Iran and the West: Conspiracy or threat?

20 October, 2012

The situation in the Middle East is getting worse, and few countries are trying to open another front. Iran has been subjected to another round of EU sanctions. The sanctions are aimed at curtailing the current nuclear program the Iranian government is pursuing. An interesting fact here is that it was the West which first started with the nuclear program in the country under the leadership of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last 'Shah' of Iran.

THIS SHAH was not a ruler of the Iranian people but a puppet of the West. He was brought to power by removing a democratically elected Prime Minister. And what was the Prime Minister’s fault? His fault was simply that he cared for his people and wanted more for them. He started nationalising the oil industry in 1953 and this did not sit well with the Western powers as his actions were hurting their “interests”.

Enough with the history portion, now let’s move on to the present. In early 21st century, Western powers and their allies started to raise a new fear among the world community that Iran was in the process of developing nuclear weapons. This raised a few eyebrows and attention was turned to this country which had already been targeted by US sanctions since 1979, when the Shah was removed from power by the countrymen.

The case of Iran was brought to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which concluded that Iran might be developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies those allegations stating that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes that include energy and medicinal research.

Iran is not breaking any international protocols by enriching uranium to 20%. It is a signatory to Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that bans its members from producing nuclear weapons. Israel is not a signatory to NPT and various organisations have stated that Israel does have a nuclear weapons arsenal. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a world renowned institute that publishes studies and details on international conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament, has stated that Israel has about 80 nuclear warheads.

There are already four rounds of sanctions on Iran imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Russia, a veto yielding member has refused to sign a fifth round of sanctions to be imposed on the country. China and India are also thought to be against this motion.

United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran that came into effect from July, 2012. These sanctions, though unilaterally imposed, have impacted all over the world.

US says that the sanctions are aimed at the regime and not the Iranian people. The US wants the Iranian government to stop enriching uranium and halt building new nuclear sites. NPT allows a country to develop a nuclear program for civilian purposes. These sanctions are harming the Iranian citizens more than they are harming the government. The maximalist goal of the US through its use of sanctions is a regime change.

The government of Iran has the right to develop a nuclear program as long as it stands by its word of using it for civilian purposes only. The sanctions put in place by different organisations and countries will not do any good. Before Israel can say anything about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, it should come out clean about its own nuclear program. The West needs to stop its policy of implementing regime changes, covertly and overtly; and it still remains to be seen if all this is aimed at Iranian crude, Iranian people or Iranian Nuclear Program.