MOHAMMED KHAKU
On February 11th, Iran will celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the pro-American Shah Dynasty.Imam Khomeini established the new political system of constitutional theocracy based on the ideology of Velayati-e-Faqih. The rule of jurist (faqih) according to the Islamic laws. Many world leaders, including the USA, held the belief that the rule of theocracy would not last long. But its been 42 years.The US has been long haunted by the 1979 seizure of its embassy and fifty-two hostages.The US and Iran cut ties and decades of sanctions followed.In spite of the sanctions, Iran has made progress in all fields of science and makes sophisticated military and medical equipment. The Google CEO has mentioned that Iran is so far advanced in technology that it could hack into US drones and land it safely.There was a brief glimmer of hope for improved relations when President Obama achieved the nuclear deal with Iran but it was short lived and former President Donald Trump ultimately withdrew.Over the last four years, Trump, Republicans, and the right-wing media were on full throttle for war with Iran. Trump and Zionist Israel would go on to assassinate General Qassim Soleimani and the nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh to launch war with Iran. President Joe Biden now has an opportunity for diplomacy to re-enter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as JCPOA. But there is a very short window of diplomacy to jump-start the process due to events coming up like the 42nd anniversary, Nowruz on March 20th, and the presidential elections in June where President Rouhani will step down. Since Trump withdrew from the deal, Iran has demonstrated restraint by honoring all the obligations as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Iran demands that the U.S. must act first—since it withdrew from the deal. A brief historyThe U.S.-Iran relationship began in earnest during WWII when the U.S. and Britain established a line of supply through Iran’s northern border with the Soviet Union.It took a turn for the worse when in 1953, the US engineered a coup d’état that overthrew Iran’s elected leader Mohammad Mossadegh. Relations between Iran and the U.S. fell apart after the fall of Shah which led to the hostage crisis and the brutal Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. U.S. support for Saddam Hussein during the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, in the nineteen-eighties, including intelligence that Iraq used to deploy chemical weapons and kill tens of thousands of Iranians.Iran was the victim of invasion by Saddam Hussein where the U.S. sided with Saddam Hussein and subsequently refused to apologize when a U.S. destroyer accidentally shot down an Iranian airliner.Iran has been a victim of terror from Mujahedin-e-Khalq, Salafists and Wahhabis from Arab Gulf States. Zionist Israel, Saudi Arabia and media like fox news have spewed the rhetoric of hate and demonize Iran for over decades. The Arab Gulf States dislike of Iran is unfathomable. They have financed many writers such as murdered Jamal Khashoggi and used the media to portray Iran in an adverse way. The hate speech and publications against Iran are in Arabic, English, Urdu, French, Persian, and many other languages. The sanctions during covid-19 are causing tremendous hardship for the Iranian people who badly need vaccines and medical equipment’s. President Biden should immediately lift sanctions for medical supplies and vaccines. Many economists say that “sanctions are toothless and ineffective as Iran will keep selling its oil to China, Venezuela and other countries. The U.S. should question the morality of the sanctions as a weapon of war. Over half a million children were killed as a result of US sanctions against Saddam Hussein between 1991 and 1996.Then the Secretary of State Madeleine Albright described it as “worth it” for regime change. But it did not have any impact on Saddam’s regime, its primary victims were ordinary citizens. Iran is a proud cradle of ancient civilization and the threat of war or regime change won’t bring its leaders to the negotiation table. Iran has survived for 42 years and is the major power player in the Middle East exerting significant influence in the region through a unique manifestation of foreign policy.To avoid a war with Iran, President Biden could engage in direct high-level talks with President Rouhani whose term will be ending soon and work out a better deal that builds upon the original nuclear deal. President Biden should rejoin the nuclear agreement and reject calls by Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman or Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to be part of the JCPOA.Both Zionist Israel and Bedouin kingdom want to start the war with Iran. We should not engage in this proxy war on the behalf of other countries. The American people can weigh-in powerfully with phone calls, emails, letters, and constituent visits to their senators and representatives, as well as to the White House.