Memorandum on Nuclear Weapon Development in Iran

Memorandum on US Foreign Policy Regarding Nuclear Weapon Development in Iran

To: Donald Trump, President of the United States

From: Nora McQuilkin, Secretary of State

Date: 21 April 2018

Re: The Furtherance of Iran’s Nuclear Trade Deal

Introduction

The current climate of the Middle East, that of tension, conflict, and United States intervention, is met with the potential development of nuclear weapons in Iran. This must be dealt with in the most careful way possible. Leaving Iran’s nuclear capabilities unchecked is not an option: it is not only a threat to the security of the United States, but a threat to the rest of the global community. It is imperative that the United States meet this situation with continued, more stringent sanctions, and military intervention only when completely necessary, in order to prevent mass casualty and to ease tensions in the region, if possible.

Evidence

Iran does not fear its own destruction, which poses a major threat to the safety of the rest of the world. In 2009, Iran successfully launched satellites, and in March of 2016, began testing ballistic missiles. Despite previous talks regarding the development of nuclear weapons, Iran’s development and testing of ballistic missiles continues to alarm the national community. Iran has a history of agreeing to terms and later failing to cooperate, which is a sign that the current approach is not effective. As of right now, the country has complete nuclear capabilities, including uranium mining, milling, conversion, and enrichment facilities. In other words, it has basically everything it needs to create weapons of mass destruction. This in itself is alarming, there should be more stringent clauses prohibiting the procurement of materials necessary for creating these weapons. Previous sanctions placed on Iran were devastating to its economy and forced the nation to enter into agreements with the United States in order to lift the sanctions.

Implementation

As you know, the current Iran Nuclear Trade Deal does not pose stringent enough provisions to prevent the development of nuclear weapons in Iran. Mr. President, backing out of the deal all together will be detrimental to the situation in Iran, and would prove to the international community that the United States is not true to its word. This must be dealt with in a different way, and not in a way that only poses military action as standard. As it stands, the current agreement prohibits only the enrichment of uranium. The only thing that Iran lacks is the technology to complete their development of the nuclear weapons. The current deal is clearly inefficient in what it was created for and needs to be strengthened and rid of any flaws it may have. That being said, only using military force will only exacerbate the ever-present tension and conflict the United States is involved in in the Middle East. It would be beneficial to the global community to increase sanctions on Iran and stay within the deal in terms of inspections and such to prevent further development of nuclear forces. This approach was effective in the past, but considering that this predicament lingers, more stringent sanctions must be put in place, this time with lasting effects. If and only if Iran fails to comply with sanctions and/or provisions of the new deal, will the nation be met with military force. As proven in the past, with economic constraints, the nation is more willing to peacefully agree. Iran must be aware that the United States and other world powers will not take this matter lightly as the effort continues to limit the number of nuclear weapons available, and therefore threats of nuclear war, around the globe. Successful implementation will result in a safer world and a lesser threat of mass destruction.