While Obama’s administration’s new doctrine forbids the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states, it leaves a huge philosophical gap open for debate.

 

Tehran, April 06, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Deputy Representative to the IRGC, Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour voiced Iran’s readiness to counteract against any potential attacks on Iran. Zolnour said ‘If the enemy tries its luck to fire a missile at Iran, Iranian missiles will hit the heart of Tel-Aviv within short order.’

 

Zolnour reminded the Western powers of Iran’s capabilities to defend itself, saying ‘ the Western powers are fully aware that Iran built the Safir carrier through its own efforts, therefore they know we have tremendous ballistic capability.’ 

 

Meanwhile in Washington, the Obama administration issued new nuclear weapons doctrine supposedly replacing the old one used by the former Bush administration that included the possibility of using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states.

 

However, while Obama’s administration’s new doctrine forbids the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states, it leaves a huge philosophical gap open for debate that could eventually mean using nukes against anyone.

 

The loophole in the new doctrine is that according to Obama non-nuclear states, lucky enough to escape pre-emptive nuking by the US, are those that are in full compliance with their non-proliferation obligations.  Such a loophole leaves the door open for someone to accuse the other with non-compliance and therefore designate it as a nuclear target.

 

In short, the new doctrine would allow the US to effectively nuke any state without having to go deep into philosophical explanations over the action. Experts dismiss the new doctrine’s effectiveness in bringing a peaceful resolution to the non-proliferation issues concerning all the countries of the world.