Iran and Nuclear Weapons

slipss

This is very topical at the moment and I haven't seen it asked so I thought I would.

Do you think Iran has a right to develop nuclear weapons? Considering it's looking more and more likely America will attempt some sort of military action in the next 5 years. From an Iranian point of view they may feel that this is their only chance of ensuring America wouldn't invade them, because no nation with nuclear weapons has ever been invaded for obvious reasons.

Also if it was proven beyond doubt that Iran was close to aquiring atomic weaponry would you suport a more than likely American led invasion?

And on a broader scale do you think that any nation that deosn't already possess nuclear weapons should be permitted to develop them as a detterent to attack?

FWI the nations currently known to posses nuclear warheads are USA-9,960, Russia-16,000, The UK-200, France-350, China-400, India-50, Pakistan-48 (all estimated numbers from the Natural Resources Defense Council.) N.Korea have claimed to have nuclear weapons but haven't carried out any tests or provided any sort of proof. It is also thought to be extremely likely that Isreal have between 300 and 400 active warheads.

Nuttzz

the president of iran said israel should be wiped from the face of the earth, nuclear weapons are a good way of doing that....in an unstable region do we need nukes in on the powder keg too?

as for the yanks attacking, i think they have learnt their lesson from iraq and if they need to attack they will probably just limit it to air strikes

Manic Moran

Do they have a 'right' to develop nuclear weapons? I would think so.

'Should they be allowed to' is more determinate on who's in charge over there. So far, everyone that has them has a stated policy of no-first-use of WMDs. Iran is a little more shaky on the issue, and the thought of them with nukes is a little disconcerting, to say the least.

NTM

Binomate

Disarm all the Nukes is what I say. Americas as well. I think they have shown themselves to be quite incapable of handling the responsibility of having them. N.B.America are the ones dictation about who should have and who shouldn't have nuclear weapons yet they are the only nation in the history of mankind to have ever used a nuclear weapon in combat.*







*Not saying they're the only ones who are dictating about who should have and who shouldn't have nuclear weapons.

Hagar

The US has everyone's best interests at heart. Just be quite, accept what they say and let them [strike]ruin[/strike] run the world.

Dollar al akhbar.

I'd be happier if Iran didn't have nuclear weapons.

If they have a "right" to them isn't the issue.

If they can't be stopped from building them, they will. The question is, can they be stopped.

Sam Vimes

tbh i don't think they should be allowed have them. i know there's the sovereign country bullcrap but if the UN tells you you can't do something then you don't do it*. they're not even saying they want nuclear weapons, they're saying they want to make power plants. they clearly have no need for nuclear power plants so the fact that they're lying about their motives is reason enough not to let them have them.


heard something on the news a while ago that i thought was funny. the iranian president said that if iran was referred to the security council he'd start refining uranium again. funny cos it was such a retarded statement. as if he's going to give it all up and apologise if he's not referred



*unless you happen to be america

Rb

I agree with Binomate, disarm the lot. Starting with America and Russia's stash.

funky penguin

Nuclear Weapons are dangerous.

AngryBadger

Commander Vimes wrote:

tbh i don't think they should be allowed have them. i know there's the sovereign country bullcrap but if the UN tells you you can't do something then you don't do it*. they're not even saying they want nuclear weapons, they're saying they want to make power plants. they clearly have no need for nuclear power plants so the fact that they're lying about their motives is reason enough not to let them have them.


heard something on the news a while ago that i thought was funny. the iranian president said that if iran was referred to the security council he'd start refining uranium again. funny cos it was such a retarded statement. as if he's going to give it all up and apologise if he's not referred



*unless you happen to be america

Yep, couldn't have said it better.

Nuttzz

Nuttzz wrote:

the president of iran said israel should be wiped from the face of the earth, nuclear weapons are a good way of doing that....in an unstable region do we need nukes in on the powder keg too?

That would be my concern too. I mean, Iran developing nuclear weapons is a serious matter. Doing so after making a very threatening and belligerent comment makes it worse. They should be stopped, forcibly if possible, but the lessons of Iran may cause the US to think twice. And while I may not like what the US have done in the Middle East, I'd much rather see a country like that control the nuclear race, rather than some tinpot fundamentalist country hell bent on nuking Israel.

Endurance Man

America is the only nuclear weapon the world should be worried about .

Hagar

The USA is the only country to have ever used nukes in anger.
Whatever about dropping the first one, I cannot believe any civilized nation could do it twice.

Setun

slipss wrote:

FWI the nations currently known to posses nuclear warheads are USA-9,960, Russia-16,000, The UK-200, France-350, China-400, India-50, Pakistan-48 (all estimated numbers from the Natural Resources Defense Council.) N.Korea have claimed to have nuclear weapons but haven't carried out any tests or provided any sort of proof. It is also thought to be extremely likely that Isreal have between 300 and 400 active warheads.

That bit there scared the bejesus out of me. It seems that a nuclear war is almost inevitable barring a miracle of some sort. The U.S will no doubt be a prime target as they consistenly manage to piss off other countries. No doubt they will be backed against the wishes of the nation by a worried UK government, then setting the Irish gov uneasy. :eek: I'm overreacting right?

YeatsCounty

Daddio wrote:

That bit there scared the bejesus out of me. It seems that a nuclear war is almost inevitable barring a miracle of some sort. The U.S will no doubt be a prime target as they consistenly manage to piss off other countries. No doubt they will be backed against the wishes of the nation by a worried UK government, then setting the Irish gov uneasy. :eek: I'm overreacting right?

I do worry that we will see a nuclear conflict sometime but I reckon that they would be used in a regional war (eg: India and Pakistan - not saying they would actually use nukes against each other, just using them as an example). Hopefully cool head would prevail in such a conflict and none of the other nuclear powers would be targeted.

Of course, another scenario is like that of WW1. This would see a regional nuclear (or even conventional) war escalate into a global war due to defence pacts between nations. And of coursem we could have a war that starts between the NATO powers and China and/or Russia. That would be the worst case scenario for all concerned.

As for Iran, the do have a right to own nuclear weapons. As stated already in this thread, the question is should they be allowed to own nuclear missiles? I don't think a nation led by someone as outspoken about the destruction of a neighbouring country should possess such weaponry. President Ahmadinejad's rhetoric worries me. President Ahmadinejad with nuclear weapons at his disposal scares me.

netwhizkid

Look at it from an Iranian viewpoint. There is a foreign aggressor hell bent on obtaining oil and control at all costs, on their door step. Nuclear weapons would be seen as a preventive measure for the Iranian defense. Then there is Israel the enemy of the entire Middle East, committing genocide and mass murder against Arabs seen as "brothers" to Iran. Nuclear Weapons could a be used to to exert leverage on Israel (without actually using them) and for protection from the USA. I can see two possibilities, here either the Americans will invade Iran from Iraq leaving Iraq very weak and it sliding into Civil war, the Iranian army will then fight the Americans in Iran possibly shoving them back into Iraq and then nuking Baghdad where the Americans would no doubt retreat to. Israel will also get nuked in the middle of this, similar to how Saddam fired scuds at them in the 1990's. It could very easily lead to a global nuclear world war. I could see Russia and China along with Pakistan forming an Alliance and them nuking:- Japan, Israel, Europe and the USA. I fear the cold war is almost about to start all over again.