Iran Has Been Full Of Them
Even though those following Iranian developments have become used to reading strange and usual news about Iran during the past three years, still some events do come as a surprise. Among these is the news that the new secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council told Solana, the EU foreign policy tsar in their first message, that he was not bound by the words of his predecessor, Ali Larijani.
Another one is about the a photograph that shows Mr Ahmadinejad smiling under the banner of the “Arabian State of the Gulf Cooperation Council” in Doha. The members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have always refrained from adding the adjective Arabian to the name of this association, because of the differences that have existed between Iran and the Arab states to the south about the name of the Persian Gulf. Iran has relied on historic documents which have called the waterway Persian Gulf, while the Arabs domestically at least call it the Arabian Gulf. So the name was in a way a compromise. But even this small alteration is sufficient to provide our southern neighbors with an important document and evidence for their purposes, and which could lead to colossal negative consequences for Iran, even though the government’s propaganda machinery has claimed a victory for preventing them from using the term Arabian in its name.
One should note that when the new administration came to power the new chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is not recorded to have ever said that he did not accept the views of his predecessors, despite all his criticism of the way his predecessors had pursued the nuclear issue. Imagine what would happen to the world and relations among countries if new governments rejected outright what their predecessors had said or undertaken. The Islamic Republic too has recognized the agreements and arrangements made by the monarchy and the government’s position on Bahrain is a clear example, despite the remarks by a cleric in the early days of the Republic who made territorial claims on the island, whose independence was recognized by Iran in the seventies following its referendum. Similarly Saddam Hussein could not get the agreement of the Islamic Republic in its drive to abrogate the 1975 agreement that put a new land and river demarcation between the countries. Similarly Iran’s debts and foreign investments were recognized by foreign governments through the principle of state succession. In light of this, one wonders how to interpret Mr. Saeed Jalili’s recent remarks.
Mr. Ahmadinejad seems to have an agenda with a daily gush of propaganda surprises, regardless of their impact on the country’s national security. He seems to believe that these shockers can be translated into national pride! His approach is similar to the late ayatollah Khomeini’s, after whose death Le Monde wrote about his three million man funeral procession, “The final bombshell of a man who shocked the world for ten years.”
The first time the unconventional views of Iran’s revolutionaries about world issues reached the public was when former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and British officials who met the ayatollah on the outskirts of Paris reported these back to their respective countries. And of course this brought about unconventional responses from them as well. But many subsequent events only confirmed this trend, i.e. that what they are witnessing is a new regime with new tools and methods to advance its interests and interact with the world, none of which had any records or precedents in the national archives of the West. And as Western observers, analysts, politicians and statesmen were searching for answers, more shocks came out of the pipeline. The take over of the US embassy in Tehran, the failure of the hostage rescue mission, the secret trips of Iranian officials to Europe over the hostage issue and other desires, the abandonment of the Iranian elements recruited to provide logistical support in the hostage rescue mission, are among the numerous shockers provided by Iranians. Among the greatest most recent ones is when the CIA discovered and announced that the young man who had just been elected the new President of Iran was the very same person who had been present at the US embassy in Tehran when it was run over by the so called students in 1980 and argued over first taking over the Russian rather than the US embassy first.
The other shock worth mentioning is about the participation of Iran’s president in a meeting of an organization which the Iranian national radio and television, among other state run propaganda agencies, proudly claims to be the “Persian Gulf Cooperation Council”, while photographs and the large emblem hanging over the head of Mr. Ahmadinejad read “The Arabian Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”
This is not an insignificant event and we may soon see others making reference to it. The President’s supporters have proclaimed it a victory that they had succeeded in changing the name of this regional grouping. State run Keyhan newspaper has even called for a national holiday on the victory. It called for a similar celebration when the Caspian Sea littoral states met in Tehran and claimed that the fact that the event was held in Tehran was a great victory. Regarding the GCC meeting in Doha, Keyhan said the meeting was thumbing the nose at the organizers of the meeting in Annapolis in the US. The newspaper then asked, with the conference in Doha, could an alliance be expected between the Arabs and the US against Iran. It continues to argue that while the Arab invitation of Ahmadinejad to the GCC meeting does not signal the resolution of all outstanding issues between the southern Arab states and Iran, it is a great leap towards this end, at the same time indicating the failure of the US to widen the gap between Iran and the Arabs while not being an alliance among the Islamic states either. And while the US is committed to isolate Iran, it continues, it should be noted that it will never be able to stop Iran from remaining and perhaps even growing as a powerful Islamic symbol in the Middle East and the world. The path to defeating Iran is getting narrow by the day.
But while Keyhan does not expect a response to its claims, it may be said that, “An alliance against Iran has already been formed because of Ahmadinejad’s policies. Iran’s greatness has nothing to do with any specific government or regime and this prevents the Arab sheikhs from executing their wishes. But you have taken every possible action to weaken Iran, none of which will be effective. What the Arab nations saw of Iran a few days ago is that its government hides from its people the fact that its President participated in a meeting in Doha out of fear of its own people. You can lie as much as you like but by going to those who are taking away gas from South Pars fields in the Persian Gulf, and who will not diminish their claims on the three islands in the waterway, you will not change their claims. And what is more is that you are even proposing to provide the water and gas needs of these very people. One must ask you, why do they get preference over the Iranian people in the south who lack similar basics. Is this what they deserve for defending their motherland in a bloody war a quarter of a century ago?
Flattery surrounds the current Administration and Hamid Reza Taraghi’s (belonging to an official of the Hezbe Motalefe) is exemplary, when he writes, “In view of the fact that this council is primarily in the hands of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the invitation that they extended to the President of the Islamic Republic is an indication that they have accepted Iran as a neighboring member and also that the name of the waterway is the Persian Gulf, signaling their retreat from their previous position vis-à-vis Iran.”
Even Khomeini had in his talks said that the differences and purpose that those in power, and his supporters had, was because of their own personal greed and goals, and had nothing to do with Islam. Similarly, when current authorities make humongous claims of advancing national interest, they are in fact simply pursuing their personal goals and ambitions.
Another one is about the a photograph that shows Mr Ahmadinejad smiling under the banner of the “Arabian State of the Gulf Cooperation Council” in Doha. The members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have always refrained from adding the adjective Arabian to the name of this association, because of the differences that have existed between Iran and the Arab states to the south about the name of the Persian Gulf. Iran has relied on historic documents which have called the waterway Persian Gulf, while the Arabs domestically at least call it the Arabian Gulf. So the name was in a way a compromise. But even this small alteration is sufficient to provide our southern neighbors with an important document and evidence for their purposes, and which could lead to colossal negative consequences for Iran, even though the government’s propaganda machinery has claimed a victory for preventing them from using the term Arabian in its name.
One should note that when the new administration came to power the new chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is not recorded to have ever said that he did not accept the views of his predecessors, despite all his criticism of the way his predecessors had pursued the nuclear issue. Imagine what would happen to the world and relations among countries if new governments rejected outright what their predecessors had said or undertaken. The Islamic Republic too has recognized the agreements and arrangements made by the monarchy and the government’s position on Bahrain is a clear example, despite the remarks by a cleric in the early days of the Republic who made territorial claims on the island, whose independence was recognized by Iran in the seventies following its referendum. Similarly Saddam Hussein could not get the agreement of the Islamic Republic in its drive to abrogate the 1975 agreement that put a new land and river demarcation between the countries. Similarly Iran’s debts and foreign investments were recognized by foreign governments through the principle of state succession. In light of this, one wonders how to interpret Mr. Saeed Jalili’s recent remarks.
Mr. Ahmadinejad seems to have an agenda with a daily gush of propaganda surprises, regardless of their impact on the country’s national security. He seems to believe that these shockers can be translated into national pride! His approach is similar to the late ayatollah Khomeini’s, after whose death Le Monde wrote about his three million man funeral procession, “The final bombshell of a man who shocked the world for ten years.”
The first time the unconventional views of Iran’s revolutionaries about world issues reached the public was when former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and British officials who met the ayatollah on the outskirts of Paris reported these back to their respective countries. And of course this brought about unconventional responses from them as well. But many subsequent events only confirmed this trend, i.e. that what they are witnessing is a new regime with new tools and methods to advance its interests and interact with the world, none of which had any records or precedents in the national archives of the West. And as Western observers, analysts, politicians and statesmen were searching for answers, more shocks came out of the pipeline. The take over of the US embassy in Tehran, the failure of the hostage rescue mission, the secret trips of Iranian officials to Europe over the hostage issue and other desires, the abandonment of the Iranian elements recruited to provide logistical support in the hostage rescue mission, are among the numerous shockers provided by Iranians. Among the greatest most recent ones is when the CIA discovered and announced that the young man who had just been elected the new President of Iran was the very same person who had been present at the US embassy in Tehran when it was run over by the so called students in 1980 and argued over first taking over the Russian rather than the US embassy first.
The other shock worth mentioning is about the participation of Iran’s president in a meeting of an organization which the Iranian national radio and television, among other state run propaganda agencies, proudly claims to be the “Persian Gulf Cooperation Council”, while photographs and the large emblem hanging over the head of Mr. Ahmadinejad read “The Arabian Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”
This is not an insignificant event and we may soon see others making reference to it. The President’s supporters have proclaimed it a victory that they had succeeded in changing the name of this regional grouping. State run Keyhan newspaper has even called for a national holiday on the victory. It called for a similar celebration when the Caspian Sea littoral states met in Tehran and claimed that the fact that the event was held in Tehran was a great victory. Regarding the GCC meeting in Doha, Keyhan said the meeting was thumbing the nose at the organizers of the meeting in Annapolis in the US. The newspaper then asked, with the conference in Doha, could an alliance be expected between the Arabs and the US against Iran. It continues to argue that while the Arab invitation of Ahmadinejad to the GCC meeting does not signal the resolution of all outstanding issues between the southern Arab states and Iran, it is a great leap towards this end, at the same time indicating the failure of the US to widen the gap between Iran and the Arabs while not being an alliance among the Islamic states either. And while the US is committed to isolate Iran, it continues, it should be noted that it will never be able to stop Iran from remaining and perhaps even growing as a powerful Islamic symbol in the Middle East and the world. The path to defeating Iran is getting narrow by the day.
But while Keyhan does not expect a response to its claims, it may be said that, “An alliance against Iran has already been formed because of Ahmadinejad’s policies. Iran’s greatness has nothing to do with any specific government or regime and this prevents the Arab sheikhs from executing their wishes. But you have taken every possible action to weaken Iran, none of which will be effective. What the Arab nations saw of Iran a few days ago is that its government hides from its people the fact that its President participated in a meeting in Doha out of fear of its own people. You can lie as much as you like but by going to those who are taking away gas from South Pars fields in the Persian Gulf, and who will not diminish their claims on the three islands in the waterway, you will not change their claims. And what is more is that you are even proposing to provide the water and gas needs of these very people. One must ask you, why do they get preference over the Iranian people in the south who lack similar basics. Is this what they deserve for defending their motherland in a bloody war a quarter of a century ago?
Flattery surrounds the current Administration and Hamid Reza Taraghi’s (belonging to an official of the Hezbe Motalefe) is exemplary, when he writes, “In view of the fact that this council is primarily in the hands of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the invitation that they extended to the President of the Islamic Republic is an indication that they have accepted Iran as a neighboring member and also that the name of the waterway is the Persian Gulf, signaling their retreat from their previous position vis-à-vis Iran.”
Even Khomeini had in his talks said that the differences and purpose that those in power, and his supporters had, was because of their own personal greed and goals, and had nothing to do with Islam. Similarly, when current authorities make humongous claims of advancing national interest, they are in fact simply pursuing their personal goals and ambitions.
posted by masoudbehnoud at 6:17 PM
