What Should the US do in Iran?

Presently, Iran is continuing with its plan for Nuclear Proliferation. While the Iranian government has made claims that this program is solely for nuclear power purposes, President Ahmadinejad has expressed his opinion that Israel should be “wiped off map”. In either case, Iran is in blatant violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970. While Iran, a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the treaty (meaning Iran signed in agreement not to control nuclear weapons), has the right to pursue and enact programs for nuclear power for peaceful endeavors, they must submit themselves to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency to prevent moving past nuclear energy to weapons. According to Article III of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran cannot deny access to their nuclear plants at Nantanz and Arak. This also means any country providing dual-use material to Iran sans inspection bye the IAEA is in violation of the treaty. To date Russia has supplied most of Iran’s resources, although since the controversy surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, Russia has offered to produce energy for Iran in Russia and ceased shipments.
Several international and national entities have begun to take action against Iran, particularly the United Nations and the United States of America. The UN’s most important work has been Resolution 1737 adopted by the Security Council. As enumerated by R. Nicholas Burns, Undersecretary for Political Affairs on December 23, 2006, Resolution 1737 would accomplish five things; it requires Iran give full disclosure to the IAEA, requires Iran stop oil enrichment efforts, prohibits the sale of dual-use equipment (could be used for both nuclear proliferation and for nuclear power), also prohibits any training or financial services that could allow such actions, and finally requires all countries to freeze the assets of any individual involved in Iranian nuclear proliferation.
The US in particular has been active in responding to Iran. Iran has been subjected to US sanctions for 27 years. The most prominent of US legislation on the topic has been the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, which sanctioned everything except oil and caviar. Most House legislation has focused on several things: Sanctions (H.Res. 782: April 26,2006), amendments to sanctions, Democracy in Iran, prevention of Money laundering in Iran (H. Res 6198: September 9, 2006), diplomacy to curtail Iranian nuclear proliferation and Iranian sponsorship of International Terrorism (H. Res 282: March 26, 2006). In the Senate there is also been a movement to extend the sanctions on Iran, as introduced by S. 3971 (September 28, 2006) which would effectively extend sanctions on countries that support Iran.
In September, the Senate committee on Foreign Relations held testimonials to explore the ideas of experts on viable solutions for Iran. Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow for Middle East Studies for the Council on Foreign Relations, encourages recognition of Iran as a regional power so they could use their stability to aid the situation in Iraq. Iran is mostly Shiite and has direct ties to Iraq’s Mahdi army, led by Moqtada al-Sadr. They have the power to help quell sectarian violence in Iraq. Takeyh feels that in order to make progress in Nuclear policy, Iran’s ties to Hezbollah and Iraqi violence must also be addresses. Other testimonials, such as those given by Ashton B. Carter and William J. Perry suggest more economic and political sanctions on a multilateral front. It is clear to the US government that European participation is crucial to their success in Iran. They also encourage the US and other interested countries to pressure Iran for diplomatic talks.
While there is speculation that President Ahmadinejad is using “brinkmanship” for political gain, Iran has the potential to prove a serious threat to the international community. Since this stems from Nationalism, it is crucial that the international community take steps to eliminate the threat while recognizing Iran’s sovereignty and power. The other reason for increased sanctions is that inflation in Iran is at thirty five percent, unemployment has skyrocketed, and six percent of the population is addicted to heroine. With increased economic and political sanctions, dissent will grow stronger within the Iranian population, which would put additional pressure on the government to coalesce to the international community.