Generally speaking, ours is an era during which major world powers are found in a political equilibrium that contributed largely to world-wide relative peace, stability and the accompa-nying orientation of multi-polarization. Since the end of the Cold War various regional political issues and crises have captured major concerns of the international community in the place of conflicts between the previous superpowers and their respective blocs. High on the list of major regional security issues lies the nuclear issue of Iran, which is not merely crucial to Iran‘s na-tional security and the regional geopolitical situ-ation, but it could also pose significant repercus-sions on the world‘s peace and stability, offering the major world powers a stage to exercise their influence to establish a new political order of the region in their own favor.
The nuclear issue of Iran literally refers to the nuclear program of the country, a program, con-sisting of several research sites, a uranium mine, a nuclear reactor, and uranium processing facili-ties that include a uranium enrichment plant, alleged to develop nuclear energy for civilian use, as well as western countries‘ allegations of Iran‘s ambition to possess nuclear weapons and other forms of weapons of mass destruction. The nuclear program itself dates back to the 1950s during the rule of the Pahlavi Dynasty, when it was originally launched with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for peace program. In 1979, the Islamic revolution toppled the rule of the Shah and rendered the once relia-ble relations between Iran and the western bloc more vulnerable. The newly founded Iranian government temporarily halted the ongoing nuc-lear program and revived it with less western aid than the pre-revolution era. Iranian authorities deny seeking a nuclear wea-pons capacity to deter anyone, claiming that their level of social and technological progress can by no means match that of existing nuclear weapons states. To alleviate concerns that its peaceful nuclear program could be diverted for military use, Iran offered to strengthen its coop-eration with the International Atomic Energy Institute (IAEA) and the international communi-ty, opening its uranium enrichment program to foreign participation and introducing more addi-tional restrictions on its general nuclear program.
Today, Iran insists that it has the right to use nuclear technology peacefully and says it is not running a program to develop nuclear weapons. Regardless, the international community is very concerned about Iran‘s armament program and radical statements about hostile intentions made by government officials, putting pressure on the UN and its SC to impose political and economic sanctions on the Iranian authorities.
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