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The United States should
welcome a nuclear Iran - her foreign policy needs
realignment March 25,
2012 The
International Atomic and Energy Agency (IAEA) has in its report released
in November 2011 complained that Iran was not cooperating with the agency
and its inspectors were not allowed unfettered access to the sites
suspected to have stocks of enriched uranium. This report sent a shock
wave to the capitals in Western Europe and the United States. The report
was viewed alarming as if Iran would soon start invading the neighbors and
even the European countries would not be spared of Iranian onslaught.
Israel, as expected, began consulting its principal ally, the United
States, on how to confront Iran. Its Prime Minister flew to Washington,
met with President Obama and tried to convey its position that if
necessary, It would go ahead alone to disarm Iran. The meeting of the
Security Council was convened and a resolution of tougher sanction on the
export of Iranian oil was passed in January 2012. Now the sponsors of the
resolution are fervently hoping that Iran would listen to their warning
and reverse its nuclear program. If history is of any relevance their
hopes are misplaced. Iran has
been under American sanction since 1981 after the hostage crisis. Though
the commando operation to rescue 52 American officials in Tehran failed
and they were released after a behind the scene and protracted negotiation
Washington imposed economic sanction against Tehran. During the eight
years war with Iraq Iran was unable to get military hardware due to the
sanction but it did not falter and fought heroically against Iraq. Iran
was able to regain the territory lost at the beginning of the war. After
the war was over the United States did not provide humanitarian or
development assistance to Tehran to facilitate the recovery process.
Tehran did not endorse Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 but it also
disapproved the military buildup by the coalition led by the United States
and Britain to chase the invader. Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini’s belief in the Islamic revolution and his myth to
export the spirit of Islamic revolution to the Gulf States and beyond
frightened the Western European countries and the United States.
Khomeini’s verdict to kill Salman Rushdie for his book “satanic verses”
further antagonized the west. Tehran’s support to the Palestinians and the
arming the Hezbollah in Lebanon made the Western Europe and the United
States suspicious of the intention of Iran’s leadership. The secular west
was not alone in suspecting Iran. Egypt and Saudi Arabia joined the
western countries in opposing the Persian influence in the Middle East.
Reformist President Mohammad Khatami tried to allay the fears of the west
by putting on hold the death sentence passed against Salman Rushdie. He
supported the two states formula for the Palestinians and reiterated
Tehran’s commitment to the territorial integrity of Lebanon. Khatami
tried to improve relations by visiting other countries, encouraging
dialogue between different cultures and faiths, and welcomed foreigners to
invest in Iran. Several European countries began renewing economic ties
with Iran in the late 1990s and trade and investment increased. In 1998
Britain reestablished diplomatic relations with Iran severed in 1979. The
United States loosened its economic embargo, but it continued to block
improved relations arguing that the country had been implicated in
international terrorism and was developing nuclear capability. The
conservatives in the Iranian majlis opposed President Khatami but as long
as he was in power Tehran did not oscillate from the declared policy. The
Western Europe and the United States did not seize this historic
opportunity to come forward and restore the relationship with Tehran
during the tenure of President Khatami. The moderate policy initiated by
President Khatami suffered a reversal after hardliner Mahmud Ahmedinejad
came to power. He reportedly declared the holocaust a myth and dismissed
the existence of Israel on the Palestinian soil.
The
successive administrations in Washington maintained a distance with Tehran
and viewed its policy with disdain. History is replete with examples that
adversaries engaged in secret and behind the scene dialogue in order to
usher a new era of trust and friendship. Beijing and Washington were
hostile to each other for over two decades and Washington frustrated
China’s attempts many times to join the United Nations. In 1971 the
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger made a secret trip to Beijing which
marked the beginning of new era. In the same year Washington recognized
Peoples Republic of China and welcomed it in the United Nations. China
occupied one of the five permanent seats in the Security Council. Taiwan
who had so long been claiming to represent mainland China as well had to
leave the world body betrayed and humiliated. In case of Washington-Tehran
however this did not happen and as a consequence mistrust and suspicion
deepened. President George W. Bush went to the extent in branding Iran as
axes of evils together with Iraq and North Korea. The Bush administration
invaded Iraq ignoring the United Nations and world public opinion on the
pretext that Baghdad was in possession of weapons of mass destruction.
This was later on proved unfounded and even the Secretary of State Colin
Powell admitted that he was misled. In case of North Korea it is no secret
that the secluded country has been in possession of the nuclear arsenal
but the Bush administration and the present government pursued a policy of
restraint. They are mindful of the consequence that an attempt to destroy
the nuclear facilities in the North Korea would trigger an unprecedented
retaliation which would destabilize the peninsula and even put the lives
of the American soldiers stationed in South Korea and Japan at risk. The
United States therefore has been relentlessly trying to persuade North
Korea with the help of China to come to a negotiated settlement. North
Korean economy is in critical condition and needs urgent supply food and
medicine. U.S, Japan and South Korea are providing emergency supply of
food and medicine from time to time. United States and her allies know
very well that they will have to evolve a formula which must also be
acceptable to North Korea. In other words a resolution at the Security
Council imposing sanction against North Korea would be counterproductive
and escalate tension in the region. In case of Iran, however the United
States and her allies would like to make a decision and expect Tehran to
comply with it. This double standard in international relation can hardly
be conducive in reaching a just solution. Since 1995, the United Nations
Security Council passed resolutions imposing sanction after sanction
against Iran and these were either sponsored or co-sponsored by the United
States. The American unilateral sanction, imposed in 1995, suspended all
trade with Iran accusing Tehran of supporting terrorism and pursuing
nuclear weapons. Sanction blocked all Iranian assets within the
jurisdiction of the United States. Iran has always been at the receiving
end. Iran has all
along been claiming that its nuclear program is for peaceful purpose and
it has ratified the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Its nuclear program
began in 1970 in concert with the United States when Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi was in power. The Shah had a plan to set up 23 nuclear plants by
the year 2000. However, after the Shah was overthrown and the Islamic
revolution took place the United States withdrew its support. It also put
pressure on France and Germany to suspend assistance to Iranian nuclear
program. After the withdrawal of foreign assistance Iran put its nuclear
program on hold but resumed it long after the war with Iraq was over. The
United States and her allies began to suspect that Iran was in pursuit of
nuclear bomb and mounted pressure on Iran to suspend the program. Israel
became an enthusiastic partner of the U.S to deny Iran the nuclear
program. It started to campaign that Iran was on the brink of acquiring
nuclear capability and that would mark the end of not only Israel but the
democratic societies in the west as well. The IAEA in its November report
suspected that Iran might have achieved 20 percent enrichment of uranium
while the scientists believe that a minimum 90 percent enrichment of
uranium is essential to make a nuclear bomb. Thus Iranian enrichment of
uranium has been blown out of proportion only to thwart a peaceful
program. The Bush administration resolved to disarm Iran by all possible
means and the former President even declared that all options including
military strikes on the nuclear facilities in Iran were under his serious
consideration. The National Intelligence Report (U.S. government) however
confirmed that Iran had suspended work on developing nuclear warhead in
2003. Bush administration therefore could not pursue a military option
against Iran after it became evident that the later was not in pursuit of
nuclear weapon. The war
monger Republican presidential hopefuls are in chorus in blaming President
Obama for not doing enough to disarm Iran. Mitt Romney tried to
characterize Obama as a weak leader and made a forecast that “if Barack
Obama gets reelected, Iran will have a nuclear weapon and the world will
change.” Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich also castigated President Obama
for being soft on Iran. It is difficult to judge how concerned they are on
Israel’s security but it demonstrates clearly how desperate they are to
attract Jewish votes and funding in the upcoming primaries. Dr. Ron Paul
sounds rational. He opposed military options and urged patience to allow
diplomacy to work. Dr. Paul has cautioned the war mongers of the
consequence of military actions. The Washington Post in its issue of 11
March 2012 termed the military option a grave choice – one that Obama’s
predecessor never seriously considered. Why Israel
is so nervous about Iran acquiring nuclear capability? The answer is
simple. Israel was created at the patronage of the United States, United
Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union-the victors of the World War II and
it always look towards its creators for support and protection. Israel has
successfully exploited the sympathy of the European countries and the
United States in equipping its military with modern armaments. She is very
quick to point fingers at her neighboring Muslim countries not friendly
with her. Israel fought three wars with her neighbors and in these wars
she occupied lands which she annexed to the main territory. Despite the
U.N. Security Council resolutions Israel never surrendered the lands to
the neighbors but her friends never bothered to impose sanctions for
disregarding the Security Council resolutions. Israel with the technical
assistance from France and financial support from the United States
acquired nuclear weapons capability decades ago but she denied the IAEA
access to her nuclear sites. Israel is believed to be in possession of
over 150 nuclear arsenals. Being in possession of hundreds of nuclear
warheads on what moral ground Israel demands Iran to be disarmed?
Iranian
President Mahmud Ahmedinejad is not within his competence to rewrite
history and deny holocaust. It happened in countries occupied by Germany
in the thirties as the carnage happened in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps
in Lebanon in 1984. Israeli army and its local militia let loose the
killing spree for thirty six hours where thousands of Palestinian men,
women and children were slaughtered. The massacre was stopped only after
the international community made an outcry. President Ahmedinejad is not
alone in his attempt to rewrite history. The former Prime Minister of
Israel Golda Meir told Alan Hart, a British journalist, in a television
interview that “there was no such thing as a Palestinian and that the
Palestinians did not exist”. Golda Meir knew she was wrong. She left a
note with her trusted assistant with a request to pass this to Alan Hart
after her death. In the note she regretted that “as soon as these words
left her mouth, she knew they were the silliest damn thing she ever
said.” Ever since
Israel was created the United States became its most beloved and trusted
friend. Apart from receiving US$ 4.00 billion per annum Israel continues
to get massive military assistance from the United States. The U.S.
government became its ardent supporter in the international forum. The
United States had applied veto in the U.N. Security Council more than
forty times to block resolutions critical of Israel. Many of these vetoes
have brought international condemnations to the United States and
tarnished its image abroad. President Jimmy Carter in his book Palestine-
Peace not Apartheid wrote, “There is little doubt that the lack of
persistent effort to resolve the Palestinian issue is a major source of
anti-American sentiment and terrorist activity throughout the Middle East
and the Islamic world.” President Carter also wrote that “the United
States is squandering international prestige and goodwill and intensifying
global anti-American terrorism by unofficially condoning and abetting the
Israeli confiscation and colonization of Palestinian territories.” The
International Herald Tribune quoted a survey in October 2003, of 7500
citizens in 15 European countries indicating that Israel was a major
threat to world peace. In a recent survey conducted by the Arab Center for
Research and Policy Studies in 12 Arab countries, it was revealed that
over 93 percent of the respondents believe that the U.S. - Israeli
coalition poses major threat to the security of their countries. Around 84
percent believe that the Palestinian issue, is not only an issue of the
Palestinians, but for the entire Arab world but they also support the
right of Israel to exist. The survey also reveals that 55 percent
population believe that since Israel has acquired nuclear weapons the Arab
countries have the inalienable right to pursue nuclear capability as
well. The one
sided biased policy of the United States in the Middle East has brought no
dividend for her. Instead it has alienated vast majority of the population
in the Muslim world. Israel attacked Lebanon in July 2006 and the country
was torn to shreds. The United States government strongly supported
Israel, encouraged bombardment of Lebanon and blocked the efforts of
France and other countries for five weeks to seek an immediate cease-fire.
This brought worldwide condemnation. By according unconditional and
absolute support to Israeli actions the United States has lost the moral
authority to broker a peace deal in the troubled region. France, Germany,
China and Japan are now held in higher esteem than the United States in
the Far East, Central Asia, Africa and in Latin America. Israel has become
a liability for the United States. The American love and affection for
Israel have risked its own security. Given the unfavorable if not, hostile
sentiment of the people, it is high time the Washington realigns its
foreign policy. Iraq is
recovering from the post war turmoil and it would not be in a position to
provide leadership in the region in the near future. Given half of Iraqi
population pursuing same faith as that of the people of Iran and most of
Iraq’s present leadership having had enjoyed Iranian hospitality during
their exile, it would be natural to expect that Baghdad would prefer a
friendly relation with its southern neighbor. The people of Iran are
emotionally attached to the holy places of Najaf and Karbala. Millions of
Iranians visit these places on pilgrimage every year. Iraq has a long
border with Iran and both would gain from trade and commerce with each
other. The cultural, social and political influence of Persia will now
spread from the Shaatil Arab to the Gulf of Aqaba and beyond. Persia and
Mesopotamia both have rich culture, literature and tradition to draw
inspiration for moving forward. If they could forge unity and guard
against falling prey to foreign intrigues, they would be well placed to
contribute to the peace in the Middle East. Iran is a
country of 80 million people. It has huge oil reserve apart from other
natural resources. It has hosted millions of Afghan refugees since its
neighbor was invaded by the then Soviet Union. In 1991 about a million
Iraqi Kurds took refuge in Iran. Because of its size and its population
the gulf countries have already accepted the de facto regional leadership
of Iran. The United States should accept the reality and reconcile its
relation with Iran. It should no longer remain hostage to its obsolete
policy towards Israel. IAEA has so far failed to produce compelling
evidence that Iran is on the brink of acquiring nuclear capability. If
India, Pakistan, China and Israel have the rights to acquire nuclear
arsenals and the United Sates can happily deal with them, why Iran should
be perceived as a potential threat to the west? China which was once
denied of membership in the United Nations is now the leading trading
partner of Europe and the U.S. China is indeed the major lender of the
United States. Japan, Germany and Italy were adversaries of the West in
the World War II. After the war was over former enemies were even welcomed
to the military alliance like NATO. They fought jointly in Serbia and
Afghanistan. The hard
line policy of Iran is bound to change once the U.S and the European
countries begin to treat her with respect and as equal partner. As a
regional leader it cannot seek dual government or leadership in Lebanon
nor can it lend support to a fraction of the Palestinian society. It will
pursue a just solution of the Palestinian problem or might even settle
down with two states formula. The United States will be required to take a
balanced position in the Middle East. It will have to depart from the one
eyed biased policy towards Israel – a policy that has cost her dearly in
the past six decades. The United States can play a historic role in
brokering a peace deal but in order to do that she must not be seen, in
the words of President Carter, “in the pockets of either side”. The
existence of Israel is an established fact; even overwhelming Arab
population acknowledges her right to exist. No country in the region can
ignore the wishes of the people. In due course and once trusts and
goodwill are restored between the two, the United States and Iran will be
able to transform the troubled region into a region of peace and
tranquility. Israel would receive the highest dividend from this
transformation. If Iran joins the world community with its huge oil
reserve there would be healthy development in the world economy. The
people of Iran will benefit from the advanced learning and technology in
the U.S and the West will benefit from trade and commerce in the Persian
region. Peace will dawn in the straits of the Harmuz and on the bank of
the Shaatil Arab. The United States, in the words of President Ronald
Reagan, will also stand taller in the committee of
nations. · The author is a former official
of the United Nations
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