Michael Higgins: After Trump's airstrikes on Iran, the world is a safer place
The U.S. airstrikes on Saturday at three Iranian nuclear facilities will undoubtedly raise tensions in the Middle East, but have almost certainly made the world a safer place.
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What is so chilling and frightening about Iran's nuclear ambitions is how close they were to creating a nuclear weapon. And a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran is the same as putting it in the hands of terrorists.
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How close are they? According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran, the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world, is estimated to have enough uranium to create nine nuclear weapons if they just enrich it a little further.
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Iran says it is building a nuclear program for peaceful purposes, but then hides its nuclear stockpile from the IAEA inspectors and hinders them as they try to assess the country's capabilities.
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Iran has stopped the inspectors from monitoring heavy water production needed for the nuclear program; refused them access to enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordo and does not allow them to inspect centrifuges or other infrastructure.
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These moves are in clear violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany in 2015.
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'The historic deal that will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,' trumpeted the White House under President Barack Obama when the deal was signed.
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'The fact that Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon State in the world that is producing and accumulating uranium enriched to 60 per cent remains a matter of serious concern, which has drawn international attention given the potential proliferation implications,' says the IAEA in a rather understated manner.
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