Ever since 2002 relations between the West and Israel on the one hand and Iran on the other have been deteriorating due to the contentious issue of Iranian nuclear programme. Israel and the US have been claiming that there has been a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program, on the grounds that Iran has persisted in its effort to acquire independent uranium enrichment capability and has since 2006 allowed only limited inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has been claiming that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Today, one certainly cannot exclude possibility of a military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. However, one cannot properly understand the problem without taking into account the historical and structural dimensions. Namely, Iran's nuclear policy has been guided by country's determination that it will become independent and self-reliant in every possible field – a result of its very negative historical experience. Thus, Iran has been determined to fully exercise its right to peaceful nuclear development, to which it is entitled according to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Iran has been striving to overcome the structural dependence of developing countries in the field of nuclear energy, as they have been denied the possibility of comprehensive nuclear development for peaceful purposes by countries possessing developed nuclear industries. The latter have prevented balanced implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
