This video gives a really good overview of the history and issues concerning Iran's nuclear program. As a result, I thought that this would be a good video to start the blog with to give everyone some background information. I was interested to hear that the leader of Iran stopped the nuclear program but restarted it after the Iran/Iraq war in which Saddam Hussein attacked the people of Iran with chemical weapons. This attack as well as the Iran/Iraq war connects to class because it was something that we discussed in depth and the video showed how it was related to Iran's nuclear program. One of the best things about the video is the part where it depicts how uranium is changed to be used for weapons which is something I did not previously understand. A major theme or issue that is involved with Iran's nuclear program is the fact that no one knows for sure if Iran is indeed using it's nuclear program to build weapons. I believe that it is definitely a possibility considering they said they were not building weapons in the past and then an underground facility that was capable of making weapons was discovered. Also, it is suspicious that Iran will not allow the IAEA to go to all of their facilities and test for anything they would like. I think that it is very important to take into consideration this situation from the Iranians perspective. Iranians could feel that the IAEA just wants to come into their facilities and start testing whatever they want and going to any facility they feel like to look for things that may not exist. When considering the situation from their perspective it seems justified to not allow the IAEA to go and do what they want to.
I think this was a great way to start off our blog Moira. As I was watching the video, I was attempting to view the situation from both Iran's point of view and the United States' point of view. Although I can see how Iran feels it is unjustified to allow other countries access to their facilities, I feel that the United States has plenty of justification to be suspicious and to be aware of what is going on in Iran's nuclear power program. Iran has instilled several years of distrust in not only the United States, but also in other nations all around the world, including our allies. The man being interviewed even quoted President Obama by saying "All possibilities are on the table" when asked what would happen if someone were to attack Iran. Iran says their nuclear program is peaceful, but they make comments like the one previously stated and they hide facilities that are capable of making nuclear weaponry and do not allow access to inspect these locations when they are discovered. A nation that is under heavy sanctions and economic distress should be more than willing to prove that their program is a peaceful one in order to make a deal with other nations, in my opinion. The man being interviewed says full transparency would be given if the United States was willing to move forward. I feel that Iran should give full transparency in order to obtain what they want. They are not in a situation where they can be acting suspiciously toward the world. If they want the sanctions to be lifted and to continue on the path toward peaceful nuclear energy, I think they should be more cooperative with the United States.
I think this was a great way to start off our blog Moira. As I was watching the video, I was attempting to view the situation from both Iran's point of view and the United States' point of view. Although I can see how Iran feels it is unjustified to allow other countries access to their facilities, I feel that the United States has plenty of justification to be suspicious and to be aware of what is going on in Iran's nuclear power program. Iran has instilled several years of distrust in not only the United States, but also in other nations all around the world, including our allies. The man being interviewed even quoted President Obama by saying "All possibilities are on the table" when asked what would happen if someone were to attack Iran. Iran says their nuclear program is peaceful, but they make comments like the one previously stated and they hide facilities that are capable of making nuclear weaponry and do not allow access to inspect these locations when they are discovered. A nation that is under heavy sanctions and economic distress should be more than willing to prove that their program is a peaceful one in order to make a deal with other nations, in my opinion. The man being interviewed says full transparency would be given if the United States was willing to move forward. I feel that Iran should give full transparency in order to obtain what they want. They are not in a situation where they can be acting suspiciously toward the world. If they want the sanctions to be lifted and to continue on the path toward peaceful nuclear energy, I think they should be more cooperative with the United States.
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