This week, my article for South and Central Asia was focused on Iran. Iran ships were spotted shipping large amounts of “yellow cake” to their main enrichment facility. When I first saw the title of this article, I actually thought it was about yellow cake. I was confused why shipping yellow cake with such a concern, but as I read on, I eventually figured it out. “Yellow cake” is a nickname for uranium ore. Iran has shipped thirty tons of “yellow cake” from a production plant in the city in central Iran to a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan. So why is this turing so many heads? Well, after uranium ore is furthered processed, it can fuel nuclear power plants and can be used to make atomic bombs. Iran has a severe history with nuclear bombs, which is why so many of the countries in the west, like the United States, are concerned about this “yellow cake” shipment. Recently, the tension between the U.S. and Iran has been high since President Trump pulled out of the Iran 2015 nuclear accord. This deal stated that the U.S. and other big countries would pay Iran a large amount of money every year in order for them to stop the production of their nuclear weapons. I am personally glad that we dropped out of this deal because we can’t trust Iran. You don’t know if the Iranians are using that money to buy more nuke supplies or not, since no one is there to regulate them or keep them in check. For all we know they could have a supply of weapons that we don’t know about. The U.S. thinks that Iran is doing this as a way to get back at us for pulling out our money. If I were the president of the U.S., I would not take this action lightly. I see this as a potential threat to our country. Iran thinks they are tough and hold the power. If you ask me, I think this was a stupid move by Iran. Why would you draw all this attention to yourself when you know that this is only going to cause conflict and issues to your country. Overall, the U.S. and other countries still involved in the nuclear accord, should keep a close eye on Iran and their “yellow cake” because you never know what they’re cooking in the kitchen.
