In response to your Editorial, “Delaying The Inevitable” (April 3), last month, the Iranian mission at the United Nations wrote the International Atomic Energy Agency an “explanatory note” protesting resolutions by the organization that had questioned Iran’s nuclear aims. The document asserts that “nuclear material in Iran has never been diverted from peaceful purposes.” In fact, it uses the word “peaceful” 11 times. It’s time to call Iran’s bluff that their nuclear program exists only to provide for its people’s electrical needs. We should calculate Iran’s annual savings from its nuclear power plants, and offer to just give them that sum — in exchange for handing over every scrap of nuclear material and infrastructure.
Given the deep Saudi apprehension about a nuclear Iran, that oil-rich nation could certainly afford to hand over the necessary cash — or, alternatively, just provide the fuel directly. But, of course, Iran will not accept such an offer — which is precisely the point. Calling the bluff of the Islamic Republic of Iran will clarify to doubters and peaceniks everywhere that the ayatollahs and their henchmen are hell-bent on attaining a weapon that would threaten Israel for starters, and eventually the rest of the region and even the United States.
If a few billion dollars would obviate the biggest current threat to global stability — the Iranian nuclear problem — it would be well worth it. Realistically, though, the plan doesn’t aim toward an actual cash-for-nukes exchange. Instead, it just might expose Iran for what it is: a dangerous, aggressive regime hiding behind a fake goal of electrical power to gain what it really wants — a weapon that can bring the region, and the world, to its knees.
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