Why the Iran deal needs to stay
Asoftly lit underground jazz club in Tehran looks packed with hip Iranian men and women out to have a good night. The club is part of Tehran’s burgeoning cultural and hospitality scene. For those who can afford it, the capital provides upmarket eateries, trendy art galleries, various sports clubs and sophisticated shopping centres to boot.
Of course, it is not all rosy in the capital of Iran. The air pollution and traffic frequently grind life to a halt and unemployment as well as the cost of living, like elsewhere in Iran, remain painfully high.
But when I asked 38-year-old civil engineer Babak, who lives and works in Tehran, how he felt about the Iranian regime, surprisingly, none of the above issues were mentioned.
Babak said he could live with the current regime as long as ‘‘gir nadan’’ (they don’t hassle us) over things like social media and hijab.
Babak belongs to the post-revolution generation that has experienced nothing but war, global isolation, and stringent sanctions. He has none of the nostalgic feelings that older generations have about Iran’s golden past – that is when Iranians were welcomed everywhere with open arms and when 70 Iranian rial would buy one US dollar.
Today, the rial has fallen close to 60,000 against the dollar and Iranians face discrimination, prejudice and visa restrictions in many places around the world. But the liberal, educated and anti-mullah Babak attributed the bulk of the blame for Iran’s economic woes to the deliberate policies of the West, especially the US.
He said seeing President Trump doing the sword dance with the Saudis and his declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel were enough to prove to Iranians that US interest in the region was limited to filling their own pockets.
Babak pointed out that 15 out of the 19 hijackers in the September 11 attacks were Saudis. He correctly said, not a single Iranian had ever been involved in an act of terror against the US – and yet the Saudis got the sword dance, while we Iranians got sanctions and visa bans.
Babak has a point. From supporting and arming Saddam during an eight-year-long war against Iran to the latest likely abrogation of the Iran Deal, the US has been quick to betray Iranians and undermine their interests at every turn.
Whether we like it or not, democracy is a gift of economic prosperity. The US policies toward Iran have severely hindered economic development and therefore the post-revolution flourishing of the Iranian democracy and civil society.
Iranians were reminded of the hypocrisy and duplicity of the US when it chose to bomb Syria over Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons.
Where was America’s ‘‘red line’’ when Iranians fell victims to Saddam’s chemical attacks?
I remember those dark days. I was a young girl when Saddam started bombing Tehran. The fear and the sense of insecurity have never left me nor has the sense of betrayal and injustice of it all.
Without the backing of the US, Saddam would have never dared to invade Iran and the mullahs would have never been able to take advantage of the necessity for unity at the time of war to take over what was originally a secular revolution.
The US support for Saddam in Iraq backfired, as did their policy of arming and supporting Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and their intervention in Libya.
I am no fan of the dictatorial regime of Iran and I acknowledge that the US relations with Iran was severely tainted by Iran holding 52 American embassy workers hostage for 444 days in 1979 and also by Iran continuing to imprison American citizens and dual nationals on dubious charges. But I don’t accept that Iran’s military activities in Syria, Iraq and Yemen are motivated by aggression and hegemonic ambitions.
Iran has very good reasons to fear the spread of extremism across its national borders. This is why Iran has been the most effective fighter against ISIS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.
Furthermore, Iran’s backing of Palestinians and the minorities in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are motivated purely by self-legitimisation – not territorial ambitions.
How would an Islamic Republic justify its ideology and ethical stance, if they ignored the blatant injustices their Shia brothers suffered at the hands of the Israelis?
The Saudis and Israelis have made Iran into the region’s bogeyman to create a scapegoat and deflect the attention from their own domestic woes.
Here are the facts: the Saudis and Israelis have been busy arming themselves to the teeth with American weapons. Iran, compared to other countries in the region, spends the least percentage of its GDP on military equipment and as recently as last month has been pushing for more regional cooperation and dialogue with Saudis to no avail.
Iran’s current foreign Minister who negotiated the Iran Deal is a senior career diplomat committed to compromise and diplomacy. But he was right when he said the Iranian people would not capitulate to intimidation and bullying.
The US needs to consider Iran’s helpful cooperation in Afghanistan and its pivotal role in the fight against extremists in Iraq and Syria and then decide whether the size of the threat from Iran obviates the need for cooperation.
Iran is an ancient land with a grand civilisation. It has the second largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa, the second largest population after Egypt, the fourth largest crude oil reserves and second largest natural gas reserves.
But Iran’s biggest asset is its dynamic and highly educated and mostly young population. Men and women like Babak, who want to have a good time, see their country flourish and join the international community.
Forget what you see on the television – the Iranian temperament, rich culture and its unique and moderate branch of Shiism make Iran a far better partner to the West than the blindly religious and militaristic Saudis.
Abrogating the Iran Deal will only deepen the Iranian people’s mistrust of the US and set back their internal fight for democracy and human rights in Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in no position to adjudicate over the Iran Deal especially when he cried wolf over the Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) is the only designated body to decide if Iran has been upholding their side of the deal and they have always declared Iran to be compliant.
It is the United States who has been in breach of the deal by impeding investments in Iran through their stringent banking requirements.
As Babak said, if there is ever any external aggression against Iran, the Iranians would set aside their differences and rally behind their regime just as they did during the Iran-Iraq war.
President Trump, don’t push us to the arms of the ruling mullahs by reinstating sanctions against Iran. Put an end to this cycle of mutual distrust between Iran and the US by showing the Iranian people you can be trusted to uphold your side of the deal now and in any future negotiations.
Donna Miles is a Scottish-born Iranian New Zealander who worked as a senior mathematics lecturer in the UK before moving to Christchurch and retraining as a journalist.