A nuclear physicist from Bloomington-Normal believes there is cause for concern following the U.S. military strikes on Iran over the weekend.
After several days of noncommittal statements about the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, President Donald Trump authorized a military strike on three Iranian sites where uranium enrichment has taken place — a central ingredient to creating a nuclear bomb.
“The word ‘nuclear’ is used a lot,” said Matt Caplan, a physics professor at Illinois State University and a member of the Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction. “But when I say ‘nuclear’ and ‘enrichment’ and ‘purity,’ all of these words kind of just get jumbled together without really unpacking what these facilities were, what happens at them and how they could eventually be used to produce a nuclear weapon.”
Caplan said that is partially by design. Iran has pursued its nuclear ambitions in secret since the 1990s. And there are benign reasons for countries to pursue nuclear technology that don’t have anything to do with nuclear weapons.
Iran’s "sneakiness" is what brings its efforts to the world stage now, Caplan said.
“The thing that sets Iran apart from any other country that has a nuclear program is [its] very clandestine enrichment activities, and that is really the signal to the rest of the world that this is secretly in service to the building of a nuclear weapons program, even if they haven’t committed to building a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Iran’s support of Hamas and Hezbollah, the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and subsequent actions have escalated tensions in the region.
“Israel … had a very successful surprise attack on a lot of Iranian infrastructure,” Caplan said, with most of its efforts aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. involvement, in part, is due to Israel’s lack of missiles capable of attacking deep underground enrichment facilities — weapons only the U.S has .
Caplan spoke to WGLT before Iran officially retaliated against the strikes by the U.S., striking a military base in Qatar. He proposed the country may close the Strait of Hormuz, driving up the cost of oil, or conduct cyber attacks. Regardless, he said he is “very concerned” about the U.S. involvement in the conflict for a few reasons.
“The first is the unconstitutionality of the United States president undertaking an act of war against a country we are not at war with,” Caplan said. “The second is that the United States is being involved in an armed conflict in the Middle East … whether or not this is just a limited strike and a precision strike on their industrial capabilities to enrich uranium, or now the United States is now committing to a longer-term campaign in part with Israel, only history will show.”
Caplan referenced Trump’s alleged violation of the Wartime Powers Act that states the president has 60 days to consult Congress for its approval on acts of war and notify them 48 hours before it is carried out. Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have also been accused of violating the act.
Illinois lawmakers are split among party lines, with Republicans defending Trump’s actions and Democrats calling their constitutionality into question.
Caplan said what's lacking in media coverage is perspectives from Iranian people.
“American media is obviously focusing on an American perspective to this event,” Caplan said. “All of this, I think, misses the point of actually what happened in Iran and how Iranians feel. There’s widespread support now in Iran for — I don’t want to say the regime — but the kind of nationalism that follows a surprise attack on a country.”
He said Iran isn’t often defined to Americans either. While it is a theocracy, there are diverse groups of people in the country, including progressives who immigrate to the U.S.
“There is domestic opposition to the regime and to these wars in Iran just like there is in the United States. And then there is a pro-war element and that includes elements of the government,” Caplan said. “Iran is not one actor; it is not one person … we treat Iran like it is one character and it’s not.”
Caplan said in the sense that he wants a safer world, one with less nuclear weapons, the strikes on Iran and its facilities was successful. However, the conflict isn’t that simple. He said diplomacy has been the only effective tool in motivating countries to reduce their production of nuclear weapons.
“Maybe we’ll see other nations take greater leadership now that the United States has somewhat abdicated its role in this,” he said. “We might see Germany or other members of the [United Nations] Security Council to lead these negotiations, but I think the U.S. has, in taking this strike, reduced its future ability to achieve diplomatic successes.”
