TONY BURMAN
Four lessons from the long road to nuclear peace with Iran,
In a world that seems to be careening out of control, let us not lose sight of the historic turning point that this young century marked last weekend.
In one 24-hour period, it was confirmed that Iran had eliminated the most dangerous elements of its nuclear program. In return, most of the sanctions against Iran were lifted. Tehran and Washington agreed to a dramatic prisoner exchange and, for the first time since 1979, the two once-bitter adversaries are comfortably talking to each other.
We are being warned, correctly, not to assume too much, too soon from this agreement. The world will not magically change overnight, nor will Iran. That is true. But having edged close to the horrors of a catastrophic war, the world has abruptly changed direction. And that is groundbreaking.
I remember being in South Africa with the CBC in the late 1980s, covering the imprisoned Nelson Mandela. No one believed then that in a few years apartheid would be crushed. That same year, I remember being in Moscow with The Journal’s Barbara Frum. No one believed then that by 1991 the Soviet Union would collapse.
Here are four lessons from this momentous agreement with Iran: 1. Against all odds, a victory for diplomacy Historians will regard this as Barack Obama’s most important foreign policy achievement. It was also due to the tireless efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry. But the breakthrough came in 2013 when reformist Hassan Rouhani was elected president of Iran and American-educated Mohammad Javad Zarif became foreign minister. Both believed that Iran’s economy was headed to disaster unless international sanctions were lifted. A deal needed to be done. 2. For once, the voices of war were drowned out The deal was a remarkable defeat of the coalition of hardliners who tried to sabotage it. It was led by Israel’s extremist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who first predicted that Iran was “extremely close” to obtaining a nuclear bomb in 1996. He was supported by wild-eyed, right-wing Republicans in the U.S. Congress. There were several times that Israel was thought to be preparing a pre-emptive strike on Iran. But Obama’s position was supported by European allies, as well as Russia and China. 3. Yes, Iran can become a force for stability Within Iran itself, there are deep divisions between Rouhani’s reformists and the country’s hardliners who loathe this agreement. But backed by Iran’s supreme leader, Rouhani so far has the upper hand. In 2003, Rouhani was part of a group of Iranian officials who secretly offered the Bush administration a “grand bargain” to resolve all areas of conflict between the two countries. This was rejected by Bush, but there are hopes now this new agreement will gradually make Iran a force for peace and stability in the region. 4. Canada, like Iran, needs to come in from the cold Iran’s bitter conflict with the U.S. has been a menacing cloud over the Middle East. But now there is the possibility of further breakthroughs and growing openness and tolerance within Iran itself. Given this, Canada, having broken off relations with Iran, finds itself in the worst possible position to build on these changes in the interests of Canadians. Under the Harper government, Canada’s reputation as a global bridge-builder was squandered by working feverishly as Israel’s obsequious cheerleader. Correcting this state of affairs needs to be a priority for the new Liberal government. If we think back 100 years to the First World War, it is surprising that the drumbeats for war in this noisy 21st century have been temporarily silenced. We should be relieved. For too many politicians, the road to war is the easier path. It rarely involves real personal risk, and a docile media echo chamber often cheerleads.
The road to peace, on the other hand, is far more difficult, usually thankless. And above all, it requires genuine political and personal courage.
Thankfully — in this situation, at this time, for a multitude of reasons that may mystify historians of the future — a lot of that courage was evident in the negotiations that led to this historic nuclear agreement. Tony Burman, former head of CBC News and Al Jazeera English, teaches journalism at Ryerson University. Reach him @TonyBurman or at tony.burman@gmail.com.