Everyone Deserves A Break: Why Not Iran?
By Ershad Abubacker
23 May, 2010
Countercurrents.org
The recent deal brought about by Brazil and Turkey that would see Iran
ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a surprise nuclear
fuel swap deal has put the US, Israel and its European allies to back
foot with respect to bringing a sanction against Iran in UN Security
Council. Though the deal, which was reached in talks with Brazil and
Turkey, was similar to a U.N.-drafted plan that Washington and its
allies have been pressing Tehran for the past six months, America has
expressed its reservations and said its position on Iran has not
changed. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was reported saying
“We have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of
both Russia and China.'' The sanctions agreement Ms. Clinton announced
on last week was reached by the United States, Britain, France, Russia
and China—the five permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security
Council — plus Germany.
The fuel swap deal on the table since last October was flaunted as a
way to diffuse the tensions and ensure Iran cannot build a bomb in the
short term. The material returned to Iran in the form of fuel rods
cannot be processed beyond its lower, safer levels. Iran needs the
fuel rods to power a medical research reactor in Tehran that produces
isotopes for cancer treatment. Though Iran, which claims its nuclear
program is peaceful, dropped several of its key demands that had
previously blocked the agreement, the United States and its European
allies feels that the deal is too little now too late.
Before the Iranian populace is pushed in to the dark ages of economic
sanctions and embargo, a careful analysis of history would reveal that
there is little good yielded out of the previous restrictions of the
same ilk imposed by the United States and the United Nations Security
Council supported by it on countries including North Korea and Iraq.
The blood soaked balance sheet of American and United Nations Security
Council imposed embargo on Iraq that lasted more than a decade after
the latter’s Kuwait invasion left with both the pro-western media and
the Iraqi establishment fighting it over the number of causalities of
the long standing brawl. And the only gainers of the war being the
huge multinational corporations who could make a murky deal with the
American establishment for the ‘reconstruction’ of Iraq, just to find
those reconstructed structures being damaged again by a war that
ensued soon. Iraq was ambushed in the name of a fictitious ‘weapons of
mass destruction’ that led to a series of non ending chaos that
continues till date. And the result–people started losing the count of
supposed to be ‘suicide attacks’ that happens in and out of Baghdad on
a daily basis. Iraq was not a heaven or a citadel of democracy when
the country was ruled by Saddam Hussain, but certainly Iraqis were
able to dream about their future; a trait they have lost somewhere in
the middle of this seven year ordeal.
The problem the United States and its European allies have with Iran
today is not about Uranium enrichment. Those who claim that a nuclear
Iran is a threat to Israel are fooling themselves. Iran comes no way a
match for the mighty Israel whose security is guaranteed by millions
of US tax dollars. The threat that Iran poses is that of a genuine
democracy that defies the new world order. Iran being a sovereign
country operates with in a semblance of law. The new world order has
got capitalism as its religion with consumption being its way of life.
Then there is the greatest threat of Iran willing to trade its oil
wealth in any currency other than US Dollars that would see the
already turbulent economy turned upside down for America. All the more
Iran is united by the religion of Islam, however sectarian the
mainstream media might report it to be. Contextually, it is essential
for the new world order and the media supported by it to capitalize on
any small dissent that comes out of Tehran and let the word spread
across the whole world in unfathomable proportions so that the world
public opinion is created against Iran. The astounding media attention
the Iranian opposition parties got after the 2009 Iranian general
electoral proves this point. No wonder Ms. Clinton recently said
openly-“We are proceeding to rally the international community on
behalf of a strong sanctions resolution that will, in our view, send
an unmistakable message about what is expected from Iran.'' By the
way, don’t dare to ask—Are we really getting to see what is expected
of United States?
The American think tank feels that a key strategy to bring Iran in
line with the American interest would be to project Iran as an
imminent threat to the whole world and, in particular, to the already
volatile Middle East region. This needs some solid reasoning other
than the public relation exercises done through the mainstream media,
which is always at their disposal. This is where the god given gift of
Uranium enrichment and nuclear Iran fits in to the scheme of things
for America. When was the last time you remember Iran militarily
invading another country? If your memory does not serve you right,
here it is; Iran had its last confrontation with the then American
supported Iraq, back in the eighties. Compare this with the track
record of the United States, Israel, France, Britain and Russia, who
have a bloody history of invading other countries on flimsy grounds.
The International Criminal Court must not be a panel to convict the
third world (read African) countries for its war crimes. Crime
committed by any nation is a crime by itself and must be brought to
justice.
With the very notable exception of the then apartheid South Africa,
the track record of the sanction tool in changing anything or
triggering a peace process in reality has been poor. Surely there must
be some option between an all-out war and a slap on the wrist,
preferably one that doesn’t contribute to thousands of needless
deaths. Now that Iran has come to the way of negotiation and agreed
for a fuel swap, the United States and its allies needs to rethink on
their stand that an UN Security Council sanction would be the cure for
all ailments. Iran badly deserves a break.
Ershad Abubacker is a research analyst based in Chennai. He can be
reached at [email protected]
