-Interaction and trust, resisting the nuclear temptation, Fair US policy the key

The visit to Iran by the first team of the Hiroshima World Peace Mission was strictly controlled and our coverage was restricted. The Iranian Foreign Ministry allowed only a few of the peace exchanges and interviews we requested. With respect to the nuclear issue and Iran's possible development of nuclear weapons, as we had expected, we were not allowed to tour the facilities or meet with nuclear power experts or authorities.

Now that the series Beyond the Veil, presenting the Peace Mission's activities in Iran, has ended (on June 5th), I would like to look again at the problem of nuclear development in Iran.

-Russian assistance with nuclear power

The development of nuclear power in Iran traces back to the Pahlavi Administration in the 1970s. In 1974, with technical assistance from former West Germany, Iran began building a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, a city on the Persian Gulf.

With the Islamic revolution that took place three years later, however, construction was halted. During the Iran-Iraq War, even the unfinished power plant was attacked by Iraqi planes. At present, Russia is providing assistance and construction is underway on a million-kilowatt nuclear power plant scheduled to begin operations in 2006.

The US and other nations are severely criticizing this nuclear program claiming that Iran is using it to develop nuclear weapons. This claim rests on the fact that Iran is secretly building uranium enrichment, deuterium production and other facilities. In addition, Iran is purchasing materials and doing the research required for nuclear weapons.

With international pressure mounting, Iran signed the additional protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in December last year. They are also cooperating with IAEA inspections.

On June 2nd, Hasan Rowhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the man who is responsible for negotiations regarding the nuclear issue, said, just before the IAEA was to submit its inspection report to its Board of Directors on June 14th, "The report will undoubtedly reveal that Iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes." However, the inspections thus far have shown that environmental sampling at the uranium enrichment plant detected highly enriched (weapons grade) uranium (36% density). Iran has previously given in to the temptation to develop nuclear weapons, and it is not surprising that they are now clinging to that hope. After all, Israel has nuclear weapons. Iraq under Hussein was trying to develop nuclear weapons. And the US, now greatly intensifying its military presence in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and other neighboring countries, has nuclear weapons, as do India and Pakistan.

-Anger over the diplomatic double standard

Given the nuclear threat from other countries in the region, the attempt to guarantee security for one's own country through nuclear weapons is only natural for nations unable to graduate from "rule of power," "deterrence," and other atavistic concepts.

For the proud Iranians, particularly intolerable is the double standard all too evident in US diplomacy.

With absolutely no criticism of Israel, which has nuclear weapons and refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), why is the US so harshly critical of only Iran, a party to the NPT which (according to Rowhani), "Is using nuclear power for peaceful purposes." Why is the US, already the world's nuclear superpower, seeking to develop new nuclear weapons? These questions are shared by a broad cross section of Iranian society from reformers to fundamentalists.

The Bush administration's policy of keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons through the application of naked power, seeking to isolate it within the international community, will only provoke a negative reaction from Iranians. This is quite obvious to anyone observing the current turmoil in Iran.

The questions now are, to what extent can mutual threat in the Middle East be reduced? To what extent can the US adopt a truly "fair" policy in the region? These are the keys to a peaceful solution.

Rather than isolation and break in the international community, a policy of engagement is essential. IAEA inspections alone are inadequate.

We need to increase and deepen interaction with Iranians and cultivate trust through interaction in business, culture, sports and other fields. Engagement is the only reliable way to eliminate Iran's need to possess nuclear weapons. To that end, the role of grassroots and non-governmental organizations (NGO) is enormous.

The Khatami administration was aiming at an "open society" and a "dialogue among civilizations," but the landslide victory of the conservatives in the general election in February this year appears to have put that effort on hold.

The Peace Mission, while struggling with some of the harsher aspects of Iran, told the Iranians about the horrors of nuclear war and insisted that "peace cannot be protected with nuclear weapons." To provide as many opportunities as possible to communicate the spirit of Hiroshima, there were many Iranians who quietly created many informal meetings.

Treasuring our connections to such people and continuing peace exchanges are undoubtedly linked to the prevention of nuclear proliferation, and not only in Iran.