From Student Direct, 9th March 2009
Iran’s latest announcement regarding its nuclear ambitions has caused a fresh wave of panic to break out among Western leaders. The recent revelation that the country plans to install 50,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium over the next five years, with Russian help, has produced the predictable sabre-rattling that is now sadly associated with the West’s spectacular mishandling of the Iranian nuclear “crisis”.
Let’s be frank: Iran is not going to go away. While George Bush and Tony Blair made every effort to isolate and threaten the regime with sanctions, the country’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was cleverly winning the dangerous mind games played out in the Middle East under the spectre of nuclear weapons. If Western intelligence is to be believed – questionable, after Iraq – then Ahmadinejad’s government is closing in on the ultimate prize, which could be the lethal spark in a catastrophic regional war.
But the West’s portrayal of Iran is over-simplistic. The widely held US view of a despotic dictatorship relentlessly plotting Israel’s demise is a fantasy cooked up by the foreign policy hawks in Washington and Tel Aviv. It is not in Iran’s interest to develop a nuclear weapon, which would further antagonise relations with archenemy Israel and cause greater instability. Nor is it advisable for Ahmadinejad to pursue a nuclear bomb at a time when his best chance for establishing diplomatic relations with the US is over the next four or eight years under President Barack Obama. But the fact that Iran is actively pursuing a bomb is a direct consequence of the fatally flawed Western foreign policy that has developed in recent years.
The mangled wreckage of George W. Bush’s presidency saw America renew its unwavering support of Israel. The Middle East peace process stalled, save for a farcical attempt at achieving a settlement at the Annapolis summit in November 2007, which constituted no real agenda for achieving a peace that Palestinians could accept. While the war in Gaza raged at the end of last year, Bush sat back and gave a green light for Israel to continue the massacre, as did EU leaders. It is this unwavering support of Israel and the appalling lack of judgement on the part of Western leaders that has been the ammunition for Ahmadinejad’s nuclear ambitions.
Across the Middle East, Arab fury at the West’s lack of action on the Middle East peace process has seen support surge for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Ordinary Arab citizens have been increasingly drawn to a more radical agenda, often associated with the intolerant Sharia law and the consequent ultra-conservative policies that suppress human rights in Muslim states across the region.
Whether Iran develops a nuclear bomb or not, the West must accept that it is at least partially to blame for the current situation. It must stop the intimidation. It must stop the reckless military plotting that saw Israel carry out a full-scale mock attack on the country over the Mediterranean last June. It is precisely this sabre-rattling that so rightly infuriates Arab public opinion and throws the doors open to further violence.
The chances of a resolution to the Iranian problem are at present desperately slim. While Obama himself has signalled that he will negotiate with Iran at some stage, the presence of such right-wing foreign policy juggernauts as Hillary Clinton – who last year threatened to “obliterate” the country – in his administration, make his ambitions seem rather fanciful.
While there are positive signs of EU frustration over the lack of progress, and bold moves by some Arab states such as Turkey, which offered to mediate relations between the Iranian regime and the White House during Bush’s presidency, a fundamental rethink of strategy is required if Iran is to be tamed. An even handed approach to the issue by the West, with a real attempt at establishing diplomatic relations with Ahmadinejad’s regime, might just be the catalyst for a more positive relationship with the Arab states though this has, for so long, appeared desperately remote.
Let’s be frank: Iran is not going to go away. While George Bush and Tony Blair made every effort to isolate and threaten the regime with sanctions, the country’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was cleverly winning the dangerous mind games played out in the Middle East under the spectre of nuclear weapons. If Western intelligence is to be believed – questionable, after Iraq – then Ahmadinejad’s government is closing in on the ultimate prize, which could be the lethal spark in a catastrophic regional war.
But the West’s portrayal of Iran is over-simplistic. The widely held US view of a despotic dictatorship relentlessly plotting Israel’s demise is a fantasy cooked up by the foreign policy hawks in Washington and Tel Aviv. It is not in Iran’s interest to develop a nuclear weapon, which would further antagonise relations with archenemy Israel and cause greater instability. Nor is it advisable for Ahmadinejad to pursue a nuclear bomb at a time when his best chance for establishing diplomatic relations with the US is over the next four or eight years under President Barack Obama. But the fact that Iran is actively pursuing a bomb is a direct consequence of the fatally flawed Western foreign policy that has developed in recent years.
The mangled wreckage of George W. Bush’s presidency saw America renew its unwavering support of Israel. The Middle East peace process stalled, save for a farcical attempt at achieving a settlement at the Annapolis summit in November 2007, which constituted no real agenda for achieving a peace that Palestinians could accept. While the war in Gaza raged at the end of last year, Bush sat back and gave a green light for Israel to continue the massacre, as did EU leaders. It is this unwavering support of Israel and the appalling lack of judgement on the part of Western leaders that has been the ammunition for Ahmadinejad’s nuclear ambitions.
Across the Middle East, Arab fury at the West’s lack of action on the Middle East peace process has seen support surge for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Ordinary Arab citizens have been increasingly drawn to a more radical agenda, often associated with the intolerant Sharia law and the consequent ultra-conservative policies that suppress human rights in Muslim states across the region.
Whether Iran develops a nuclear bomb or not, the West must accept that it is at least partially to blame for the current situation. It must stop the intimidation. It must stop the reckless military plotting that saw Israel carry out a full-scale mock attack on the country over the Mediterranean last June. It is precisely this sabre-rattling that so rightly infuriates Arab public opinion and throws the doors open to further violence.
The chances of a resolution to the Iranian problem are at present desperately slim. While Obama himself has signalled that he will negotiate with Iran at some stage, the presence of such right-wing foreign policy juggernauts as Hillary Clinton – who last year threatened to “obliterate” the country – in his administration, make his ambitions seem rather fanciful.
While there are positive signs of EU frustration over the lack of progress, and bold moves by some Arab states such as Turkey, which offered to mediate relations between the Iranian regime and the White House during Bush’s presidency, a fundamental rethink of strategy is required if Iran is to be tamed. An even handed approach to the issue by the West, with a real attempt at establishing diplomatic relations with Ahmadinejad’s regime, might just be the catalyst for a more positive relationship with the Arab states though this has, for so long, appeared desperately remote.
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