Arm-twisting tactics

U.S. SANCTIONS ON IRAN

JOHN CHERIAN

The unilateral sanctions imposed against Iran by the United States kick in, but major European Union countries are looking for alternative ways of trading with Iran.

The draconian sanctions that were reinstated by the Donald Trump administration against Iran came into force in the first week of November. Trump administration officials described it as the “biggest sanctions action ever” the United States government has implemented against Iran so far. The new sanctions specifically target more than 700 Iranian entities. They include banks, companies, the national carrier Iran Air, Iranian shipping, and high-level officials and businessmen.

Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, described the U.S. action as “an act of war” from which his country would emerge triumphant. He vowed that his country would not succumb “to the language of force, pressure and threats” even as he expressed confidence about Iran’s ability to defeat “the economic war” being waged by the U.S. Soon after the sanctions went into force, Iran test-fired a barrage of new short-range missiles. It was part of a large military exercise and a signal of Tehran’s defiance. Among the Trump administration’s demands is that Iran give up its missile defence programme.

Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State and a long-standing Iran baiter, said that the only option Iran had was “to either do a 180 degree turn” from its current policies or see “its economy crumble”. Pompeo said Washington would continue with its policy of “maximum pressure” until Tehran bowed to the diktats of the Trump administration. The other key demands from the U.S. are that Iran end its support to the Syrian government and the Hizbollah in Lebanon.

The European Union (E.U.) and some of the U.S’ close allies have been critical of President Trump’s decision to scuttle the landmark U.S.-Iran nuclear deal of 2015. The nuclear agreement, as the Iranians point out, was signed not just by the U.S. but also by five other countries—Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany. All these countries stand solidly behind the accord and have criticised Trump’s decision to scrap it. The United Nations Security Council had also approved unanimously the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the reimposition of sanctions would only lead to the further isolation of the U.S. in the international community.

The U.S. has alternately threatened and cajoled key countries to stop all oil imports from Iran by the unilateral November deadline it had set. Top Trump officials such as Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis had paid visits to New Delhi in order to persuade India to adhere to the sanctions, including the purchase of oil and gas. India’s National Security Adviser, N.K. Doval, was in Washington recently to meet senior Trump administration officials to plead for a “special waiver”. The U.S. had also threatened to impose sanctions against India on the purchase of the S-400 missile defence systems from Russia. India and China are the two biggest buyers of Iranian oil.

Six-month waiver

The Trump administration finally gave “a six-month waiver” to both countries along with South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Italy, Greece and Taiwan. Under the terms of the waiver, all these countries have to start progressively reducing the import of Iranian oil during the six-month period. Pompeo, while announcing the granting of the temporary waiver, said Washington was determined to bring down Iranian oil exports to “zero” in the near future. He also said the countries that were given waivers had already slashed their oil imports from Iran. According to him, countries that had been given waivers had promised to further cut down oil imports from Iran in the coming months.

Pompeo, however, admitted that an important reason for the waiver was to avoid a spike in global oil prices. Pompeo and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin bragged to the American media that because of U.S. sanctions more than 200 foreign firms had ceased to do business in Iran and around 20 nations had stopped the import of Iranian oil even before the sanctions took effect. Iranian oil exports have, in fact, fallen by 40 per cent. Oil is the main source of foreign exchange for Iran. In the past couple of months, the Iranian currency has lost more than 50 per cent of its value. The U.S. has not yet imposed sanctions on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT). It wants all Iranian banks to be excluded from SWIFT.

China said it would not be bulldozed into complying with the U.S. sanctions against Iran. Russia’s Energy Minister, Alexander Novak, said Moscow considered the U.S. sanctions on Iran illegal. India, on the other hand, drastically cut its oil imports from Iran. All the privately owned Indian companies were quick to comply with Washington’s demands. Most observers, however, are of the view that India and China will never completely stop buying Iranian oil.

The Iranians had politely warned the Indian side that there would be a price to pay if it completely capitulated to the Trump administration. Cooperation in the Chabahar port, which India and Iran are jointly developing, could have been a casualty. According to reports, the Indian side had to work overtime to gain the “waiver” on Chabahar. The Afghan government, too, lobbied with Washington to exempt Chabahar from sanctions. New Delhi and Kabul, according to the reports, were successful in convincing the Trump administration that Chabahar was India’s gateway to Central Asia and an access to Afghanistan via Iran.

Gateway to Central Asia

India and Iran are not only bound by a shared history and culture. Iran is the gateway for the lucrative Central Asian market and beyond. Iran will have a key role to play in the events unfolding fast in Afghanistan and in the wider region. The country shares a long border with Pakistan. Relations between Tehran and Islamabad have got a little tense following the recent serious terrorist incidents in Iran. Iran has blamed Sunni insurgents who have a base across the border in Pakistan for the incidents. It is in India’s national interest to maintain good relations with Iran, which shares borders with both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iran is also a leading member of the Non-Aligned Movement.

India should have adopted a much tougher stance against the Trump administration’s unilateral and foolhardy decision on Iran, like the Europeans did. Major E.U. countries such as Germany, France and Britain are looking for alternative ways of trading with Iran. There are reports that a special clearing house designed to allow European companies to trade with Iran is being set up. This will allow them to bypass the U.S. sanctions against Iran. The clearing house, known as a special purpose vehicle (SPV), is being created specifically to assure Iran that the Europeans continue to support the nuclear deal and will go on expanding business ties with the country. The Iranians want the Europeans to accelerate the setting up of the SPV.

Many European firms such as Total and Airbus, meanwhile, pulled out of deals they had signed with Iran, citing fears of secondary U.S. sanctions. Many European governments felt that the imposition of secondary sanctions by the U.S. government in pursuit of its foreign policy goals was a clear illustration of economic imperialism. The E.U’s Foreign Affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said that trade between the E.U. and Iran was “a fundamental aspect of Iran’s right to have an economic advantage in exchange for what they have done so far, which is being compliant with all their nuclear-related commitments”. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reiterated that Iran has been in full compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal it signed in 2015.

In a joint statement, the E.U. Foreign Policy chief, along with the Foreign and Economic Ministers of Britain, France and Germany, said that they “deeply regret” the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran and that they would set up an SPV soon. The statement pledged to implement the nuclear deal, saying that it was a question “of respecting international agreements and of our shared international security”. On the Iran issue at least, the Europeans seem to be working in tandem with Russia and China. Russia has said that it will continue to buy and sell oil from Iran to third countries.

Fake terrorism plots

Meanwhile, moves are afoot in Europe to drag Iran into “false flag” terror acts. The Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, is working overtime to implicate Iran in fake terrorism plots. The government of Denmark, without providing any convincing evidence, said that Iran was involved in the hatching of an assassination plot against a leader of an Arab separatist group living in that country. In September, the Daesh (Islamic State) had carried out a terrorist attack in Khuzestan province in Iran, killing 30 people. The Arab separatist movement, whose leader is based in Denmark, had initially claimed credit for the September 22 terrorist attack. Iran’s Foreign Ministry had summoned the Ambassadors of Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain in Tehran after the attack. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said “it was unacceptable” that members of terrorist groupings were given safe haven there.

The French government provides sanctuary to many leaders of the Iranian group Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK). Although it is still on the terrorist list of many Western governments, it has become a favourite of the Trump administration. Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton has been very close to the group for decades and has featured as a keynote speaker in many of its international conferences. The MEK these days is being projected by the Trump administration as an alternative to the Islamic government in Tehran.

The new sanctions have already adversely impacted the poorer sections of Iranian society. Life-saving drugs and medical equipment are once again in short supply. Firms manufacturing life-saving drugs are reluctant to do business with Iran fearing the reach of the U.S. government. But the Iranian government is confident that it will be able to weather the sanctions this time too.

The last round of sanctions did not inhibit the exercise of its foreign policy. The U.N. sanctions on Iran lasted from 2006 to 2015. These sanctions in that period had broad international support but did not inhibit the spread of Iranian influence in the region. This time the U.S. is isolated as even its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies are trying to salvage the Iran deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Revelation does not replace Human Reason

Sayyid Haidar Hassanain 

A common and dangerous misconception is that Revelation (Al-Wahy) is here in order to push man’s reason (Al-`Aql) out of the arena. While such a thought may never have passed our minds with this exact wording, some of us have subconsciously accepted this notion. And this misunderstanding often becomes evident during discussions on religion.

The way we understand religion is extremely important.

What is the definition of religion?

What is the purpose of religion?

Do I actually need it? If so, then to what extent?

These are crucial questions which, if a religious person fails to answer for himself satisfactorily, hardly leaves anything of the religion for him than a collection of empty rituals.

The question that we’d like to pose is one piece of this puzzle:

Has Revelation come to replace man’s Reason?

The common view of today’s secular society is that this is absolutely the case. A person who wishes to follow Revelation and be religious must bid goodbye to his Reason and a person wishing to be rational must say farewell to religion.

This is a notion that even the religious in such societies have themselves accepted. When promoting religious faith, they tell others to ‘take a leap of faith’, in other words to ‘believe’ without the use of Reason. Because the path of Revelation is other than the path of Reason.

So both secularists and the religious sing from the same script. Both believe that the paths of Reason and Revelation are two sworn enemies.

Do you know why this is the case?

This commonly accepted belief is the result of a history spanning over a milennium. Its roots lie in the Dark Ages in which the Church held absolute authority over every aspect of people’s lives. Scientific progress was forbidden and the use of human reason when it came to the Sacred Scripture was blasphemous. The Renaissance turned this equation on its head. However, there is an important piece to this puzzle which is often conveniently ignored: that this is the history of Western Europe. And Western Europe is not the entire world.

It was precisely during the Dark Ages that the Muslim world was leading the world in scientific progress. And if Europe has made intellectual and technological progress, it is indebted to the world of Islām. It was while Muslims were religious that they were making progress and it is when they put religion aside that they became victim to Colonialism which plunged the Muslim world back into an era resembling that of the European Dark Ages.

This is a short History behind this commonly accepted belief. What is excruciatingly painful is that many Muslims themselves have accepted this notion with respect to Islām (which is a religion at the end of the day), completely unaware of their magnificent heritage. This painful fact should be enough to make a person cry blood in place of tears.

What does Islām actually say about Human Reason?

Let us examine the most authentic source of Islām, the Noble Qur’ān, to find its view on the subject of Human Reason.

1. ‘…Allāh places impurity on those who do not use their reason’ (10:100)

Not using one’s Reason makes one impure. There is a connection between spiritual purity and Reason. Reason leads man to inward purity. Reason is the guide in man’s spiritual journey.

2. ‘And when it is said to them: ‘follow what Allāh has sent down’, they say, ‘we will rather follow what we found our fathers following.’ What, even if their fathers did not apply reason and were not guided?!’ (2:170)

Man’s Reason begins to develop close to the time of reaching puberty. It is then that this gem which was hidden within his soul begins to be uncovered. Before reaching puberty (during childhood) the human being simply accepts what he sees and hears from the people around him. Therefore children are not punished by Allāh for the mistakes that they make.

However, when the voice of man’s reason begins to speak… it is then that the human being cannot say ‘I do this action because of my parents/traditions’ etc

All that he has witnessed and accepted till that point must then be weighed in the Balance of Reason.

The Qur’ān speaks to man as a being who possesses Reason. Therefore the view that the only role of Human Reason is to lead man to the Door of Revelation, and to depart him thereafter, cannot be justified. Had that been the case, Revelation would not address man’s reason and demand him to use it. Rather it would ask him to silence it. No such notion is to be found in the Qur’ān.

3. ‘The example of the faithless is like someone who shouts after that which does not hear [anything] except a call and cry: (they are) deaf, dumb and blind, they do not apply reason’ (2:171)

Faith is linked with Reason: it is those who do not have faith who do not use Reason. Because Reason guides man to Faith. This is the absolute opposite of the notion prevalent in secular societies. In the eyes of Islām, one cannot acquire Faith without Reason.

4. ‘Surely the worst of beasts in the sight of Allāh are the deaf and the dumb who do not apply reason’ (8:22)

The worst of all creatures in Allāh’s sight are human beings who have Reason but do not use it. Such people are further from guidance than animals and plants. Animals and plants have not been given Reason so there is no blame on them for not using it.

If a thirsty person in the desert dies of thirst, no one can blame him. But if a person standing beside a river dies of thirst… what would you say about him?!

The human being has been honoured above other forms of creation with the blessing of Reason. And if he does not use this blessing, he has been extremely ungrateful for what Allāh has given him.

5. ‘He placed the night and the day for you, and the sun, the moon and the stars are disposed by His command. There are indeed signs in that for a people who use Reason’ (16:12)

All people witness day and night. Everyone sees the sun, moon and stars. But only those who use their Reason will recognise that these are all signs of Allāh, pointing man towards Him. Only those who use their Reason will understand the meaning behind these wonderful forms of creation.

6. ‘Have they not travelled through the earth that they may have hearts with which to reason…?’ (22:46)

There is a connection between the heart and Reason. The way of Love and Reason is one. The purity of one’s heart affects how clearly a person can reason. An impure heart does not reason correctly. This is the absolute opposite of the idea which Disney feeds our children from that tender age: that in his journey through life man is compelled to choose between the voice of his reason and the yearning of his heart.

7. ‘Do you think most of them listen or use their Reason?!’ (25:44)

Human beings who use their Reason are a minority and most people are not people of Reason. Therefore a person who wants to use his Reason must not expect that everyone else around him will also use theirs. The tragedy of the human being is exactly this: Allāh places man beside a river and man dies of thirst!

These were just some of the numerous verses of the Qur’ān in which Human Reason is mentioned. And this is apart from the verses calling on man to ponder and contemplate.

One of the reasons that we are prone to false thoughts and ideas is our distance from the sources of Islām. Therefore the enemy succedes in perverting our understanding of the very religion we think we are following.

In his letter to the youth in Western countries, Imām Khāmene’ī asked the youth whether they had learned about Islām from a source other than the Zionist media. He invited the youth to learn about Islām by reading the Qur’ān for themselves.

But have we done that ourselves as Muslims?

Is our understanding of Islām based on the Qur’ān, or the traditions we see our families following, or the views of modern secular society?

Europe's hollow threats

By Mohammad Ghaderi

TEHRAN, Sep. 12 (MNA) – Although there has recently been lots of controversies on issues such as developing an "independent payment system" Europe and a "pseudo-swift structure" to maintain the nuclear deal with Iran, many analysts and experts in economic affairs believe that there's no real intention to actualize this idea among the EU authorities.

In the meantime, there are deterrent factors that have hampered European independence from the United States, and it seems that these factors are now highlighted under the presidency of Donald Trump.

The fact is that European politicians, and especially the current generation of European rulers act as the main barrier in this way. While some left-wing and Social-Democrats are about to put the idea into practice, some politicians such as the  German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and the British Prime Minister Theresa May are opposed to this idea.

They were committed to maintaining Europe's economic and security dependence on Washington. However, the key question is whether the European countries will succeed on this path or not? Is there really a will to develop an independent payment system from the United States in Europe? The answer to this question is negative!

One of the most important prerequisites for the formation of an "independent payment system in Europe" is the consensus of the right-wing and left-wing parties on this issue. However, the European officials don't seem to have such intention. On the contrary, they have become major obstacles to realizing this goal themselves.

It's interesting that such a fact has been taken into consideration by many Western sources. For example, Foreign Policy writes in this regard:

“What’s different today is that the US is imposing sanctions contrary to the foreign policies not just of Russia and China, which have long chafed against the sanctions tool, but against the fundamental foreign policy of our closest allies in Europe and elsewhere,” Smith said. “That is what has brought us to this situation.”

It continues; "with their access to the US financial system hanging in the balance, European banks know that, in the end, the EU must satisfy Trump’s demands to fix the deal or be prepared to fully comply when US sanctions return."

Recently, the Chancellor of Germany has announced her opposition to the creation of an independent payment system in Europe (to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Angela Merkel believes that the US-EU security relationship is a priority and this should be considered in all the EU calculations! In other words, the German Chancellor has actually preferred "to play on the US ground", and this she considers above all other options including "Europe's financial independence from the United States."

Theresa May, the British prime minister, has exactly the same opinion. She believes that, instead of confronting Trump's financial and economic policies, and even its illegal measures such as the White House's withdrawal from then nuclear deal, Europe should think about holding negotiations and interactions with Washington!

As for the French President Emmanuel Macron, his policies suggest that he has a strong desire to interact with United States under any conditions! In 2017 and during the joint-American-European Project on changing the JCPOA, he played an extremely important and highlighted role, though Trump had eventually pulled out of the nuclear deal.

Finally, it should be noted that the main obstacle to "Europe's independence from the United States" are the European authorities. As long as the current generation of European politicians are in office, such independence (in terms of security and finance) won't be actualized. When it comes to Iran sanctions, the EU seeks to satisfy Trump’s demands, and this a rule which is not going to change.