We are pleased to announce the publication of The Ayatollah’s Nuclear Gamble by Khosrow B. Semnani, published by the Hinckley Institute of Politics, University of Utah and Omid for Iran,

SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As Western negotiators struggle to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear challenge, the threat of Israeli military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities cannot be discounted. While much talk has been devoted to the likelihood and efficacy of such strikes, absent from the greater conversation has been the very real massive human casualties, and chemical and nuclear fallout that will inevitably follow.

According to a new report titled The Ayatollah’s Nuclear Gamble by Khosrow B. Semnani, published by the Hinckley Institute of Politics, University of Utah and Omid for Iran, the vast toxic plumes released by an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and reactors would endanger major Iranian population centers. The report neither apologizes for the Iranian regime nor does it ignore decades of carelessness by its government. Rather, the report makes a strong case against a war sparked by attacks on nuclear targets, as evidenced by the following factors:

• Iran’s nuclear facilities are either heavily fortified or in close proximity to major urban centers, making it impossible to launch surgical air strikes without killing scores of civilians.
• The casualties from a military air strike and exposure to the release of toxic and radioactive materials could number over 80,000 citizens.
• The economic costs of strikes for all parties involved could easily exceed tens of billions of dollars, and that assumes no regional war ensues.

“Targeting nuclear facilities would guarantee the death of thousands of civilians working at the sites and in the surrounding areas,” Semnani warns. “The potential long-term impact of military strikes on the Iranian population cannot be understated. An entire generation will likely feel enmity toward those who supported the attack or failed to prevent it. Rather than dismissing them as ‘collateral damage,’ strong moral, strategic, political and military arguments exist for counting the Iranian people’s interests as a prime factor in the nuclear dispute.”

“This extraordinary, well-reasoned and data-filled call for avoiding a military strike on Iran and the civilian casualties therefrom should give pause to anyone contemplating military strikes,” said Amos Jordan, former CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Brigadier General, U.S. Army, (Ret.).

To download the full publication of The Ayatollah’s Nuclear Gamble – The Human, Economic and Environmental Consequences of Military Strikes against Iran’s Nuclear Facilities, please visit www.nucleargamble.org.

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