The Hypocrisy of “Zero Nuclear Iran”: Power, Not Peace, Is the Real Agenda

By Nancy O’Brien Simpson  

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Флаг Ирана

In the intricate theater of global diplomacy, the United States continues to demand that Iran possess “zero nuclear capability”—not just weapons, but any nuclear infrastructure whatsoever. No uranium enrichment. No nuclear energy. No nuclear medicine. Nothing. It’s a position that is as outrageous as it is hypocritical.

Americans have long been taught that our country stands for freedom, fairness, and the rule of law. But this particular demand—voiced again in recent months by both Republican hawks and centrist Democrats—is a stark departure from those ideals. It violates international treaties, undermines trust, and lays bare the naked imperialism behind American foreign policy.

Let’s start with the basics: nuclear technology is not inherently violent. Nuclear science has profoundly peaceful applications—from radiation therapy for cancer to sterile surgical equipment, from clean energy to scientific research. The 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), signed by Iran and the United States, explicitly affirms every nation’s “inalienable right” to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iran, unlike Israel, has signed the treaty. Iran, unlike Israel, allows inspections. And Iran, unlike the United States, has no nuclear warheads.

Yet it is Iran that’s told to disarm before it even arms, to surrender rights it has not violated, and to do so under the threat of crippling sanctions and military strikes. Meanwhile, the United States sits atop a nuclear arsenal of thousands of warheads, with no serious intent to disarm. We’re not just living in a glass house—we’re hurling boulders from it.

Worse still, the U.S. shields Israel, our regional ally, from all scrutiny despite its undeclared stockpile of nuclear weapons and refusal to join the NPT. This selective enforcement is not about peace. It’s about power. Iran’s real crime, in the eyes of Washington, isn’t nuclear ambition—it’s geopolitical independence. A self-reliant Iran that enriches its own uranium, develops its own technology, or builds its own scientific infrastructure threatens the hegemony of Western markets and military primacy in the Middle East.

The “zero nuclear” mantra is designed to keep Iran weak, economically dependent, and diplomatically cornered. That’s not diplomacy—it’s domination dressed in diplomatic language. And it’s this posture that fuels global resentment, hardens resistance, and makes conflict more likely—not less.

If America truly wanted peace, it would champion a consistent, fair, and legal standard for all countries. It would demand transparency from every nuclear state, including Israel. It would support regional disarmament treaties and provide pathways—not roadblocks—for countries seeking peaceful nuclear development under international oversight. But that’s not what we’re doing. Instead, we weaponize fear and wield it unequally, reserving the benefits of modern science for ourselves and our allies, while telling others to remain in the technological Dark Ages.

This is not just a foreign policy error—it’s a moral failure. A global order based on coercion rather than cooperation is destined to collapse under the weight of its own hypocrisy.

Iran should be held accountable if it ever violates the NPT or seeks to build nuclear weapons in secret. But demanding “zero nuclear anything” is not accountability—it’s erasure. It’s the punishment of a country not for what it’s done, but for what we fear it might one day do. That’s not justice. That’s paranoia with a superpower budget.

And paranoia, history reminds us, makes poor policy—and even worse peace.