GREAT BRITAIN’S FOREIGN POLICY AND IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Abstract
The United States has been keeping a keen watch on Iran’s nuclear research since the beginning of the 1990s. In so doing, Washing-ton is claiming that under the cover of a national peaceful nuclear energy program, Tehran is steadily moving toward creating its own arsenal of nuclear weapons. As early as 1996, in response to the growing suspicions about the existence of such a program in Iran, U.S. Congress adopted the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act which envisages the introduction of harsh measures against foreign companies investing more than 20 million dollars in Iran’s energy sector. But after the terrorist attack on the United States in September 2001 and Iran’s blacklisting as a country sponsoring terrorism, the White House toughened up its policy against Tehran even more, striving to put a complete stop to research under its nuclear program. In this respect, based on the fact that Great Britain is the U.S.’s key ally in its global policy, it is expedient to take a look at official London’s foreign policy approaches both toward Tehran’s nuclear program and toward Iran on the whole.
Downloads
References
See: Iran’s Nuclear Program: Recent Developments, Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress,2 March, 2004.
See: A. Ommani, “U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Iran and Iran’s Nuclear Program,” American-Iranian Friendship Committee, 20 June, 2005 [www.swans.com]; A. Koch, J. Wolf, Iran’s Nuclear Facilities: a Profile, Center for Nonpro-liferation Studies, 1998; “Iran’s Nuclear Program” [http://irans-nuclear-program.brainsip.com].
See: “Iran Denies It’s Building Nuclear Bomb,” Associated Press, 7 August, 2003; Statement by Mr. G. Ali Khoshroo, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Second Session of the Prepcom for the 2005 NPT Review Conference, 29 April, 2003.
See: J. Rynhold, “British Policy Toward the Middle East,” BESA Perspectives, No. 11, 7 November, 2005 [www.biu.ac.il].
Ibidem.
See: “Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament, Iran and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” July 2003, CND Brief-ing, London [www.cnduk.org].
See: “Straw Reiterates U.K. Disagreement with U.S. Policy toward Iran,” Payvand’s Iran News, 9 September, 2003 [www.payvand.com/news/03/sep/1048.html].
See: News, 17 June, 2003 [www.lenta.ru].
See: “U.K. Denies Divided Policy on Iran,” IRNA, 18 September, 2003 [www.globalsecurity.org].
P. Schwarz, “Europe Alarmed by U.S. Threats against Iran,” 25 January, 2005, World Socialist Web Site [www.wsws.org].
See: “Robin Cook: So where are the Weapons?” El Pais (Spain), 6 June, 2003 [http://www.inosmi.ru/print/
html].
BBC News, 25 January, 2006.
See: “U.S.: British Foreign Secretary Says U.S. Committed To Diplomatic Approach Toward Iran,” Radio Free Europe Liberty, 25 January, 2005 [www.rferl.org].
See: “The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom,” Press Release, 13 December, 2005 [www.ncr-iran.org].
See: “Iran: UK Parliamentarians, Jurists Call for De-proscription of PMOI,” 31 January, 2006 [www.ncr-iran.org].
See: Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization. Country Report on Terrorism. United States Department of State, April 2005.
“Blair’s New Tune on Iran,” Iran Focus, 22 October, 2005 [www.iranfocus.com].
This article was submitted to the editorial board at the end of February 2006.
See: “Iran Nuclear Crisis Sent to Security Council,” The Guardian, 1 February, 2006.
See: “Crude Calculation: Why Oil-Rich Iran Believes the West Will Yield to Nuclear Brinkmanship,” Financial Times, 2 February, 2006.
See: “Putin’s Plan for Conflict with Iran,” The Jerusalem Post, 31 January, 2006 [www.jpost.com].
See: Iran’s Nuclear Program: Recent Developments, Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress,
November, 2005.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2006 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.