What Tehran should know

IRANIAN spiritual leader Al-Seyyid Ali Khameini commented on the outcome of the G5+1 dialogue with his country, saying that America and the colonial European nations tried everything they could to hoodwink Iran but they failed and they will never succeed.

It appears Khameini has yet to realize the pathetic living conditions of his people due to the international sanctions imposed on the country. The problem is stubbornness in taking positions, especially on issues related to the nuclear file which Iran has been using as a blackmailing tool under the illusion that it can defy the wish of the whole world.

The Iranian leadership missed a point — that the international community learned a valuable lesson from North Korea, so they will not take chances on an issue which threatens international security and peace by allowing the foolhardy Mullah regime to acquire nuclear weapons for export. If this happens, it means the entire region is in a pitfall and nobody can predict the implications of such actions.

Obviously, the international community is not interested in repressing Iranians as it only wants to work hard to avert series of wars and frivolous disputes that Iran is striving to achieve in the region through ambiguities surrounding the nuclear file. If the intention was insincere, the international community would not have been procrastinating in dealing with the issue all these years. They would have dispersed all arsenals to defend the peaceful program.

Undoubtedly, there is concern for the international community in general, and the Arabs in particular, in terms of the real intention of Iran; taking into consideration the Iranian policy in the past three decades and consistent interference in the internal affairs of its neighbors. This is in addition to ambiguity of the nuclear issue, as stated earlier.

Iran should understand that after the chain of catastrophic events, starting with the Chernobyl reactor in 1986 until the Fukushima incident in Japan, the entire world continues to suffer the consequences. Nuclear power is no longer a source of global comfort; hence, the need to search for better alternatives - clean and safe energy without the grave danger posed by using peaceful nuclear power.

If Iran considers positive aspects of the international community’s strong stance against it, then it will realize that this move is for its own good. The issue is not about exhibiting false strength, through which the Iranian regime intends to make the entire world succumb to its will.

Iran should be convinced that it is incapable of changing the geopolitical reality in the region by using nuclear bombs. It cannot invade Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Iraq; while it cannot change its role in the region. It cannot use nuclear weapons to evade international isolation, so its situation will be worse than the political and economic conditions in North Korea.

Experiences in the last half of the century have affirmed that nuclear bombs do not benefit anybody, because they did not stop the former Soviet Union from breaking. They did not rescue North Korea from isolation and did not give Israel security or tranquility. Israeli leaders have repeatedly said that nuclear weapons had been a curse more than a blessing for the country. This is the reason why it carried out what Ben Gurion said during launching of the Dimona reactor in the 1960’s, “Struggling to divide Arab nations and deepen them in civil wars”.

At a time when the entire world is dropping the idea of nuclear reactors, even for peaceful purposes, due to catastrophes it caused; talking about rights to acquire nuclear power is like the eloquence of Ahmad Al-Sa’eed and Younes Bahri. Iranian spiritual leader Al-Seyyid Ali Khameini should understand this for it could be useful in rescuing his country from isolation.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times