Eight ways you’re wrong about the Iranian nuclear program

The January-February issue of the prestigious US journal The National Interest carries an article by

Yousaf Butt, a nuclear physicist who serves as a scientific consultant for the Federation of American Scientists, entitled Eight Ways You’re Wrong About Iran’s Nuclear Program.

The eight “memes” rebutted by Butt are:

1.       “If the world powers fail to reach a deal with Tehran the alternative is bombing.”

2.       “Sanctions forced Iran to the table and extracted concessions from Iran.”

3.       “Iran has dragged out negotiations unnecessarily - the West sees the nuclear issue as an urgent matter and desperately wants to resolve it but is frustrated by Tehran's foot-dragging”

4.       “The P5+1 is extra-tough on Iran because Iran signed the NPT, whereas other nations like Pakistan, India, and Israel did not, and so it's okay to tolerate nuclear weapons in the latter states and even help them with nuclear know-how and technology.”

5.       “Iran is in violation of its NPT obligations.”

6.       “There is no right to enrich uranium in the NPT”

7.       “If a country acquires a nuclear-weapons capability, that nation is intending to acquire nuclear weapons.”

8.       “Iran has been deceptive in the past so we cannot trust them.”

       To read Butt’s analysis online see Eight Ways You’re Wrong About Iran’s Nuclear Program.