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Originally Posted by sabang  More brinkmanship? We'll see.
Iran is serious about getting nuclear energy, and serious about having it's own enrichment capacity to do so. It has become an issue of national pride. The UN proposal to build reactors but import fuel rods is akin to building massive oil refineries- but relying on hostile outsiders for the crude oil to supply them. Their current situation of having massive crude oil reserves- but only being able to refine a fraction of them for domestic energy, thanks to Western sanctions- understandably chafes at them.
My Guess is that the message Iran is sending is that more UN sanctions could also mean no more IAEA co-operation in Iran. International sanctions are hurting Iran economically, quite significantly. One to keep an eye on- Personally, I'd much rather have the IAEA in Iran and observing proceedings than not.
Frankly, an Iran with nuclear power generation does not bother me one bit. An Iran with nukes bothers me somewhat, but not unduly if they are a signatory to the IAEA. Such 'evidence' as has been presented that they are going along this road has inevitably been full of holes and often trumped up, when I have looked at it a bit closer. A common one is presenting research that was carried out several years ago- when Iran was researching nuclear weapons- as evidence that they are doing so currently. |
Nuclear weapons in the hands of religious extremists who have publicly declared their wish to eradicate their neighbor, who also believe their own deaths would bring them glory and virgins in paradise. Hmmm that scares me a little.