2015 was a year thoroughly dominated by negativity. It was a year of constant warring and aggression in the international community, of shockingly gruesome acts of terror, and of the Republican primary race casting a shadow over American politics. Because of this, some have described 2015 as among the most unpredictable and dismal years to date. Many important events did take place, however; in particular, in international diplomatic breakthroughs that will assuredly shape the remainder of this century. The most important event of the past year was the historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action relating to the eventual destruction of the Iranian Nuclear Program, which has opened the nation to interaction and economic investments from the global community.
The benefits of this deal are monumental. Foremost, the deal will obstruct all paths towards Iran gaining a nuclear weapon. It mandates the destruction of nearly all enriched uranium in Iran, and the quality of the fractional remnants of Iran’s current stockpile will significantly decrease. Additionally, the majority of Iran’s nuclear facilities will be destroyed or converted to research-grade laboratories, and on top of this, the nation is now subject to scrutinous inspections on adherence to all clauses of the agreement. With all of these restrictions, it is simply inconceivable that Iran will ever be able to acquire a nuclear warhead; its resources will be decimated and it would be extremely difficult to cheat on the agreement because of constant monitoring by the international community.
The dismantling of the nuclear program is truly valuable to global diplomacy. American-backed Sunni powers in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, have long taken advantage of the invariable military and economic support offered by America and NATO in order to restrict Iranian presence in the region. This led to the cementing of repressive and human-rights abusing dynasties in the region, while the democratic nation of Iran found itself lagging behind economically. However, now that Iran has indicated its willingness to comply with international non-proliferation treaties, the end of Saudi dominance in the region is in sight. Saudi Arabia, known for numerous human-rights violations—including killing journalists and activists, as well as staunch repression of women—will now face competition for America’s financial support. The Saudi Arabian control on foreign oil in America and the European Union will be significantly shaken. It is the leverage that America receives to defend and support the values of freedom and democracy in the Middle East instead of reluctantly throwing support behind the suppressive, authoritarian, and discreetly terrorism-funding Sunni leaders in the region that makes this deal a resounding and transformative diplomatic success for the United States and the world at large.
The other substantial benefit of the Nuclear Deal is the mobilization of Iran’s highly skilled and young workforce into the global economy. Iran’s population of nearly 80 million is a youthful one, with a median age of just above 24. Additionally, the nation’s strong education policies and technical training make it a highly specialized and adept workforce. The burdensome sanctions imposed on Iran as a result of its nuclear program, however, have drastically reduced opportunities for foreign investment. Now that these sanctions are being removed, Iran represents a potential boon for multinational corporations who seek to import and export from a new market. The first industry that will flourish is the petroleum industry. Iran’s sizable proven oil reserves, the fourth largest in the world, will suddenly become available to global consumers; this influx of oil has the potential to reduce oil costs to far below the currently falling industry prices. The second industry to benefit will be that of production of large-scale manufactured goods—vehicles, airplanes, and industrial equipment, for example. Emerging powers such as China continually struggle with training technically specialized workers, and the relatively low cost of labor and vast skilled workforce in Iran is perfectly suited for large-scale manufacturing, representing a lower cost and higher quality of goods for Americans. Lastly, it is expected that Iran’s crippled infrastructure and technology, which has largely remained the same from the time of the Shah’s deposition, will need significant upgrades and overhauls, which presents a huge business opportunity for any company that is willing to invest in Iran. Eighty million Iranians presents too large a market opportunity to ignore.
The naysayers point to almost four decades of a very repressive theocratic Iranian leadership that is intolerant to religious minorities and brooks no political opposition. The Iranian government has sponsored extremist groups in the Middle East, propped up the Syrian Assad dictatorship and Shia militia in Iraq, and supported terrorist attacks against non-Shia houses of worship in many countries. For the past decade, it has relentlessly pursued nuclear weapons despite international sanctions, and legitimately threatened the existence of the state of Israel. Many in the US remember the hostile takeover of the American embassy in 1979 and the long hostage crisis that undermined the Jimmy Carter presidency and therefore they strongly believe the Iranian regime cannot be trusted with anything. With the recent tortured history of the Persian Gulf region, can an environment of mutual trust be built that will finally lead to peace and prosperity for 80 million people? With overwhelming support from the people of Iran to no longer be treated as outsiders in the international community, the odds appear positive.
In the end, one can only hope that the large number of young, educated Iranians and the current moderate regime will be able to overcome the paranoia of the extremists and Revolutionary Guards. They can take the right steps to bridge their differences with their Sunni neighbors and Israel and work towards peace in the Persian Gulf. There is a small window of time for Iran to completely shut down its nuclear reactors and improve its relations with the developed world. As it benefits from the peace dividend, there is finally hope that Iran will be able to lead the entire region in emerging from an “area of darkness” to a new era of peace and prosperity, and the Iran Nuclear Deal will leave a truly lasting and important legacy for the year 2015.