This week began amid Western optimist about reaching an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, as sanctions have almost strangled the Iranian economy; however, the week then ended with the hopes of such an agreement having been all but shattered. The same newspapers which had said that the IAEA has nearly reached an agreement with Iran for the inspection of its nuclear sites - quoting the head of the Agency Yukiya Amano as saying that an agreement was very close-, backtracked two days later and said that progress in the talks with Iran has stalled, or that hopes regarding an imminent agreement were unjustified, mentioning that the sides involved in the talks will meet in Moscow next month, only to reach the same outcome. Every previous round of the talks with Iran began and ended just like the last round in Baghdad did. Personally, having followed the talks with Iran since Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei was the head of the IAEA, I believe that the Iranian negotiators essentially want to buy time while Iran continues to enrich uranium, and that he would thus refuse any agreement whereby enrichment operations are halted. On the other hand, the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany treat Iran with treachery. In the meantime, America, Britain, France and Germany represent Israel's interests, and not any Western interests. In the Baghdad meeting, the Baroness Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called on Iran to hand over the stockpile of uranium that it has enriched to 20 percent, in return for allowing Iran to import uranium that has been enriched to a sufficient level to operate reactors for peaceful purposes. Iran is very far from enriching uranium to the level required in nuclear weapons, which is usually over 90%. Nevertheless, the major powers have imposed debilitating sanctions on Iran, without having any justification this that can be linked to their national interests. Therefore, the motives are essentially Israeli. I was following another issue which is the bill on the budget for the U.S. Department of Defence which was also passed a few days ago. The budget is equivalent to what half of the world spends on defence combined and I noticed in the text of the bill as it was passed by the House and the Senate, a phrase that said, “Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the use of force against Iran". However, my reassurance by this clause did not last long. Indeed, the House of Representatives, which has been bought off by the Israel lobby, followed this act by issuing another that said that the vital interests of the United States require preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and that therefore, the House: First demands that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment activities, second, that Iran fully cooperate with the IAEA, and third, that Iran accept to conclude an agreement to verify that its nuclear program is entirely for civilian purposes. In other words, if Israel itself were to word the Congress's act, it would not have been able to do it better; but perhaps it indeed did since some members of Congress represent Israel on Capitol Hill and not any U.S. interests. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who is one of them, announced that the U.S. preparations for an attack on Iran have been completed. Last march, the House passed an act that was covered up or ignored by the U.S. media, namely the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act to step up military support for Israel as well as support in other fields – an act that targets all Arab and Muslim countries, not just Iran. Personally, I hope that the West will wake up one day, perhaps along with the Arab countries, to discover that Iran has acquired an arsenal of nuclear weapons. To be sure, this would be the only way to force the West to seek rendering the Middle East a WMD-free zone, instead of letting Israel keep its confirmed nuclear arsenal and threaten nearby and faraway countries. But what I hope for and what will happen are two different things, especially as the capable Arab countries prefer to focus on Iran rather than Israel. Furthermore, Israel has perhaps achieved what it ultimately wanted, because the sanctions on Iran have reached an unbearable extent, beleaguering a major oil country and making it lack even fuel and basic foodstuffs. Sanctions began when I was still living in Washington in the eighties. Back then, the American legislators discovered, following the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, that their country had not yet barred imports from Iran, so bans on imports of Persian rugs and pistachios ensued; this progressed until sanctions included companies dealing with Iran, Iranian banks, and the Revolutionary Guards. In addition, dozens of Iranians were blacklisted by the U.S. This was also followed by sanctions by the EU, which included banning joint projects with Iran, as well as exports of arms, energy equipment, and technology to the country, and sanctions against individuals who were put on a list that is 180 names long now. Then recently, oil imports from Iran were also banned, and the assets of the Iranian central bank were frozen. In addition to the above, there were four rounds of sanctions imposed by the Security Council in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010. Nevertheless, Iranian has been pressing ahead with its nuclear program, and I see this as a matter of national pride rather than a matter of a nuclear bomb...until further notice. [email protected]
