Dani Wexler | Paying attention to Iran

We get it. Our economy is collapsing around us. The bailout plan doesn't bail us out. Seniors are having a hard time getting jobs.

While we shouldn't ignore the urgency and ripple effects of this economic crisis, we also can't allow it to overshadow preexisting global concerns that threaten our existence, especially ones that we can actually control. That's right, I'm talking about Iran.

On September 10, The Daily Pennsylvanian ran an article about Medhi Zakerian, the Iranian human-rights scholar who was supposed to teach at Penn Law as a visiting professor but has been detained in Iran without charges or explanation for the last six weeks or so. As international law expert William Burke-White noted in the article, "It is not uncommon for the Iranian government to remove people with whom they disagree or feel threatened by from their jobs or, in extreme situations, detain them."

This travesty undoubtedly speaks to the general atmosphere of intolerance and despotism that pervades the Iranian regime.

Last Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in New York at the U.N. General Assembly that the "Zionist regime is on a definite slope to a collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters." How about the cesspool created by terrorist ideology?

We have to recognize that Iran's nuclear program is rapidly accelerating and that we need to halt its progress. Iran is quickly overcoming technological obstacles to its nuclear program and according to a Sept. 15 International Atomic Energy Agency report, the country is significantly increasing its uranium enrichment capabilities. Though Iranian officials claim that the purpose of this chemical process is energy production, many suspect the true goal is nuclear weapon development.

Iran poses a threat not only to vital United States interests but also to the international community at large. It's terrifying to note that if Tehran persists in defiance of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, it could stockpile enough material within six months to process the critical amount of highly enriched Uranium needed to assemble a nuclear bomb - not a pretty thought for a government that sponsors terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

According to Dan Eisenberg, College senior and president of Penn's International Affairs Association, "Perspective toward Iran depends on how you perceive Iranian leadership. If you believe that the Iranian government is structured to make rational decisions, then its acquisition of a nuclear weapon would not constitute an existential threat for Israel or the USA."

Here at Penn, we often assume that governments are rational entities. "We discussed in my International Relations class that nuclear weaponry can serve as a deterrent to warfare because it creates a scenario of mutually assured destruction," said College sophomore Carlye Rosenthal. "In theory, if Iran is developing nuclear weapons, they will never actually use them because this would ensure their own annihilation."

While countries like Iran may be rational, they certainly aren't ethical. A government that arrests a native professor for dissenting from the leadership doesn't sound like the ideal entity to be developing nuclear arms.

Though advancing in its project, Iran still struggles to perfect its technology. It's our job to exploit this vulnerability and apply economic pressure on Iran. We need to encourage congressional members to pass legislation that imposes international sanctions on the country and facilitates divestments from Iranian banks and companies.

Avery Goldstein, chairman of the Political Science Department remarked, "At this point I think that sanctions are a good idea . whether they will succeed or fail really depends on gaining support of virtually all of the relevant trade partners for Iran. The U.S., Russia, China, and Europe are not really unified."

Some oppose placing economic pressure on Iran, claiming that punishing Iranian citizens for government actions is unfair. It's difficult to gage the will of the Iranian people, but the populace's previous selection of reformist Mohammad Khatami indicates that a significant contingent hunger for a more progressive government. At the very least, an economic downturn would heighten frustration with the Ahmadinejad regime.

The fact that Iran continues to develop unregulated nuclear technology in spite of international censure, compounded by the long list of radical statements made by its President, should be enough to scare us into action. And if it's not, then that's even scarier.

Dani Wexler is a College sophomore from Los Angeles. Her e-mail is wexler@dailypennsylvanian.com. Wex Appeal appears every Friday.

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