The Verity Courier
Iran an Ally
By Ron Estes
12 July 2022
The
Islamic Republic of Iran is a nation with a population of 83.9 million,
the progeny of the Persian Empire, which from 559 to 331 B.C. was a vast, culturally diverse empire that stretched from northern Libya to the Caspian Sea. It was the largest Empire that had ever been established, overshadowing
Mesopotamia, Babylonia, the Assyrian and Phoenician empires. It has an
educated population, with an 86.6% literacy rate, which is higher than
that of the United States.
The
Persians were in the process of working out a viable alphabet when our
forebears were scuttling about in caves dressed in bearskins. Organized
communities existed in Iran in approximately 8,000 B.C. Those who have
lived among the Iranians report them to be educated thoughtful, and
nationalistic.
It was finally conquered by Alexander the Great in 334 B.C. after an unsuccessful campaign to invade and conquer Greece.
Iran
has been an enemy of the United States since 1979, when a mob attacked
and occupied the American Embassy in Tehran, and took the Embassy
personnel as hostages. They held them for 444 days.
With
a land mass of over 630,000 square miles, a military establishment of
over 500,000, 12% of the world’s crude oil reserve, and potential
control over the Arabian Gulf, it is time we recognized that Iran has a
role to play in its region, and that we can help that role to be either
positive or negative.
The
country has no history of attacking its neighbors, nor attempting to
dominate anyone. It is a bitter foe of radical Islamic terrorist groups
like Al Qaeda, Al Nusra and ISIS, and is fighting them all by proxy in
Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Through the years, the international community has been plagued by the threat of a nuclear armed Iran. In 2005 Iran began enriching uranium. In response, in September 2005, the
IAEA adopted a resolution finding Iran in noncompliance with nuclear
safeguard agreements. As international concerns continued, and economic
sanctions placed on Iran failed to curtail Iranian enrichment of
uranium, in July 2015, the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council, China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United
States—plus Germany (the P5+1) and the European Union, negotiated the
signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. The
Agreement placed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program for
at least 10 years, in return for ending billions of dollars’ worth of
sanctions on Iranian oil revenues, and over $120 billion frozen in
international holdings, including $400 million in US banks.
The
terms of the Agreement required Iran to cooperate fully with the
International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) investigation of its
nuclear activities, suspend its uranium enrichment program, suspend its
construction of a heavy-water reactor and related projects. In January
2016, the IAEA certified that Iran had taken the key steps necessary to
restrict its nuclear program, and had put in place increased monitoring
capabilities. The IAEA declared the Agreement was one of the most strict
in its repertoire. The treaty had
restricted Iran to enriching uranium to 4%, enough to run a nuclear
power plant, but far from the 90% required to make a nuclear weapon.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put forth strong opposition to the
JCPOA agreement declaring the treaty not strict enough to curb Iranian
nuclear projects with bomb-making potential, and that the removal of
sanctions would aid Iran to expand its role as the world’s number one
state sponsor of terrorism.
Consequently
in May 2018, in dutiful compliance with the wishes of Israel, and the
Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, President Trump announced the United
States was pulling out of the JCPOA, ignoring the limits the Agreement
put on Iran’s nuclear program, which ensured Iran could not produce a
nuclear weapon. The Trump announcement triggered a Netanyahu boast that
Israel was responsible for President Trump’s decision to quit the Iran
nuclear deal.
The
Trump abrogation of the Agreement was accompanied by new economic
sanctions, which, in effect, declared economic warfare against Iran.
The
E.U., France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, China, Jordan, Syria,
Australia, Japan, Turkey, and 9 other nations, including Iran, expressed
their concern about the United States withdrawal from the Agreement,
saying among other things, “it was a "foolish decision,” "a reckless
strategic mistake of immense consequence, and one of the most serious
mistakes of his presidency,” and Trump's "most consequential
foreign-policy blunder.”
Trump
abrogated the Agreement despite a lack of evidence that Iran was
violating the agreement. To the contrary, the International Atomic
Energy Agency had verified Iran's compliance numerous times. It was the
United States that was in violation of the Agreement that the
international community believed was working superbly.
Consequently,
the collapse of the Agreement allowed Iran to quickly resume its
uranium enrichment capabilities to the 60% levels that were in place
before the agreement,
President
Biden has initiated negotiations with the Iranians to return to the
2015 treaty to stop the enhanced Iran enrichment procedures. Talks are
taking place in Vienna.
President
Biden has also not repeated the Netanyahu and Trump charges that Iran
is the world’s number one state sponsor of international terrorism. It
is a ludicrous Israeli propaganda charge. Those who level that charge are unable to answer the question, “what terrorist organizations does Iran sponsor?”
Could it be Hezbollah? President Trump said yes, claiming Hezbollah
bombed the U.S. Embassy and the Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983. What
he overlooked was the fact that Hezbollah wasn’t founded until1985. It
was created to drive Israel out of Lebanese territory, which it occupied
for 15 years. Only nine countries of the 195 nations in the international community have designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The European Union and New Zealand have proscribed Hezbollah's military wing, but do not list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
But
even if Hezbollah were internationally designated a terrorist
organization, would Iran’s role in supporting Hezbollah make it the
world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism?
Iran
is also often accused of supporting Hamas in occupied Gaza, and the
Houthis in Yemen. But the vast majority of the international community
considers Hamas a resistance group, because Hamas only attacks Israel,
who illegally occupies its territory. The Palestinian right to resist
its occupation with violence is protected by international law.
The
Palestinian’s legal right to resist its occupation comes from two
documents: the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to
Colonial Countries and Peoples, and the Fourth Geneva Convention and its
subsequent protocols.
The
Houthis are not terrorist. They are protesting in Yemen for equal
rights in parliament, and equitable distribution of government spending.
They turned to Iran for support because they are Shia Muslim, and have
nowhere else to go.
The charge dies when exposed to the light of day.
The
issue is not whether Iran is hostile to the US, that is a given, the
issue is why must it continue to be so, when the crux of our ongoing
animosity is fed by Israeli exaggerations and manipulation of US public
opinion.
Forty
three years ago when Iranians stormed the US Embassy and took Embassy
employees hostage, they killed no one and damaged no US property. That
incident alone is not a raison d’ être for Iran to be still considered
an enemy of the US today. The current hostility does not serve US
strategic interests in the region.
Forty
three years after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, destroyed most of
the US Pacific Fleet, and killed almost 3,000 Americans, Japan was the
closest US ally in Asia.
Iran should be a US ally. It would be a valuable one.
Ron Estes served 25 years an Operations Officer in the CIA Clandestine Service.
