PUNISHING Iran is no longer something to bargain for by juggling contradictions or achieving temporary gains through concessions. This kind of attitude towards Iran will fortify the bad principle in international relations, which means anyone who seeks to blackmail could succeed in realizing the desired objectives.
This should be the perspective of the European Union towards Iran; or else, the old continent will one day find itself the victim of Iran’s terrorism demeanor, especially if it continues to hesitate and hamper American efforts in cleansing the world from the regime which, for four decades, has never stopped from causing chaos and sedition by taking advantage of contradictions that countries play between themselves.
Despite the European Union’s experience in the Middle East, it seems the union has not learned from the cultures of some communities; specifically the Persian culture and the way the regime in Iran thinks.
Hence, it is necessary to go back to the early days of the revolution in 1979 and see how differences in opinion were exploited until the Western world lost one of its great ally – the Shah of Iran. A regime which caused and continues to cause several conflicts in the region came as an alternative.
The regime negatively affected the global economy due to its threats to block free maritime movement in two of the world’s important marine routes – the Strait of Hormuz and Bab El Mandab. It also hampers the movement of oil export.
Unfortunately, Europeans failed to comprehend that some people brought distrustful and vindictive spirit to the rule. This is exactly what Khomeini did when he was expelled by the Shah from Iran, leading to his first exile in Iraq in the 1960s.
While in exile, Khomeini instigated chaos in Iran, prompting the Shah to take a tough stance against Iraq. He was expelled in 1978 and he requested for asylum in Kuwait. The request was rejected and then France received him in a bid to pacify the Shah.
At the time, the American and French intelligence agencies agreed to support Khomeini’s opposition movement. They facilitated his revolution movement known as ‘cassette’. Eventually, the revolution succeeded and the Shah was toppled as he did not find anyone from outside to stand by his regime.
Khomeini returned to Tehran and made vendetta as the basis of his new State, whether locally by limiting the rule within the ‘Twelvers’ creed, or outside by exporting the revolution or seeking war with Iraq.
Everyone would agree that his stubbornness made the war last for eight years. Both sides suffered from more than a million deaths, millions of injured and losses of billions of dollars.
Iran’s leadership after Khomeini did not change the method of rule. In fact, it continued being stubborn. It even blackmailed the world with its nuclear program and ballistic missile, in addition to supporting several terrorist groups in the Arab and Muslim world.
This continued until Iran found a president who made concessions in every aspect. After 12 years of tough negotiations, the nuclear deal was signed.
These facts about Iran did not elude American President Donald Trump who, since he took reins of leadership, has been attempting to exploit Iran’s stubbornness by imposing more sanctions, in addition to punishing its regime. Nevertheless, all these efforts were met by European hesitation which hampered efforts to trim Iran’s claws and put it back into the international community by abandoning its terrorism trait.
Therefore, when Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo announced that the US took every chance to convince Iran in one way or another, they held the European countries responsible for providing the Mullah regime with oxygen through their hesitation.
Thus, if this matter is not dealt with in a decisive manner today, it will become a major disaster in the near future. We hope the European Union will realize this.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
