Originally Posted by
Orion27 
What's your point? They are not allowed to have a nuclear weapons program!
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Indeed, but they are legitimately allowed to have a fully fuctional nuclear energy program including a full cycle of enrichment-capacity.
Espescially the US and Israel, but also other countries from the international community, don't trust Iran, that it would use the enrichment-capability simply for nuclear energy, but suspect it, it might secretly use its enrichment capabilities to enrich uranium up to weapon-grade-level and use it to produce nukes.
Therefore the US and Israel try to use the IAEA-organisation as well as the UN-security-council to force Iran to give up its enrichment-ambitions completely.
Iran insists though that it is their legal right to pursue enrichment for energy-purposes, go to start and return...
After you have read the above multiple times, and had enough of it, let's break out of the cycle and continue:
Iran also makes the point that other countries that are equally signators to the non-proliferation-act, like Japan and Southkorea, are allowed to have and use a full cycle of enrichment, without being sanctioned for or prevented from it.
For Iran it makes completely sense to develop a fully functional nuclear energy-program and facilities, including enrichment, as its capabilities to tap its own oil-ressources (although still vast) are in stark decline, and will soon reach a point, where the domestic need will equal or outweigh its capabilities to feed it.
The sanctions and embargoes the US has put upon Iran, espescially regarding replacement-parts for its american-built airplanes, has taught Iran to better pursue a technological autonomy, and the fully functional enrichment-cycle might serve as a first important as well as symbolic step.
It's also likely that Iran wants to reach the status where it is possible that they can have nukes, similar to Israel, so as to leave its neighbours and enemies in doubt if Iran actually has nukes or not, as a deterrence against regime-change-interventions.
In order to relieve suspicions, Iran has said that it would accept full observance and free inspections of the nuclear plants and enrichment-facilities by the IAEA, as long as Iran gets the guranteed right to enrich uranium to energy-useable-levels.
Taliesin
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