U.S. Tells Iran: Become a Nuclear Power

In an op-ed commentary former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote that “for a major oil producer such as Iran, nuclear energy is a wasteful use of resources,” a position later cited approvingly by the Bush administration.

But U.S. leaders are engaging in a massive case of collective amnesia, or perhaps more accurately, intentional misdirection. In the 1970s the United States encouraged Iran to develop nuclear power precisely because Iran will eventually run out of oil.

A declassified document from President Gerald Ford’s administration, for which Kissinger was Secretary of State, supported Iran’s push for nuclear power. The document noted that Tehran should “prepare against the time–about 15 years in the future–when Iranian oil production is expected to decline sharply.”[1]

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