Iran’s nuclear industry will survive war and strikes because knowledge cannot be obliterated by force

By Vahid Mirzakhani

In the last two years, Iran's nuclear facilities have been repeatedly subjected to joint US-Israeli attacks with an aim to seriously damage Iran's enrichment infrastructure and complicate its ability to enrich uranium and manufacture centrifuges.

Yet one question that cannot be answered by satellite images of targeted buildings remains strikingly unresolved: can Iran's nuclear program be annihilated by bombing its infrastructure?

The question after the strikes, therefore, is not whether the enrichment facilities have been damaged, but how much of the underlying knowledge and expertise remains there – and whether that intellectual resource will enable Iran to expand its peaceful nuclear program despite the unjust, illegal and unprovoked military aggression.

The US-Israeli war of aggression against the Islamic Republic and attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities rest on a narrow conception: that bombing and damaging Iran's critical nuclear facilities can permanently eliminate Iran's enrichment capabilities.

The major limitation of US and Israeli policy regarding Iran's nuclear program lies in the fact that military force may set back Iran's uranium enrichment for a prolonged period, but the assumption that attacks on physical infrastructure can prevent Iran from enriching uranium is simply ill-conceived and completely naive.

From a historical point of view, the war imposed on Iran by the West-backed Baathist regime in Iraq demonstrates an important lesson in this regard. Between 1984 and 1988, Iraq made repeated attacks on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, substantially damaging its infrastructure.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) records that the plant was damaged by Iraqi airstrikes during the imposed war, yet the destruction did not bring Iran's nuclear capabilities to a halt. After the war, Iran restarted its nuclear power program with full might, and the Bushehr nuclear power plant began full operation again in 2013.

This historical reality proves that damaging Iran's nuclear infrastructure does not destroy its underlying capacity or its commitment to expand its peaceful nuclear energy program.

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The history of Iran's nuclear program is another case in point that strongly suggests military aggression will fail to stymie the country’s nuclear objectives. Iran has already faced attempts to disrupt its nuclear program by targeting not only its infrastructure but also assassinating its scientists who played a key role in its development.

Between 2010 and 2012 alone, many Iranian scientists associated with nuclear research were assassinated by the Israeli regime, including Majid Shahriari and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan. In 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, one of the most important figures associated with Iran's nuclear and defense research, was also assassinated in a cowardly attack by the Zionist regime.

The significance of these assassinations is clear: if the killing of major figures did not stop or derail Iran's nuclear program, there is little reason to assume that the destruction of physical infrastructure can eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities.

In fact, when these assassinations – along with the attacks on nuclear sites – are understood in light of its growing energy needs and the right to confront external aggressors, it becomes increasingly evident that Iran will remain committed to its military and nuclear capabilities.

In this regard, Iran's nuclear program extends far beyond mere facilities that create the possibility of uranium enrichment. The nuclear program represents a quest for strategic autonomy – the ability to develop technologies and capabilities that would help Iran to make scientific progress despite sanctions and hostile behavior of its adversaries.

Similar to the development of indigenous missiles, drones, and other military capabilities that tie closely into Iran's broader strategy of self-reliance, nuclear knowledge and development represent a form of strategic capital needed for scientific progress.

Iran's nuclear science – which enables it to enrich uranium, manufacture advanced centrifuges, and preserve a sophisticated scientific workforce – gives it a technological capability that cannot be removed as a physical installation.

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The paradox, therefore, is that the policy to prevent Iran from nuclear enrichment through military strikes in reality makes Iran more committed to pursuing its nuclear program.

The critical lesson for Iran from decades of sanctions and attacks is that when infrastructure is damaged and scientists are assassinated, the logical response is not to relinquish its nuclear program, but rather to ensure that nuclear knowledge survives and thrives.

If Iran has not yet acquired a nuclear weapon, it is merely due to the position of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who on several occasions argued that nuclear weapons are prohibited in Islam, a stance more clearly embodied in the famous decree he issued in 2003.

There is already speculation that Iran might change its defense doctrine, but it cannot be confirmed. The two imposed wars in less than a year and constant nuclear threats have prompted many Iranians to demand that the country must develop nuclear weapons.

The scientific knowledge required to design and operate nuclear facilities cannot be eliminated simply by destroying the buildings. It follows that if Iran's nuclear future is ultimately determined by the scientific knowledge it has institutionalized rather than by what its facilities contain, the most critical chapter of Iran's nuclear journey may begin after the ongoing war.

Given the capabilities Iran possesses, it can choose whichever path its top leadership deems fit. But it will not abandon a nuclear program developed and sustained by the blood of martyrs. Iran's nuclear program will only grow and thrive to meet the needs of the nation

Vahid Mirzakhani is a Tehran-based writer and researcher.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

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