Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Revisiting Iran’s nuclear rationales

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Politics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

What is the rationale behind Iran’s nuclear policy? This article identifies and reviews five answers: (i) Economy, mainly energy needs; (ii) Identity politics, pride and prestige; (iii) Deterrence of foreign intervention; (iv) Compellence to boost regional influence; and (v) Domestic politics, mitigating, through ‘nuclear diversion’ the regime’s domestic crisis of legitimacy. How should we assess the theoretical validity and practical viability of these accounts? I suggest four factors: (i) Compatibility, the extent to which the various rationales are mutually exclusive; (ii) Consistency, the historical stability of the nuclear motivation; (iii) Rationality, the relevancy of ascribing rationality/irrationality to Iran in order to ascertain its nuclear rationales; and (iv) Falsifiability, our ability to refute theses on nuclear motivations. The article addresses recent events, including Rouhani’s election and the Geneva interim agreement, and concludes with policy implications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abulof, U. (2013) Nuclear diversion theory and legitimacy crisis: The case of Iran. Politics & Policy 41 (5): 690–722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barzegar, K. (2009) The paradox of Iran’s nuclear consensus. World Policy Journal 26 (3): 21–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen, W.Q. and Brewer, J. (2011) Iran’s nuclear challenge: Nine years and counting. International Affairs 87 (4): 923–943.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choksy, J.K. (2010) Why Iran’s Islamic government is unraveling. Current Trends in Islamist Ideology 10: 19–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chubin, S. (2007) Iran: Domestic politics and nuclear choices. In: A.J. Tellis, M. Wills and N. Bisley (eds.) Strategic Asia 2007–08: Domestic Political Change and Grand Strategy. Washington DC: National Bureau of Asian Research, pp. 301–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chubin, S. (2010) The Iranian nuclear riddle after June 12. The Washington Quarterly 33 (1): 163–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, L.E., Martini, J. and Nader, A. (2011) Irans Nuclear Future Critical U.S. Policy Choices. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dehghani, M., Atran, S., Iliev, R., Sachdeva, S., Medin, D. and Ginges, J. (2010) Sacred values and conflict over Iran’s nuclear program. Judgment and Decision Making 5 (7): 540–546.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbins, J. (2011) Coping with a nuclearising Iran. Survival 53 (6): 37–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downs, G.W. and Rocke, D.M. (1994) Conflict, agency, and gambling for resurrection: The principal-agent problem goes to war. American Journal of Political Science 38 (2): 362–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebel, R.E. (2010) Geopolitics of the Iranian Nuclear Energy Program. Washington DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elson, S.B. and Nader, A. (2011) What Do Iranians Think? A Survey of Attitudes on the United States, the Nuclear Program, and the Economy. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntley, W.L. (2006) Rebels without a cause: North Korea, Iran and the NPT. International Affairs 82 (4): 723–742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, J.M. and Takeyh, R. (2010) After Iran gets the bomb (cover story). Foreign Affairs 89 (2): 33–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, P.K. (2003) Useful fiction or miracle maker: The competing epistemological foundations of rational choice theory. American Political Science Review 97 (4): 551–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moshirzadeh, H. (2007) Discursive foundations of Iran’s nuclear policy. Security Dialogue 38 (4): 521–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsi, T. and Marashi, R. (2011) Arab Spring seen from Tehran. The Cairo Review of Global Affairs 2: 98–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patrikarakos, D. (2012) Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State. New York: I B Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, K.M. (ed.) (2009) Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy Toward Iran. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sagan, S.D. (2011) The causes of nuclear weapons proliferation. Annual Review of Political Science 14 (1): 225–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sebenius, J.K. and Singh, M.K. (2012) Is a nuclear deal with Iran possible? An analytical framework for the Iran nuclear negotiations. International Security 37 (3): 52–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yaphe, J.S. (ed.) (2010) Nuclear Politics in Iran. Washington DC: National Defense University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zakaria, F. (2012) Watch GPS: Martin Dempsey on Syria, Iran and China, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1202/19/fzgps.01.html, 17 February.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LISD, Bendheim Hall, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    Uriel Abulof

Authors
  1. Uriel Abulof
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Abulof, U. Revisiting Iran’s nuclear rationales. Int Polit 51, 404–415 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2014.9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2014.9

Keywords

Search

Navigation