mofaiz:

by: Mohsen Farsh

I have heard numerous absurd and illogical perspectives, though small in number, belonging to the sons and daughters of Iranian expatriates in regards to recent Iran headlines. It seems as though many do not fully understand the background and underlying reasons for the crippled relationship between Iran and the West (particularly the United States).

History shines light on the reality of Western ulterior motives when dealing with underdeveloped or developing nations. Iran is the victim of an American agenda determined to cease the advancement and progress of a rising regional power that rejects American hegemony and foreign intervention. Make no mistake, Iranian citizens are well aware that the US is only looking out for its own interests. If, in fact, the United States cared for democracy and freedom, Bahrain would instead be a priority; Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, would not be our closest ally today; for 28 years, US officials would not have colluded with Saddam’s ruthless regime; and in 1953 we would not have replaced Iran’s democracy with a dictatorship under the Shah. Do not be fooled by the US supposed attempt at forging a friendship with the Iranian people. The imposed sanctions on Iran suffocate ordinary Iranians directly whilst barely affecting the wealthy government officials.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), says, “Critics [of the sanctions] argued that these measures will hurt the Iranian people.  Quite frankly, we need to do just that.”

Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) says his plan is to inflict such hardship upon Iranians that they will be forced to revolt against the regime.  And if that fails, we will go to war with Iran. 

As children of Iranian natives, we must be proud of Iran as a nation. The sanctions meant to destroy Iran’s economy, enough to infuriate the citizens to revolt, only strengthened the nation. Iran shifted from being heavily dependent on others to being utterly self-sufficient. Who knows where Iran would be if the US-encouraged eight year war by Saddam Hussein against Iran was never fought.

I advise that you not be fazed by what you see on television or read in today’s main papers. The mainstream media is present to instill a standardized cognition in the masses; aligning public opinion on a few problems while ignoring the actual significant issues, such as the insurmountable national debt, the rise in poverty, campaign financing, etc. All that you hear about nuclear weapon ambitions is propaganda built up to cater to the military-industrial complex, among other things. Few Americans remember what justified the US invasion of Iraq in 2003; the Niger uranium documents. Those documents turned out to be forgeries. History repeats itself, and when the people are oblivious and indifferent, it repeats itself sooner than you’d think.

Danielle Pletka, head of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) foreign policy shop and one of the most prominent neoconservatives in Washington, explained what the current obsession with Iran’s nuclear program is all about. “The biggest problem for the United States is not Iran getting a nuclear weapon and testing it, it’s Iran getting a nuclear weapon and not using it. Because the second that they have one and they don’t do anything bad, all of the naysayers are going to come back and say, ‘See, we told you Iran is a responsible power. We told you Iran wasn’t getting nuclear weapons in order to use them immediately.’ … And they will eventually define Iran with nuclear weapons as not a problem.”

The organization spearheading inspections of Iran’s nuclear program must also have its neutrality and legitimacy taken under question. Wikileaks released cables revealing that American diplomats described The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano as “director general of all states, but in agreement with us.” And that “[Amano] was solidly in the US court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.”  

Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan with his son 

Last Wednesday, one of Iran’s most valuable intellectuals, Professor Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and father of a small child was brutally assassinated in what seems to have been a Mossad covert operation. This would be intolerable in every other nation on the planet and it should be unacceptable when it happens in Iran. After all, Iranians are merely expressing self-determination as they attempt to develop a civilian and peaceful nuclear program of the kind that the United States and France possess.

‎Today, Iran is determined to have nuclear energy just as it was determined to nationalize its oil in 1953. The campaign against Iran’s nuclear program now is comparable to the British efforts to thwart Iran’s oil nationalization program then. In 1953, we toppled Iran’s government, making the case that Mossadegh was too inept and his government susceptible to communism- a baseless claim that only took on some truth after a bitter Britain imposed sanctions in response to Iran’s oil nationalization efforts. Today we make a similar case on grounds that the Islamic Republic is a dangerous regime. This too is a baseless claim that has taken on some truth only because of the suffocating policies of the United States toward Iran. Given our toppling of Iran’s democracy in 1953, we can conclude today’s US policy toward Iran is not for the sake of the people or to establish democracy. It seems to me that the US will not be satisfied with an Iranian government until such government enthroned accepts American and Western hegemony.

Just like the United States, I too am not happy with Iran’s government. But my reasons are very different than that of the US. As an American-Iranian I travel back and forth to Iran and am saddened by the shortcomings I see in such a high potential society. But I only partly blame the regime and know the real fault lies with the United States for enabling these shortcomings through the imposition of harsh sanctions and cold policies. These policies directly affect me and my relatives in Iran. They even affect me and my family in the United States. And of recent I am scared to travel to Iran, not because I fear the Iranian government, but because I fear that while on board of an Iranian airline, the aircraft will crash and shatter to pieces as a result of US sanctions depriving even the most essential spare parts. I am afraid that on any given night while hanging out with my cousins in Darband, enjoying some shishlik kabob and hookah, a bomb will be dropped on us. And when not there, I worry for my relatives, my dear cousins, my grandmother, and the friendly bodega owner down the street.  

These sanctions coupled with the government’s corruption and mismanagement of the country’s funds have taken a devastating toll on the Iranian people. If the United States genuinely cared for the people, these sanctions would be lifted and a better approach would be adopted toward Iran. And in drafting such an approach, we must not forget the heavy cost we later incurred for our orchestration of the 1953 coup d’état.