Iran’s Nuclear Power Plant: Reactions from GCC
M Mahtab Alam Rizvi
Research Assistant, IDSA, New Delhi
e-mail: mahtabalamrizvi@yahoo.co.in
Notwithstanding international sanctions, Iran began trials on its first nuclear power plant located in the Gulf port of Bushehr. In the last week of February, Reza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO), declared that ”Iran has reached its due status in the field of nuclear energy and good news will be announced in April 2009.“
For the Iranian government, the Bushehr nuclear plant is a symbol of its determination to generate nuclear power for civilian use. Though the Bushehr nuclear power plant is built to generate electricity for civilian use and is placed under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, western countries suspect that Iran will divert enriched uranium for weapons use over the long term. Currently, Iran has some 6,000 operating centrifuges in Natanz and hopes to install over 50,000 centrifuges over the next five years. Iran insists that the Natanz plant is far from enriching enough uranium to supply the fuel to make the Bushehr reactor fully operational.
The Bushehr nuclear plant, built by Russia’s Atomstroyexport, has the capacity to produce 1000 MW (Mega Watts) of electricity, using light water technology.It highlights the increasingly self sufficient nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, which has always been an important goal for the Iranian government. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) was established during the Shah’s reign, and plans were announced to build 23 nuclear plants over the next 20 years.
Member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) feel a nuclear Iran would present a formidable threat to regional stability. On 3 March 2009, Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al Faisal, reiterated the need for a joint Arab strategy to deal with the challenges of Iran’s nuclear drive. He said “we need a common vision for issues that concern Arab security.” The relationship between Arab states in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia (Sunni-ruled) and Iran (Shia-ruled) has long been tense, which has further deteriorated amid concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear programme.
It is clear that an Iranian nuclear weapon programme would spur a regional arms race, involving the acquisition of nuclear arms by other regional powers like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Turkey. Further, the security environment in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon will also deteriorate. Existing debates over Iran’s nuclear aspirations amongst the Gulf countries have hypothesised: a restructuring of the region’s power relations, a recasting of security norms in the region, and states having to renegotiate their ties to outside powers. It is for these reasons that, smaller states within the region are worried about Iran’s nuclear programme.
In December 2007, at the GCC annual summit, member states condemned Iran’s nuclear programme, saying they had concerns regarding a nuclear Iran. These were expressed at the summit by Bahrain’s crown prince, Sheikh Salman bin al-Khalifa, whi accused Iran of seeking to obtain nuclear weapons. The UAE Foreign Minister also articulated his concerns on this issue. At the same time, the GCC states made it clear that their criticism was not against the Iranian nuclear programme per se but Iranian behaviour on this issue.
A nuclear Iran is not of concern for the GCC alone, but also for the United States and other Western countries. Recently, US President, Barack Obama, offered Moscow a bargain to halt its Eastern European ballistic missile defence (BMD) deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic, if Russia refrains from helping Iran with nuclear enrichment. However, Russian President, Dimitry Medvedev, formally rejected this proposal saying “it does hail Obama’s willingness to talk about the issue, and suggests that it might be amenable to other ideas that have a more global scope.” Russia intends to continue fuel supply to the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
India has good diplomatic relations with the GCC as well as Iran. At present, the GCC is India’s second largest trade partner after the US. Saudi Arabia (a major GCC oil rich country) is the largest supplier of oil to India, 24 million tonnes per year, which could rise further, though Iran is also seen as a potential large source of oil and future gas supplies for India.
Finally, the initiative lies with Iran on how it will deal with international criticism of its nuclear behaviour. Beyond the scrutiny of the west, the apprehensions raised by the GCC might prompt Iran to rethink its nuclear posture. The quicker Iran comes clean on this issue, the better it will be for the region’s stability.
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