By Ali Naqipour
TEHRAN- Iran’s drone and missile attacks on Israel, which were purely in response to Israel’s strike on an Iranian diplomatic premise in Syria, drew reactions from some Western countries.
A few of these reactions, such as the one by Italy and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, were moderate.
However, some of the reactions, especially those by Britain, Germany and France, were stinging, quite hypocritical and one-sided.
Josep Borrell, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that the European Union strongly condemns Iran's attacks on Israel.
"This is an unprecedented escalation and a grave threat to regional security," Borrell wrote on his X account.
Borrell is generally considered a moderate and rational figure. However, he went to the extreme on Iran’s legitimate response to Israel’s provocative and unlawful act of attacking the Iranian consulate which resulted in the death of seven Iranian military advisors.
In fact, it was Israel that triggered the attack by targeting the Iranian diplomatic building and causing an “unprecedented escalation”.
President Joe Biden also said the United States’ commitment to Israel's security against threats from Iran is “ironclad."
Of course, nobody expects the U.S. to reprimand Israel. As Noam Chomsky has said, Israel is considered an American state. If it had not been for Washington’s blind support for Israel over these several decades, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would have probably been resolved long years ago. 42 times the U.S. has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions in favor of Israel.
Since Israel launched the airstrike on the Iranian consulate on April 1 that forced Iran to say that it would not let this provocative act go unpunished, Biden has regularly said Washington’s support for Israel is “Ironclad”.
Guterres took a middle ground and called for an immediate cessation of these hostilities. "Neither the region nor the world can afford another war," he warned in his statement.
"I am deeply alarmed about the very real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation. I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East," the statement said.
Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani mentioned that he is in close contact with the ambassadors in Tehran and Tel Aviv, adding, "We have spoken with the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister. The government is prepared to handle any scenario."
However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose country is responsible for creating Israel on the stolen Palestinian lands through the 1917 Balfour Declaration, took the toughest stance against Iran.
"I condemn in the strongest terms the Iranian regime's reckless attack against Israel. Iran has once again demonstrated that it is intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard," Sunak said.
Contrary to what Sunak claimed it was Israel that launched a “reckless attack” on the Iranian diplomatic premise in violation of the UN Charter and the Vienna conventions. Iran only responded to Israel’s highly provocative act to possibly prevent more adventurous moves by Israel in the future.
Sunak is not that much idiot not to understand that it is Israel that is “sowing chaos” in the region by ignoring the UN Security Council resolutions adopted to resolve the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that it has been butchering Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for more than six months.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne also said, "France condemns in the strongest terms the attack launched by Iran against Israel. By deciding on such an unprecedented action, Iran is taking a new step in its destabilizing actions and taking the risk of a military escalation."
France must also answer this simple question whether it was really Tehran or Tel Aviv that shot the first bullet. Like other countries, France knows well that it was not the first time that Israel assassinated the Iranian military advisors in Syria and each time Iran showed maximum restraint. However, this time Israel was emboldened and directly targeted Iranian military advisors inside the diplomatic premise. According to international law, diplomatic premises are considered part of a country’s territory, and this brazen attack was like an attack on Iranian territory. There was no guarantee that the extremist government of Netanyahu would not launch direct military attacks on Iranian territory if the Islamic Republic had shown more restraint.
If France and Britain as two permanent members of the UN Security Council really seek a stable and secure Middle East why they did not condemn the Israeli raid on the Iranian consulate on April 1 when the Council held an emergency meeting on the issue?
The language used by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, whose country is acting like a subservient to Israel, and her country, like the United States, is considered complicit in Israeli genocide in Gaza, also made harsh remarks against Iran.
She said, "We strongly condemn the ongoing attack, which could plunge an entire region into chaos…. Israel offers our full solidarity at this time."
That Germany has committed crimes against Jews during the Second World War it is unjustifiable that Berlin refused to condemn the regime’s highly provocative attack on the Iranian consulate and instead emboldened Tel Aviv by expressing “full support” for Israel.
These three European countries claim that they want a stable Middle East, but in practice they are fueling the fire in the region by providing highly sophisticated weapons to Israel even amid the regime’s genocidal acts in Gaza that according to reports have committed about 3000 massacres since October last year.
Likewise, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his nation “unequivocally condemns Iran’s airborne attacks against Israel.”
Issuing a statement, Trudeau added, "We stand with Israel.” He also said, “The Iranian regime’s latest actions will further destabilize the region and make lasting peace more difficult.”
Actually, it was highly expected that Trudeau “unequivocally condemn” Israel for the military attack on the Iranian consulate and killing seven Iranian military advisors. Also, instead of saying that “we stand with Israel” he should have said that his country would stand against any move that goes against the UN charter and international law.
It is comical that the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Canada talk about “lasting peace” in the Middle East. If they had been truthful in their remarks about peace in the region they would have acted quite differently. If so, they would have not given Israel the carte blanche to do whatever it wishes, would not have vetoed all UN Security Council resolutions against Israel, would not have delivered modern arms to commit crimes against Palestinians, would not have refused all peace proposals, and many other disgraceful acts which future generations will find hard to believe.
These words are just empty.
The Canadian prime minister also said, "We support Israel’s right to defend itself and its people from these attacks.” This statement by Trudeau simply greenlights Israel that Canada backs Israel in provoking Iran again while the Islamic Republic had declared that the purpose behind its drone and missile attacks on Israel was only intended to punish the regime for its air raid on the consular section of the Iranian embassy.
All these anti-Iran statements show that certain leaders in the West are extremely hypocritical and deceitful and look at the rest of the world from the prism of their bigoted and chauvinistic views.
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