Israel is a threat, not Iran

by Dr Moonis Ahmar

Contrary to the propaganda of the western media, the danger to the peace and security of Muslim countries, if not the whole world, is the illegal Zionist regime, rather than the Islamic Republic.

The following is an analysis in this regard by Dr Moonis Ahmar that appeared in Pakistan’s ‘The Express Tribune’, titled: “Israel is a threat, not Iran”.

The US-dominated Warsaw conference on ‘Peace and Security in the Middle East’ held last week was more an attempt to isolate Iran than focus on the real threat to peace and security in the region, that is, Israel.

At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Rajab Tayyeb Erdoghan met in the Russian resort of Sochi to counter the American drive to economically cripple Tehran by re-imposition of its illegal sanctions after Washington violated and withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal of 2015.

The Iranian president while commenting on the Warsaw conference rightly observed, “We see what’s happening in Warsaw. It’s an empty result, nothing.”

Forty years ago, the outbreak of anti-American and anti-monarchic revolution in Iran, which dismantled the two-pillar policy of the US in the Persian Gulf, led to far reaching geopolitical changes in West, South and Central Asia, as well as North Africa.

From being ruled by a pro-American client regime, the system of government in Iran took a 180 degree shift and became a bulwark against US hegemony while pursuing a policy to counter Israel’s mischief. Iran survived the US-led campaign to topple the revolutionary government and emerged as the paramount power in the West Asian region.

From any standpoint, it is Israel and not Iran which is a threat to the Arab and the Muslim world. Unlike Israel, which has annexed Syria’s Golan Heights and Islam’s 3rd holiest city Bayt al-Moqaddas in addition to occupying the Palestinian territory of the West Bank of River Jordan and besieging Gaza, Iran is not involved in any acts of aggression.

Israel has refused to comply with the UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 which were passed after the June 1967 and the October 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, calling upon the Zionist regime to withdraw from the occupied areas. Then why is it so that the focus of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Egypt and Jordan, is not to liberate Arab areas from the Israeli occupation but to confront Iran?

The bashing of Iran has caused enormous harm to Muslim unity and the Palestinian cause. Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in February 1979 till today, Iran has been consistent in its support to the Palestinian struggle for emancipation.

Instead of taking Iran along with them, most Arab countries tend to fall into the trap of the US and Israel to try to isolate Iran and destabilise its system of government.

Israel, and not Iran, is a major threat to the Arab-Muslim world because of three main reasons. First, Iranian support for the liberation of Palestine from the clutches of Zionist occupation is without any shadow of doubt.

Iran has practically supported the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other independence-seeking groups whereas no other country has come to salvage millions of Palestinians who are a victim of Israeli aggression and occupation since the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Before the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, The British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi regime had cordial diplomatic relations with Israel but the first policy decision which was taken by the custodians of the Islamic Revolution was to cut ties with the Zionist regime and provide practical support to the Palestinian struggle for emancipation.

Second, it is American bias, hostility and paranoia against the Islamic Republic and has led to a consistent US policy to try to isolate Iran except during the second term of the then American president, Barack Obama, which paved the way for signing a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 and the gradual lifting of US sanctions against Tehran.

The US-Israeli nexus has been instrumental in pushing Arab regimes turn against Iran and deviate from their prime responsibility of liberation of occupied Arab areas and formation of an independent Palestinian state, with Bayt al-Moqaddas as its capital.

Third, while the US is raising a hue and cry over Iran’s so-called nuclear ambitions and has asked European powers, particularly France and Germany, to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, it has totally disregarded the fact that in the West Asia-North Africa region it is only Israel which is a nuclear state.

Washington’s uneven policy on nuclear proliferation is a cause of major conflicts in the Muslim world. The 2015 nuclear deal had ensured Tehran’s commitment for capping its peaceful nuclear programme as a quid pro quo for the lifting of US sanctions against Iran.

Unfortunately, it is not Iran but the Trump administration which has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed the illegal sanctions on Tehran.

Calls to try to isolate Iran will be counter-productive because such a policy will deepen anti-Americanism in the Middle East. Despite 40 years of efforts to isolate Iran and destabilise its system of government, Iran has been able to withstand such pressures and maintain its influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and parts of Yemen.

The US used the Warsaw Conference for ‘Iran bashing’ and thus giving the Zionist regime space despite its occupation of Arab areas, including al-Aqsa Mosque. Representatives from the Arab world sat for a dinner in the Royal Castle in Warsaw with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu who is responsible for destroying the Oslo peace process and unleashing a reign of terror in Gaza and the West Bank.

Netanyahu brazenly bragged in Warsaw of what he alleged “the unusual force, clarity and unity against the common threat of Iran”. On the other hand, US Vice-President Mike Pence criticised Europe for not supporting American sanctions against Iran, calling such a policy “an ill-advised step that will further strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and create still more distance between Europe and the United States.” He said: “The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us”.

However, Germany which is a core member of the European Union and Europe’s strongest economic power rejected American rhetoric on Iran when German Foreign Ministry official Niels Annen said, “Europe is not divided on the issue of Iran. Europe supports the nuclear accord with Iran.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, while speaking at the Munich security conference held after Warsaw, made it clear, “Together with the British, French and the entire EU, we have found ways to keep Iran in the nuclear agreement until today.”

Realistically speaking, the Arab threat perception in West Asia is totally misplaced because it is Israel and not Iran which is a major threat in the region with its nuclear weapons and carrying out brutal atrocities against the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank. Its military involvement in Syria and Lebanon with the support of the US is another manifestation of its aggressive and militaristic ambitions in the region.

Certainly, much harm has been caused to the Palestinian struggle by compromising with Israel. It is a matter of regret that not one word expressing solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for emancipation was uttered in Warsaw conference and there was a mum over Israeli policy to inundate West Bank with illegal Jewish settlements and shifting their capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – as the western media calls the Zionist occupied Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas.