Or did the ‘Great
Satan and ‘Axis of Evil’ – as Reuters put it - strike a deal on the Iranian
nuclear programme? A deal between satan and evil really should cause some unrest - which also seem to be the case in Israel and Saudi Arabia - but this one, I think, deserves at least a smiley. It could prove to be a bit like the math
thing were minus (satan) multiplied with minus (evil) yields a plus, even though we're not safe home yet.
Real politics or politics for people
Some people
are not as optimistic as I am. Those people would no doubt call
themselves realists. Michael Rubin, who says this interim deal with Iran risks creating another North Korea, I guess, is one of
them. The 5+1 must somehow have conditioned Iran in
the old fashion Pavlonian way, so that “whenever Tehran needs cash, it can restart enrichment and then demand
billions in payment for temporary suspensions. In effect, Iran has replicated
North Korea’s strategy: blackmail for cash and technology.”
Rubin makes
a perfectly sound argument, but he misses out on at least one thing: the
Iranian people. The Iran deal is not just a deal between states, it is also a
deal between the populations of these states.
There is a viable opposition in
Iran, which is causing the supreme leaders a lot of headache. First they had to
let Hassan Rouhani in to the presidential election, and even though he was probably
not their favorite candidate, they did let him win. Rouhani was the candidate that
the Green Movement – the people’s opposition – preferred. Those in Iran who want
peace, development, independence, freedom, and the possibility to choose for
themselves; the youngsters, the educated, and they neither need nor want
nuclear bombs.
They want peace just like most Americans – and, I dare to add,
most of the rest of common folks on this planet.
The Iranian
people are well informed, they are educated and they know, that we, in the west,
does not oppose them. That know, that we want peace as well as they do. And we
know, thanks to our valuable freedom rights, about the Iranian people, that Iranians
has everything to win and nothing to lose by a peaceful relations to the west. They
want more than just a nuclear deal, they want to tap into the global economy,
and the opportunity to live peaceful and prosperous lives, as one can read in this
Al-Monitor reportagefrom Iran.
When Pr.
Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are to sell this interim deal to
congress, they should take on the case of the Iranian people. Those are the
ones we’ll have to share our future with, and they aspire to the same dreams
and hopes as every other human being does – whatever religious views they
fancy.
What Historical Mistake
The deal is
a historical mistake says Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It
threatens the security of the state of Israel, he claims. The Iranians only
appear peaceful, but appearance is not what it seems. And now, with the new
deal and relieved sanctions they can proceed their strive toward gaining
nuclear weapons – and even with a better economy. But how on earth are the
Israelis more threatened by Iran now, than
they were just three months ago, I’d like to ask.
Sanctions
didn’t work before, why should they work in the future to come. “Iran had 164 centrifuges operating in 2003; today it
has 19,000 centrifuges,” as Fareed Zakaria writes on GPS. “Had the Geneva talks with Iran broken down, Iran would have continued (International Atomic Energy Agency) expanding its nuclear program.” And now Iran might have visits from IAEA on a daily basis.
On the other hand, Netanyahu has been feeding extremists
of his own, and proceeded the building of settlements on the West bank and
other places violating both collective and individual rights of Palestinians.
That might be the real historical mistake. The making of new settlements is not
just a provocation to the enemies of Israel they are also making it harder for allies
to remain devoted allies as this article by Akiva Eldar, clearly shows.
The above
point is also clear from Ben Caspit’s article, which add to this, that
many Israeli security- and military officials and experts “believe that the agreement with Iran
— while not perfect and with a few holes — has benefits that outweigh
the damage.”
State Rights or Human Rights
State Rights or Human Rights
Pr. Rouhani
of Iran has often claimed that his state has the same rights as any other state
to protect themselves and to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. It is not
viable for an international rule of law to deny some states the same rights as others. But a state's rights should be conditional
to how it protects and respects its citizens' individual rights. This will
protect the international society from abusive governments.
A long-lasting
agreement with Iran must be accompanied by demands for real democratic reform
and respect for individual rights. An Iran led by its people, as we know from
Western and Scandinavian democracies, will yield the best guaranty against
conflict. From people to people. Repressive states only guarantee one thing:
repression, war, and conflict.
