China Provides Information about Iran

On Yahoo! News today, I read an article discussing intelligence that China gave the U.N. about nuclear activity in Iran. I found this article very interesting for several reasons.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080402/ap_on_re_mi_ea/nuclear_iran;_ylt=Anumkftz0gNFoF1Ox6AV9P8UewgF)

Firstly I was quite surprised that China was publically taking any action at all against Iran. This is, after all, the same China who had vehemently stated its disagreement with US nuclear containment policy regarding Iran, and who, with Russia, fought against attempts to penalize Iran for defying the U.N. Security Council. The fact that China is willing to provide evidence which would most likely aid the US in its efforts to impose penalties on Iran seems a little odd.

As the article states however, this move by China appears to show a growing wariness about Iran’s determination to become a nuclear stronghold. In my opinion this apparent change of heart on China’s end could have occurred for several reasons. One potential explanation is that China considered the fact that if Iran obtained nuclear weapons it could increase the instability of the already tumultuous Middle East. Possession of nuclear weapons by Iran might cause Israel to feel more threatened than it already does, and/or it may cause other countries in the area to attempt to develop nuclear technology to balance against Iran. I would assume however that Israel is not the biggest concern of China.

Another possibility could be that China questioned Iran’s ability to control their nuclear weapons, should they have the chance to obtain them. The “crazy colonel” idea that was discussed in lecture could be applied here, for if Iran is willing to defy the U.N. who knows what its leaders would decide to do with their nuclear weapons. Furthermore, since Iran is a somewhat turbulent country located in a very turbulent area, there would be no way to gauge what safety precautions would be taken to ensure there were not any accidents with the weapons. While I think this may have played a role in China’s decision, I believe there is an even more pressing issue that influenced China’s actions.

The more likely possibility in my opinion is that China took into consideration the threat of terrorism. If Iran is going to have nuclear weapons, there’s a strong chance they would be tempted, or simply be perfectly willing, to provide various terrorist organizations with them as well. This would pose an immediate threat since once a terrorist organization has nuclear weapons to use little can be done to stop them. I would imagine that thinking along these lines is what prompted China to take an interest in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, for terrorism is one of the few things which would affect the global community on an equal level, and not purely the interests of the US. My question now is will Russia follow China’s lead?