Iran is a country with technological capability for nuclear fuel cycle. Mainstream theories of nuclear proliferation predict nuclear weaponization of Iran considering its structural, domestic and individual motivations. However, one fact remains that Iran has not yet developed its nuclear weapons. Officially, Iran argues that the Weapons of Mass Destruction, including nuclear weapons, are against principles of Islam. Even though the mainstream theories are sceptical about the influence of religion in security policies of the state, this paper concludes that religious principles have decisive role in nuclear decision-making of Iran. Iran would have gone for nuclear weapons unless it is constrained by religion.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
Alidoost A.A. (2014), “The Religious Foundations of the Edicts (fatawa) by Shi’ite Jurists Prohibiting Weapons of Mass Destruction”, Summary of paper presented at Conference on “Nuclear Jurisprudence” in March 2014, Tehran.
Altman A. (2009), “Ayatullah Ali Khamenei: Iran’s Supreme Leader”, TIME, 17 June 2009.
Ansari A.M. (2013), “To be or not to be: Fact and Fiction in the Nuclear Fatwa Debate”, [Online: web] Accessed on 30 March 2016, url: https://rusi.org/commentary/be-or-not-be-fact-and-fiction-nuclear-fatwa-debate.
Bahari M. (2008), “The shah’s plan was to build bombs”, An Interview with Akbar Etemad, NewStateman, 11 September 2008, url: https://www.newstatesman.com/asia/2008/09/iran-nuclear-shah-west.
Bahgat G. (2013), “Dealing With Iran: The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: An Assessment”, Parameters 43(2): 67–76.
Behestani M. and Shahidani M.H. (2015), “Twin Pillars Policy: Engagement of US–Iran Foreign Affairs during the Last Two Decades of Pahlavi Dynasty”, Asian Social Science, 11 (2): 20–31.
Bernstein J. (2014), Nuclear Iran, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University press.
Bolan C.J. (2013), “Dealing With Iran: The Iranian Nuclear Debate: More Myths Than Facts”, Parameters , 43(2): 77–88.
Bowen W. and Moran M. (2014), “Iran’s Nuclear Programme: A Case Study in Hedging?”, Contemporary Security Policy, 35 (1): 26–52.
Buchta W. (2000), Who rules Iran? : the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
Clarke M. (2013), “Iran as a ‘pariah’ nuclear aspirant”, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 67 (4): 491–510.
Collier R. (2003), “Nuclear weapons unholy, Iran says / Islam forbids use, clerics proclaim”, S. F. Gate, 31 October 2003, [Online: web] Accessed on 25 March 2016, url: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Nuclear-weapons-unholy-Iran-says-Islam forbids-2580018.php.
Eisenstadt M. (2011), “Religious Ideologies, Political Doctrines, and Nuclear Decisionmaking”, in Michael Eisenstadt and Mehdi Khalaji (2011), Nuclear Fatwa Religion and Politics in Iran’s Proliferation Strategy, Washington: Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Farmer M.L. (2005), Why Iran Proliferates, Thesis, Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School.
Habibzadeh T. (2014), “Nuclear Fatwa and International Law”, Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, 5(3): 149–177.
Harris S. and Aid M.M. (2013), “Exclusive: cia Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran: The U.S. knew Hussein was launching some of the worst chemical attacks in history – and still gave him a hand”, Foreign Policy 26 August 2013, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/08/26/exclusive-cia-files-prove-america-helped-saddam-as-he-gassed-iran/.
Hymans J.E.C. (2006), The Psychology of Nuclear Proliferation: Identity, Emotions, and Foreign Policy , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
isis Report (2013), “Iran’s Nuclear History from the 1950s to 2005”, Institute for Science and International Security, April 17, 2013, [Online: web] Accessed on 25 March 2016. url: http://www.isisnucleariran.org/assets/pdf/Iran_Nuclear_History.pdf.
Khalaji M. (2011), “Shiite Jurisprudence, Political Expediency, and Nuclear Weapons”, in Michael Eisenstadt and Mehdi Khalaji (2011), Nuclear Fatwa Religion and Politics in Iran’s Proliferation Strategy, Washington: Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Khamenei A.A. (2012), “Nuclear weapon is Haraam; Nuclear energy is a right”, 30 August 2012, [Online: web] Accessed on 8 April 2016, url: http://english.khamenei.ir/news/2270/Nuclear-weapon-is-Haraam-Nuclear-energy-is-a-right.
Khamenei A.A. (2012), “Leader’s Inaugural Speech at the 16th Non-Aligned Summit + Video”, 30 August 2012, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://english.khamenei.ir/news/1668/Leader-s-Inaugural-Speech-at-the-16th-Non-Aligned-Summit-Video.
Khan S. (2010), Iran and Nuclear Weapons Protracted conflict and proliferation, Oxon and New York: Routledge.
Kibaroglu M. (2006), “Good for the Shah, Banned for the Mullahs: The West and Iran’s Quest for Nuclear Power”, Middle East Journal, 60 (2): 207–232.
Larssen R.M. (2011), Islam And The Bomb: Religious Justification For And Against Nuclear Weapons, Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs: Harvard Kennedy School.
Linzer D. (2005), “Past Arguments Don’t Square With Current Iran Policy”, Washington Post, 27 March 2005, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3983-2005Mar26.html.
Maurer C.L. (2014), Iran: The Next Nuclear Threshold State? , Thesis, Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School.
Mayer C.C. (2004), National Security to Nationalist Myth: Why Iran Wants Nuclear Weapons , Thesis, Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School.
S.H. Mousavian (2012a), “Iran, the US and Weapons of Mass Destruction”, Survival, 54 (5): 183–202.
S.H. Mousavian (2012b), “The Iran Nuclear Dilemma: The Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy and npt’s Main Objectives”. EUNon-Proliferation Consortium, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://www.nonproliferation.eu/web/documents/backgroundpapers/mousavian.pdf.
Mousavian H. (2012), “The Iranian Nuclear Dispute: Origins and Current Options”, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://www.princeton.edu/sgs/faculty-staff/seyed-hossein-mousavian/Iranian-Nuclear-Dispute-Origins.pdf.
Mousavian S.H. (2017), “Understanding Iranian threat perceptions”, Al-Monitor, 14 July 2017, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/iran-threat-perceptions-regime-change-regional-dialogue.html.
Mousavian S.H. (2012), “20 Reasons Iran is not after Nuclear Bomb”, ippnw – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War,Berlin.
Mousavian S.H. (2013), “Globalizing Iran’s fatwa against Nuclear weapons”, Survival: Global Politics and strategy, 55 (2): 147–162.
Mousavian H. and Afrasiabi, K. (2012), “Eight Reasons Why Waltz Theory on Nuclear Iran is Wrong”, Al Monitor.
Patrikarakos D. (2012), Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State, New York: I.B. Tauris.
Porter G . (2014), “When the Ayatollah Said No to Nukes”, Foreign Policy, 16 October 2014, [Online: web] Accessed on 20 march 2016 url: http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/10/16/when-the-ayatollah-said-no-to-nukes/.
Read R. (2017), “Mattis: Iran Needs Regime Change for Relations to Improve with US”, Daily Caller, 10 July 2017, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/10/mattis-iran-needs-regime-change-for-relations-to-improve-relations-with-us/.
Reuters (2012), “factbox-Tehran Research Reactor”, 15 February 2012, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://www.reuters.com/article/iran-nuclear-reactor-idAFL5E8DF2I720120215.
Rowberry A. (2013), “Sixty Years of “Atoms for Peace” and Iran’s Nuclear Program”, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2013/12/18/sixty-years-of-atoms-for-peace-and-irans-nuclear-program/.
Sagan S.D. (1996), “Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons?: Three Models in Search of a Bomb”, International Security, 21 (3): 54–86.
Sagan S.D. (2004), “Realist perspectives on Ethical Norms and Weapons of Mass Destruction”, in Sohail H. Hashmi and Steven P. Lee, (eds.) (2004), Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Religious and Secular Perspectives, Cambridge, etc.: Cambridge University Press.
Sahimi M. (2010), “Iran’s Uranium Enrichment Program (Part i)”, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 July 2017, url: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/03/irans-uranium-enrichment-program-part-i.html.
Schmidt O. (2008), Understanding & Analyzing Iran’s Nuclear Intentions:Testing Scott Sagan’s Argument of “Why do States build Nuclear Weapons, Lancaster University.
Tagma H.M. and Uzun E. (2012), “Bureaucrats, Ayatollahs, and Persian Politics: Explaining the Shift in Iranian Nuclear Policy”, The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, 24 (2): 239–264.
voa (Voice of America English News), (2010), “Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei Says Islam Opposes Nuclear Weapons”, February 18, 2010, [Online: web] Accessed on 23 Jan. 2016 url: http://www.voanews.com/articleprintview/112715.html.
Waltz K.N. (2012), “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb: Nuclear Balancing Would Mean Stability”, Foreign Affairs, July–August 2012, [Online: web] Accessed on 24 November 2015 url: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iran/2012-06-15/why-iran-should-get-bomb.
Zakaria F . (2009), “What You Know About Iran is Wrong”, Newsweek, 22 May 2009, [Online: web] Accessed on 24 March 2016 url: http://www.newsweek.com/zakaria-what-you-know-about-iran-wrong-80049.
Zarif M.J. (2016), “Why Iran is building up its defenses”, The Washington Post, 20 April 2016, [Online: web] Accessed on 30 July 2017, url: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/zarif-what-critics-get-wrong-about-iran-and-the-nuclear-agreement/2016/04/20/7b542dee-0658-11e6-a12f-ea5aed7958dc_story.html?utm_term=.7d6f4f3c33d3.
All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 4773 | 234 | 9 |
Full Text Views | 173 | 23 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 281 | 62 | 0 |
Iran is a country with technological capability for nuclear fuel cycle. Mainstream theories of nuclear proliferation predict nuclear weaponization of Iran considering its structural, domestic and individual motivations. However, one fact remains that Iran has not yet developed its nuclear weapons. Officially, Iran argues that the Weapons of Mass Destruction, including nuclear weapons, are against principles of Islam. Even though the mainstream theories are sceptical about the influence of religion in security policies of the state, this paper concludes that religious principles have decisive role in nuclear decision-making of Iran. Iran would have gone for nuclear weapons unless it is constrained by religion.
All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 4773 | 234 | 9 |
Full Text Views | 173 | 23 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 281 | 62 | 0 |