Iran’s nuclear weapons program has alarmed the international community since
the 1990s, but has come to the forefront of international security concerns since
2000. This book argues that Iran’s hostility with the United States remains the
major causal factor for its proliferation activities. With the US administration pursuing
aggressive foreign policies towards Iran since 2000, the latter’s security
threat intensified. A society that is split on many important domestic issues
remained united on the issue of nuclear weapons acquisition after the US war in
Iraq. Consequently, Iran became determined in its drive to acquire nuclear weapons
and boldly announced its decision to enrich uranium, leaving the US in no doubt
about its nuclear status.
This book underscores the importance of protracted conflicts in proliferation
decisions, and underpinning this is the assumption that non-proliferation may be
achieved through the termination of intractable conflicts. The aims of this work are
to demonstrate that a state’s decision to acquire nuclear weapons depends largely
on its engagement in protracted conflicts, which shows not only that the presence
of nuclear rivals intensifies the nuclear ambition, but also that non-nuclear status of
rival states can promote non-proliferation incentives in conflicting states inclined
to proliferate