Afghanistan crisis: Stop treating Iran like a pariah – Yorkshire Post Letters

CONGRATULATIONS on your coverage of the Afghanistan tragedy. This tragedy won’t be resolved soon, and much depends on Afghanistan’s big neighbours Pakistan, China – and pariah nation Iran.

British newspapers reinforce Iran’s unjust reputation, not by what they say but by what they don’t. Sadly your latest piece on Iran (The Yorkshire Post, August 18) follows this pattern.

The report admirably explains the 2015 nuclear deal, created to prevent Iran making nuclear weapons. This deal was agreed between Iran and the five UN Security Council permanent members.

Now let’s add some context. The deal was claimed to strengthen the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under which nuclear “have-not” nations agreed not to acquire nuclear weapons, while “have” nations agreed to reduce stockpiles towards zero. Most “have-not” nations respect the treaty. Most “have” nations don’t, and maintain large stockpiles. Our government plans to increase ours by 40 per cent.

So five “have” nations, led (until 2018) by the only nation which has actually used nuclear weapons, have high-mindedly censured and impoverished a “have-not” nation which hasn’t made a bomb and says it doesn’t intend to. Meanwhile “have-nots” India, Pakistan and Israel have made bombs, yet still enjoy US support. And this grotesque situation is considered normal!

Why then is Iran unjustly targeted? “An Iranian bomb would threaten Israel!” No – but it would threaten Israel’s regional nuclear dominance, vital to the US.

Then there are Iran’s oil reserves, and its defiance of US supremacy, which explain its appalling treatment at US hands. Since 1945 the US has overthrown a democratic Iranian government, propped up the Shah’s reign of terror, backed Iraq’s unprovoked war on Iran, and more. Iran has done none of these things to the USA. But it is Iran that is called “pariah”.

Yes, the Iranian regime is oppressive, but a nation is not made tolerant by being persecuted. And now we must depend on Iran’s co-operation.

Will we get it? Perhaps. Do we deserve it? No. I should admit finally that I was deplorably ignorant of Iran back in 1961, when I was working for the Pentagon in Washington DC and was, coincidentally, invited to a riotous and beautiful party at the Iranian Embassy, where I even shook hands with the Shah’s son-in-law, then the ambassador.

He was later relieved of both roles, but that’s another story.

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