Iran’s conduct, rather than nukes

Maybe the West is negotiating the wrong issue with Iran. 

Instead of concentrating on the Iranian nuclear programme and whether it is peaceful or militarised, the US and its allies should be more concerned about the Iranian conduct regionally and internationally.

The Iranian nuclear programme appears unstoppable, sooner or later, Tehran will produce a nuclear bomb no matter how much the West tries to prevent it.

The Western powers are, therefore, wasting their time by negotiating the wrong issue with the Iranian government, As is it is a futile exercise more deceptive than real.

What should be negotiated, instead, is Iran’s domestic and foreign policies and the need to develop and apply ironclad assurances that the Iranian nuclear capability will never be directed against any country in the region or elsewhere in the world, or else face the overwhelming NATO nuclear deterrence.

Once the countries of the region feel secure, no longer under threat from the Iranian nuclear bomb, they will most probably forsake the development of their own nuclear arsenal as deterrence.

Also negotiable could be the number and size of Iran’s nuclear weapons.

But how can the regional countries and the international community turn Iran into a peaceful and docile nation that aims to cultivate only friendly relations with the outside world and, above all, has no aggressive designs or hidden agendas for other countries, including Iraq, Syria and Lebanon?

Changing Iran into Sweden is indeed a tall order, but that can be pursued; this issue would probably be easier to negotiate than the Iranian nuclear enrichment programme, which remains elusive.

Peace treaties or pacts of non-aggression with neighbouring states, under both the UN and NATO supervision and safeguards, could be some of the tools to be used to make sure that Iran will live up to its regional and international obligations.