Nuclear neutralization or regime change?

What is the real agenda behind theUS/Israel attacks on Iran and its nuclear facilities?

There has been considerable debate about whether — or how much of — Iran’s nuclear facilities were destroyed during the recent US bombing raid and prior attacks by Israel, whether key components and supplies were moved in advance and whether Iran can and will rebuild its nuclear power program. There is also a strongly-held view that the attacks by the US and Israel will now definitively push Iran into building nuclear weapons, something that could have a ripple effect across the region.

However, a glaring reality is that the mere possession of a civil nuclear power program sets up that nation as a target, even when it is a country that is abiding by the terms of the now more obviously flawed than ever nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Article IV of that treaty allows for the “inalienable right” to develop a civil nuclear power program provided the signatory also agrees never to develop nuclear weapons. This of course leaves the door wide open to do precisely that, which is why there is so much suspicion surrounding Iran’s activities.

However, according to many expert observers, there is also a line of argument that the stated concerns about Iran’s nuclear weapons intentions — which authorities including the IAEA say Iran was not pursuing — simply provided a golden opportunity to use Iran’s nuclear power program as a pretext to attack the country in order to destabilize it and force a regime change.

(Headline photo by Beyond Nuclear shows a demonstration against the US attacks on Iran outside the US Embassy in London.)

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