hard to believe but the Persian Service which supposed to be an organization to convey the policy of the U.S. has become a free platform for a hardline terrorist group of communists, crooks and agitators who attacked the United Sates!
I have the documents in writings to prove that these were done with the full knowledge of the management. I used to work there and as I said before, I have all the documents in writings.
The manager is a woman called Sheila Gandji who cannot read and write Persian. Therefore, in order to hide this shortcoming from the higher management, she has hired eighty something man called Kambiz Mahmoudi who has a lengthy background as crook and charlatanism.
He, Kambiz Mahmoudi, who was working in Radio Nejat which was operating by the CIA out of Cairo Egypt in mid 80’s was fired from his job because of embezzlement of money. The CIA discovered the stealing and fired him. But this was not his only felony. In the last weeks of Shah’s reign, Mahmoudi received an assignment: To pay the American news media for promoting the support for Shah. Mahmoudi received $ 840,000 for that purpose. Few days later however, The regime collapsed and Mahmoudi kept the money for himself.
Please don’t think that this is a personal vendetta.
Let me quote you a view from another news media: "The Iran Steering group concluded that much of the anti-American perspective that is broadcast is the result of decisions made by station managers in Washington, D.C. and Prague. Sheila Gandji, the manager of Persian service has faced sharp criticism, particularly for her decision to stop VOA's shortwave radio program in July 2006 in order to focus on television broadcasts, which are more susceptible to censorship, since the government regularly confiscates satellites dishes in order to prevent the infiltration of foreign broadcasts."
The bizarre situation at the Persian Service of Voice of America caused the Republican Senator Coburn to write a long letter to President Bush about the fiasco there.
It is only in America where the government pays to be insulted.
As of today however, these corrupt personnel are still working and receiving the hefty salary and benefits out our tax money.
Ka Wah Chan on Dec 05, 2007 at 11:38:29 said:
Too bad US President George W. Bush never had any Advanced Calculus, Matrix, and Nuclear Physics before but a bottle of Whisky. For Bush's observation to Nuke is just a frog in a well; it is very interesting to see after President Richard M. Nixon years, Iran has so many Iranian nuclear physicists in their country either the Gulf states of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) offer Iran Uranium to share the Nuke physics knowledge to other Arabs.
Dr Coles on Dec 05, 2007 at 11:24:50 said:
Lets not lose sight. \"Intelligence\" is NOT fact it is a \"guess\" which in history has been wrong; and did it cost us, just look at WWII, Perl Harbor, just one example. Islamic Fascism declared war against the U.S. and all non-Islamic nations. The truth is the truth. Further, deception is a tenet of their religion to non-believers. Why would any free human want to suppress this? InteliOrg
-->