A New Cold War?

The British foreign secretary William Hague has commented on the growing concern over Iran’s nuclear program. He said that “If Iran built an atomic bomb, it could trigger the most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented.” Although the statement is probably exaggerated, as the proliferation immediately following WWII involved the two remaining super powers and was far more serious. It is still very dangerous, if Iran gets nuclear weapons then Saudi Arabia will likely also want to get them and may look to Pakistan for help and Egypt may also attempt to get them, but due to the current political turbulence in Egypt it will be unlikely for the foreseeable future. Syria has, in the past at least, attempted to get nuclear weapons, Iran is a close ally of Syria and would likely share the information they have. Although, like Egypt, the current turbulence in Syria would hinder any attempts.

Currently Israel is the only nation to have nuclear weapons in the Middle East and if Iran were to get nuclear weapons it could trigger the first use of nuclear weapons since WWII, this would devastate the world.

What the West needs to do is to try and stop Iran peacefully; a physical attack could infuriate the Iranian authorities and make a retaliatory attack more likely. Economic and other such sanctions are what the West must continue to do. Anything Iranian must be banned from entering Western markets and the West needs to encourage other countries to do the same. If this causes the economy of Iran to collapse it would mean that the nuclear program would be forced to shut down, countries with uranium should keep track of where their exports of the substance go. A physical attack on Iran would also have serious logistical issues as the location of where Iran is developing the bombs is heavily fortified and underground. A simple air attack would prove impossible; it would have to be a ground attack. This would be near impossible.

With the Cold War between west and east over for twenty years I hope that Iran won’t push us into another bitter Cold War. Hopefully outside pressures from all sides will dissuade a serious arms race, but with Iran being a complete rogue nation, nobody knows what the outcome will be.

William Hague's comment has heated up the debate on  Iran's nuclear program