Why sanction on Iran!
Shirin Nariman
March 06, 2010
"Ahamadinejad warns powers will ´regret´ if Iran is sanctioned." This was the headline in most media outlets on Tuesday. The question is whether this threat is a sign of power, or in contrary, a weakness. The response is tied to another question: Does Iran have nuclear power or not?
If Iran has the power to make such a threat, then shame on us if we let Iran obtain a nuclear bomb. And shame on the IAEA, especially when their inspectors said Iran had years to achieve its nuclear bomb. And finally, shame on those analysts who pushed policies for negotiating with Iran, undermining Iran´s capacity to enrich uranium which in turn resulted in Iran´s possession of a bomb.
The powers in the West and East need to rethink their policy and quickly adapt a new one to treat the Islamic Republic of Iran. After all, the Iranian regime has managed to mastermind and finance many terrorist groups around the world and has destroyed many human lives. If such a regime now has a nuclear bomb then their threat is serious and they won´t have any problem using their bombs, shattering millions of lives.
Nonetheless, they aren´t shy about killing, torturing, raping innocent men and women. They publicly hang prisoners to intimidate people for defying them. They don´t care about the violation of human rights, they have been condemned over 50 times, topped with numerous Amnesty International alerts about violating of human rights. Regardless, they kill and kill. They are killers who are not afraid or ashamed of killing. Didn´t we all witness the death of a bystander, a young woman, Neda Agha Soltan in June?
Of course, the regime´s response to her death was that it was the work of the West and the opposition, not the plain clothes police.
Now let´s revisit this threat with another standpoint. This time, we discover that this is an empty threat and a clear sign of weakness. The last thing this regime needs is a sanction. The Ayatollahs are in deep trouble with the wide unrest all over the country, the broad division at the top due to the power struggle among them, and widespread unemployment for a nation with over 60 percent of the population under 30. The conclusion would be, then, that if we believe in tougher sanctions then we are on the right track.
While sanctions hurt ordinary people, the effect in this case is greater on the government. The unrest will heighten and people will bring more pressure to the government. Already, laborers, nurses, teachers and all parts of the society organize rallies throughout the country, since they have not received their wages for the past few months. Their families already go to sleep hungry and many more have been homeless.
The concept of homelessness was unheard of and unseen 30 years ago at the time of the revolution. However, they are now visible in the streets of Tehran and larger cities. This presence is not limited to downtown or lower parts of the city but it has reached a prominent part of the city. The streets are now home to beggars and child mongers. The teenage girls start with cleaning car windows or sell flowers, but soon they become the victim of prostitution in the cities. What do they have to lose in case of sanctions?
Let´s rewind to 1979 and remember when Iranians got rid of the Shah. Iranians imposed a self sanction when all the government offices and oil industries in Iran went on strike. People settled with a few gallons of oil for cooking and heat because they were determined to defeat the Shah. 31 years later, they know that sanctions are strong tool against the regime. Talking to people in Iran or reading numerous articles coming from Iran shows their approval of sanctions. Only those who closely work with the regime don´t approve of them.
The sanctions also need to be smart. They should target the parts that immobilize the regime, such as shutting down the embassies or any diplomatic relations with Iran. In the past few years, under the umbrella of the "talking policy", the Iranian regime has successfully sent its agents around the world, particularly in Europe and the US. Numbers of religious visas were issued to religious figures and numbers of exchange students/professors were done in many universities. The objectives for all of these people was spreading Iran´s influence and building a strong support system for the regime. The outcomes of religious figures now are the number of pro-regime Islamic centers heavily influenced by the regime.
Many Iranian diplomats easily traveled around the world and organized terror attempts, which were either directed to the Iranian dissidents (Shahpour Bakhtiar, Dr. Kazem Rajavi, Hossein Naghdi just to name a few) or negotiated with terrorist groups for other attacks such as Argentina´s Jewish center attack, killing at least 80 people.
Furthermore, they have handled illegal guns or weapons or war parts purchases. Cutting all those ties only weakens the regime.
The other sanction should be freezing the assets of individuals ruling Iran, such as Khamenei and his sons, Rafsanjani and his sons (one of his sons has left Iran and is in London but many of their investments are in Canada), Larijani, Ahmadinejad and his brother, Radan and a large list of all known to Iranians and to, of course, the West.
The records of bank accounts with balances of millions of dollars and Euros have recently been published. The banks are around the world from Malaysia to Dubai, London, Switzerland and Canada. This will paralyze the authorities and their splitting up will only grow.
And last, but certainly not least, the sanctions on gasoline would have the largest impact. Iran needs to have gasoline to survive and literally to run its system. Without that, everything would shut down in Iran and that is the toughest on the system.
This regime will fall no matter what the West or East do. It may take longer but the fall is inevitable. The question is if it happens sooner, what would the world experience? Less blood, for sure, better social lives for Iranians, and a better chance for peace, not only for the region but for the world.
If Iran has the power to make such a threat, then shame on us if we let Iran obtain a nuclear bomb. And shame on the IAEA, especially when their inspectors said Iran had years to achieve its nuclear bomb. And finally, shame on those analysts who pushed policies for negotiating with Iran, undermining Iran´s capacity to enrich uranium which in turn resulted in Iran´s possession of a bomb.
The powers in the West and East need to rethink their policy and quickly adapt a new one to treat the Islamic Republic of Iran. After all, the Iranian regime has managed to mastermind and finance many terrorist groups around the world and has destroyed many human lives. If such a regime now has a nuclear bomb then their threat is serious and they won´t have any problem using their bombs, shattering millions of lives.
Nonetheless, they aren´t shy about killing, torturing, raping innocent men and women. They publicly hang prisoners to intimidate people for defying them. They don´t care about the violation of human rights, they have been condemned over 50 times, topped with numerous Amnesty International alerts about violating of human rights. Regardless, they kill and kill. They are killers who are not afraid or ashamed of killing. Didn´t we all witness the death of a bystander, a young woman, Neda Agha Soltan in June?
Of course, the regime´s response to her death was that it was the work of the West and the opposition, not the plain clothes police.
Now let´s revisit this threat with another standpoint. This time, we discover that this is an empty threat and a clear sign of weakness. The last thing this regime needs is a sanction. The Ayatollahs are in deep trouble with the wide unrest all over the country, the broad division at the top due to the power struggle among them, and widespread unemployment for a nation with over 60 percent of the population under 30. The conclusion would be, then, that if we believe in tougher sanctions then we are on the right track.
While sanctions hurt ordinary people, the effect in this case is greater on the government. The unrest will heighten and people will bring more pressure to the government. Already, laborers, nurses, teachers and all parts of the society organize rallies throughout the country, since they have not received their wages for the past few months. Their families already go to sleep hungry and many more have been homeless.
The concept of homelessness was unheard of and unseen 30 years ago at the time of the revolution. However, they are now visible in the streets of Tehran and larger cities. This presence is not limited to downtown or lower parts of the city but it has reached a prominent part of the city. The streets are now home to beggars and child mongers. The teenage girls start with cleaning car windows or sell flowers, but soon they become the victim of prostitution in the cities. What do they have to lose in case of sanctions?
Let´s rewind to 1979 and remember when Iranians got rid of the Shah. Iranians imposed a self sanction when all the government offices and oil industries in Iran went on strike. People settled with a few gallons of oil for cooking and heat because they were determined to defeat the Shah. 31 years later, they know that sanctions are strong tool against the regime. Talking to people in Iran or reading numerous articles coming from Iran shows their approval of sanctions. Only those who closely work with the regime don´t approve of them.
The sanctions also need to be smart. They should target the parts that immobilize the regime, such as shutting down the embassies or any diplomatic relations with Iran. In the past few years, under the umbrella of the "talking policy", the Iranian regime has successfully sent its agents around the world, particularly in Europe and the US. Numbers of religious visas were issued to religious figures and numbers of exchange students/professors were done in many universities. The objectives for all of these people was spreading Iran´s influence and building a strong support system for the regime. The outcomes of religious figures now are the number of pro-regime Islamic centers heavily influenced by the regime.
Many Iranian diplomats easily traveled around the world and organized terror attempts, which were either directed to the Iranian dissidents (Shahpour Bakhtiar, Dr. Kazem Rajavi, Hossein Naghdi just to name a few) or negotiated with terrorist groups for other attacks such as Argentina´s Jewish center attack, killing at least 80 people.
Furthermore, they have handled illegal guns or weapons or war parts purchases. Cutting all those ties only weakens the regime.
The other sanction should be freezing the assets of individuals ruling Iran, such as Khamenei and his sons, Rafsanjani and his sons (one of his sons has left Iran and is in London but many of their investments are in Canada), Larijani, Ahmadinejad and his brother, Radan and a large list of all known to Iranians and to, of course, the West.
The records of bank accounts with balances of millions of dollars and Euros have recently been published. The banks are around the world from Malaysia to Dubai, London, Switzerland and Canada. This will paralyze the authorities and their splitting up will only grow.
And last, but certainly not least, the sanctions on gasoline would have the largest impact. Iran needs to have gasoline to survive and literally to run its system. Without that, everything would shut down in Iran and that is the toughest on the system.
This regime will fall no matter what the West or East do. It may take longer but the fall is inevitable. The question is if it happens sooner, what would the world experience? Less blood, for sure, better social lives for Iranians, and a better chance for peace, not only for the region but for the world.
Print
Email
