Why, all of a sudden, is the US making a deal with Iran regarding nuclear weapons?

[Chingling]

I will say right now that I do not know much about the issue and am looking for some knowledge. Recently in the news, I have seen a lot in regards to a deal the US is making that would allow Iran to gain nuclear weapons. This is all that I understand at this point, and the fact that some see it as dangerous to America. What I do not understand is why this is happening now? What events have occurred that have led up to this point?

 

[JPB_003]

I can't give you the specific details as I am not educated on the subject enough for them. From what I understand, Obama is trying to play two games at once. One with Israel, and one with Iran. A lot of conspiracy theories can come about what the real motives are, but I think it is all political posturing, and a way to "slap Israel". It is a tragedy if the latter is true.

 

[wahmed]

Obamas putting his fingers in too many Pies and all he's going to end up with is sticky fingers. He's heading towards making lots of enemies

 

[zenfive]

I think it is also to do with oil, although Iran isn't as big of a player as other major oil exporting countries, they could be wanting to ease tensions between the West (not just the US) and Iran so as to diversify their oil sources. This would decrease Europe's reliance on Russia for example, considering they have such a big influence on the energy sector there. And perhaps even on SA, while they can't completely stop getting oil from them, perhaps they are trying to slightly reduce their reliance.

 

[thomas pendrake]

There have been negotiations going on with Iran for a number of years with regards to their Nuclear Energy program. Iran has long been a major world power, and they want the right to pursue a peaceful Nuclear power program. I am sure that there are some people in Iran who would like some balance to the 200+ Nuclear weapons long possessed by Israel. The Iranians are not Arabs, and have no historical reason to hate Jews.

The current agreement insures that Iran will not pursue a Nuclear weapon program for at least 15 years. The power of the Ayatollahs continues to fade, and most Iranians want it that way. Iran was a major Ally of the U.S. and a stabilizing force in the Mideast only a few years ago. The people of Iran would like to see those days again, just without being a puppet state. For over 100 years the relationship between Persia/Iran and the U.S. has been on a seesaw. The current agreement offers the hope of a well balanced relationship that can be a stabilizing influence in the Mideast. If Israel ever finds a true leader, negotiations between the two states could bring peace to the region. Of course, the fact that Iran is Shiite presents problems because of the feud between the two primary branches of Islam that has existed since the death of Mohammed. Christians (and Jews) tend to have much better relations with the Sunni branch. Many Christian shrines, particularly those devoted to Mother Mary , are very popular with Sunni Muslims. Islamic veneration of Mary, especially among Sunnis, rivals that of Roman Catholics. The shrine at Fatima is one of the most visited holy shrines by Muslims.I have known Sunnis from Lebanon who are of the opinion that Sunni Islam is part of Christianity.

 

[vegito12]

It is probably for it's own means and also, they are playing a power game and just using them as long as it suits them and also it will only work as long as it profits for them. It will be interesting to see what happens later on, and also it will be shown how the contract works and how many years it goes for and what will happen between the two countries. I hope, misnderstandings don't occur as this could ruin the relation between the two countries.

 

[drc65]

I can't give you the specific details as I am not educated on the subject enough for them. From what I understand, Obama is trying to play two games at once. One with Israel, and one with Iran. A lot of conspiracy theories can come about what the real motives are, but I think it is all political posturing, and a way to "slap Israel". It is a tragedy if the latter is true.

This is very true. I think there never are any real motives, no one really has any idea what is going with so many different influences. Apparently that is what several top level government employees have revealed in private conversations, that it's all a mess really, there is no 'illuminati' with it's own agenda. Regarding Iran I would assume this is a matter of maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship, a form of appeasement.

 

[TinVanMan]

One important thing to understand is this is not something that happened all of a sudden. This has been an ongoing debate for years, decades even. And the idea is not exactly that we are telling them it's fine to have nuclear weapons. We are giving them the power to work with nuclear power, which of course means developing weapons. I struggle to see how exactly many countries that have nuclear capabilities can tell others they cannot have them without revising their own policies. We are not really giving them anything. We are just going to stop threatening them for doing what they are doing.

 

[pwarbi]

I have to admit, having a brief look at this deal that's been made, the main impression I get is that Iran were doing it anyway, whether countries, in particular the US liked it or not.

All this deal does is say to Iran, OK, you can keep doing what yuor doing, we'll not back down but just say that we think its fine now because we trust you, but please don't make any nuclear weapons for a few year. And Iran have said OK, well keep doing what were doing, thanks for trusting us, and as for the weapons, well of course we won't make any more for a few years.

There might be nothing to stop them using the ones they have already made though, because I have no doubt they have a stock pile somewhere.

 

[thomas pendrake]

Working with nuclear power is not the same thing as making nuclear weapons. Yes, some types of reactors (e.g. Plutonium breeder reactors) are mostly for creating weapon materials, and U235 is also well suited for weapons. Thorium breeder reactors are not well suited for weapon use as they produce U233, which can be used for weapons, but no one in their right mind will build bombs out of U233 except in a dire emergency.

There have been numerous suggestions that Iran should be encouraged to develop Thorium reactors. The reactors are more complicated to set up, the U233 produced is difficult to handle because U232 is also produced, and U232 is a powerful gamma emitter. The presence of U232 is the reason U233 is so unsuitable for use in bombs since the gamma rays require an enormous amount of shielding or people who are willing to die. When used in reactors, the shielding is easy to accomplish, but bombs many times the size and weight of the first nukes the U.S. used in WWII are just not very practical. We have 150 mm cannon shells with an explosive equivalence of 5 tons of TNT, and these can be safely handled by G.I.s, but this could not be done with U233. The shell would have to weigh many tons, or be carried in shielding of that weight. I also suspect that U233 would not be usable in bombs that small, which I suspect require Plutonium. If anyone knows the answer to that I would be curious.

 

[TommyVercetti]

Not a chance. This is something I'm actually quite confident about. Regarding nuclear weapons proliferation of other nations, the US will always categorically say NO, whatever the outcome will be. Policies have changed dramatically since the 1970's and Israel. The US cannot afford to allow any form of nuclear weapons to be made by any country, whether ally or foe.

 

[User911]

Well, with this "deal" BO has managed to anger all our (former) allies and cater to our enemies. I try to put myself in the shoes of our allies and look at it from their point of view. How would you feel if your friend betrayed you? Not too happy, I think. At it's best, the middle east is always a powder keg and removing our "protective hand" from the sunnis is probably going to flair up problems between the shiites and the sunnis. This is not good, especially in this region.

To summarize, it's a big mess and it was facilitated by BO. The fact that he is trying to circumvent our Congress and act like a dictator to do this, is even more disgusting, disrespectful of our nation and profoundly arrogant. I cannot WAIT until we get a new administration and I fervently hope that we are able to get back to that shining city on a hill.

 

[thomas pendrake]

Well, with this "deal" BO has managed to anger all our (former) allies and cater to our enemies. I try to put myself in the shoes of our allies and look at it from their point of view. How would you feel if your friend betrayed you? Not too happy, I think. At it's best, the middle east is always a powder keg and removing our "protective hand" from the sunnis is probably going to flair up problems between the shiites and the sunnis. This is not good, especially in this region.

To summarize, it's a big mess and it was facilitated by BO. The fact that he is trying to circumvent our Congress and act like a dictator to do this, is even more disgusting, disrespectful of our nation and profoundly arrogant. I cannot WAIT until we get a new administration and I fervently hope that we are able to get back to that shining city on a hill.

So, who were the other nations that helped formulate this plan? U.K., France, Germany, plus Russia and China , known as P5+1, the other being the U.S.. And don't forget that Iran has long been a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty. The nuclear program they are pursuing is based on the program initially started with U.S. blessings under the Shah, and closed down by the Ayatollah because of his anti-science bias. They have tried to re-establish the program we initially designed for them. Yes, Israel wants to destroy them, and Arab nations distrust them since they are not Arabs. This program will make it impossible for them to develop nuclear weapons, and they can easily become a major force for peaceful use of nuclear energy. It is unfortunate that they do not have major supplies of Thorium.
Sunnis and Shiites have been adversaries since the death of Mohammed. Only Jesus can end the hate between these two branches of Islam (how ironic to use that name for the religion)

 

[xTinx]

They say it's all because of Israel. I personally think the US isn't really negotiating in behalf of Israel but rather for itself. The federal government has had a beef with Iran for a long time now. Perhaps there's insider report of a truly dangerous nuclear program and the US isn't comfortable with the idea of putting up with it.

 

[TommyVercetti]

A deal is better than just outright letting them proceed on their own, as it can give way to possible negotiations for regulations. The US does not want any nation to develop their nuclear program- that's the bottom line; but recently Iran's interest and capability in producing nuclear facilities cannot be ignored or thwarted anymore.