Iran has been in a nuclear standoff against the world’s six major powers (United States, China, Germany, Russia, Britain, and France) for years. This crisis reaches beyond Iran; it is also affects the surrounding Middle Eastern countries and more. BYU-Hawaii political science students do their best to explain what they understand what is happening in Iran. Gong Tobchan, a senior in political science from Thailand, said the hot topic about Iran is its nuclear program. As the United States is greatly involved in the negotiations, Tobchan said, “Obama just came up with a deal to negotiate with Iran concerning this matter. Iran needs nuclear weapons to become a dominant power in this region and take control of Islamic states.” Tobchan continued, “There is only one other Eastern country that has nuclear weapons and that is Israel, and Israel has strong relationship with the U.S. with its foreign policies.” Having nuclear weapons is a sign of power. Tobchan said Iran wants to be like North Korea because it has great influence on the world stage driven by the fear instilled by its nuclear weapons. “No matter how hard Obama is trying to make a deal to stop Iran from developing its nuclear program, it will not work,” he concluded.Everyday there seems to be something in the news about the conflicts Between Iran and the United States. Haley Johnson, a junior history major from Utah, said even though it is hard to keep up, she believes it’s an important issue to follow. Johnson said, “As a history major, I know that conflict in Iran has been happening for hundreds of years. As unfortunate as it is, when all the world’s superpower countries get involved, you know its bad news. Our country may seem out of harm’s way, but we are involved, so you never know what that could mean for us.”On April 27, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addressed Iran’s foreign minister about, “overcoming the obstacles to a final agreement to constrain Iran’s nuclear program,” reported The New York Times. According to Reuters News, Kerry said, “[The United States is], in fact, closer than ever to the good, comprehensive deal that we have been seeking, and if we can get there, the entire world will be safer.” Kerry continued to say if the agreement is finalized and implemented, Iran’s paths to the nuclear material needed for nuclear weapons will be closed off. This will give the international community confidence that, “Iran’s nuclear program is indeed exclusively peaceful.” AP reported on May 12 while 53 percent of Americans approve of making a deal with Iran but 69 percent are not confident Iran with follow through on the deal.Greg Boberg, a senior political science major from California, wishes the United States had a firmer stance with Iran, especially concerning its nuclear program. Boberg said, “You have the potential to see another North Korea in [Iran] if you let them keep going down the road they are on. Iran knows that if it can develop nuclear weapons, America will lose some control in the region. Iran is growing more and more bold in projecting its power in the region, and it’s becoming a bigger threat to the little peace there is left in the region.”Peacebuilding majors are also interested in the topic of Iran. Erika Hill, a junior ICS major from Utah, said she cannot help but look at a conflict and wish she could fix it due to her experience in peacebuilding. She said, “I know it’s a fight over nuclear control, which is an important issue, seeing how weapons of mass destruction conduct fear and greatly affect the decisions that the whole world must address. It really is interesting to me to see these conflicts and the strain to find some kind of agreement.”Uploaded May 21, 2015
Writer: Jessica Everette
