Iranian threats and policy Field
Not appeasement with the mullahs' regime in Iran
The time has come to reassess, readdress, and readjust the course
of action in Western foreign policy in respect with Iran.
Last year’s nuclear
deal between the international community and Iran, known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has proven flawed on the global
position over human rights and worldwide security.
In fact, after the
JCPOA signing and subsequent United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231,
various institutions, member states, companies, NGOs, think-tanks by the
hundreds, especially from Europe, have engaged in an unprecedented competition
in reaching out to Iran by signing hundreds of MOUs and declarations of
intent while negotiating in practically every field of economic activity.
This trend is continuing with Shell risking political unknowns and signing a preliminary oil agreement with Tehran.
The JCPOA has proven to
be the best opportunity for those who have vested interest in a supposedly
lucrative Iranian market, to spread a distorted and manipulated narrative about
the true nature of the Iranian regime.
According to this
flawed account, Rouhani’s Iran is no longer considered a threat to international
or regional stability. Senior European Union representatives, heads of
government, and ministers put aside all concerns and remained silent when the
very same Iranian officials they meet are seen threatening the West’s allies in
the Middle East, supporting international terrorism, violating human rights and
being involved in crimes against humanity in Syria, Iraq and across the region.
We also should not
forget Iran’s
support for the Lebanese
Hizb’allah and Shiite militias, organized, financed, and led by senior
Revolutionary Guards commanders. These proxy groups are active in the ethnic
cleansing of Sunni communities and religious minorities in Mesopotamia and the
Levant, as we have so unfortunately witnessed recently in Aleppo.
This is the reality and
absurdity of this engagement policy with Iran and every official in this regime.
Such an approach has
emboldened the mullahs to a tremendous extent. It has reinforced their
conviction that Iranian supremacy in the region and crackdown of all dissent at
home is fully acceptable to their Western interlocutors.
Citizens of the West
should remind their leaders, civil societies, journalists and media networks,
of their responsibilities. We are all morally obligated to support the
promotion of human rights throughout the world.
What is the practical
action that the West in general should undertake with Iran? Underscore human
rights and fundamental freedoms, and very importantly, include in all
agreements on trade and cooperation with Iran a clause on human rights. This
standpoint stipulates that human rights are central to Tehran’s relations with
the West.
While the West has been
busy reaching out to normalize relations with Iran, the mullahs in Tehran have
reacted quite strangely, coldly to say the least. Important voices within the
regime have actually expressed their distaste:
“If the E.U. wants to
establish close contacts with human rights advocates so they can ensure the
process of human rights implementation, they should know that the judicial
system in Iran would definitely not allow such a nest of corruption to be
established in Iran,” said Mohammad Javad Larijani, head of the Iranian Judiciary
Human Rights Council, said in relation to the EU opening a branch office in
Tehran.
Concerning the human
rights situation in Iran, time and again the United Nations secretary-general
has issued damning reports expressing grave concerns about the
mullahs’ practices, and there is no need for elaboration.
The international
community should end its policy of providing concessions to the regime in Iran. Silence in
the face of the Iranian regime’s crimes inside the country and throughout the
Middle East must come to an end. The Iranian people’s quest for freedom
deserves respect.
Even for those seeking
relations with the mullahs, the issue of respecting human rights should be a
central subject in meetings and agreements on aid and economic trade relations
with Iran.
Any further economic or
political progress involving the Iranian regime must be firmly linked to
a credible improvement of the human rights situation. Otherwise, this will
only render human rights a victim of trade and realpolitik.
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