John Steppling: Zarif More Popular in America after US Sanctions

TEHRAN (FNA)- John Steppling, American philosopher, says with Washington’s move to sanction Iran’s Top Diplomat, people of America cannot help but comparing Zarif as an intellectual statesman, dignified and articulate with the US Administration’s people like Bolton, Pompeo or even Trump himself.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with FNA, Steppling said although “the Trump government is failing, and increasing the bellicosity of their rhetoric… [However] there is a growing sense, almost subconscious, in the US that Iran is not the enemy”.

He further added the counter result can be a positive sign, showing that “all the attempts to bully the world are suddenly not working.”

John Steppling is an American philosopher an author, based in Norway. His articles appear in various media and news outlets.

Below is the full text of the interview:

Q: It has been revealed that Zarif has declined an invitation to the White House in his July trip. A few weeks later, the White House sanctioned him. How do you view the development?

A: The real issue here is much broader. Trump and his administration do all kinds of unprecedented and irrational things. Many of his statements are almost nonsensical. There is a clear tension in the upper echelon of the US state. Mike Pompeo is a very dangerous man. First because he is a zealot, and second a zealot who imagines himself the smartest guy in the room...any room. He is, in fact, a very pedestrian thinker. It does not matter how influential Bolton is at this point, because Pompeo is the voice that matters here. Both of these men (and a number of others close to them, like Brian Hook for example, and Gina Haspel) are almost fanatical in their hatred of Iran. So stigmatizing Zarif, or calling the Revolution Guard terrorists is just theatre in a sense. The real issues are the lack of international support for the US in its targeting of Iran. When Germany refused to participate in the so called mission...navel mission...there was a sense in NATO that the other shoe would soon drop. The US appears very weak right now and that is scary, but in another sense it is perhaps a positive sign. It means that all the attempts to bully the world are suddenly not working.

Q: What is the nature of the US move to sanction the Foreign Minister of a country?

A: I think it is just a kind of dysfunctional administration where many people of high rank are at odds with each other. Of course ultimately the ruling class have the same goals, but this is a time of great unrest globally. We see global fascism rising but there is another sense that the tactic of intimidation, used by the US, by the Saudis too, and Israel, has lost some of its power. The US has still not solved how to get rid of Assad and no amount of propaganda against him has really worked. Many Americans think he is a ruthless dictator, but a surprising number do not believe it, and same with Iran. There is a growing sense, almost subconscious, in the US that Iran is not the enemy. They have done nothing. Zarif is the very image of an intellectual statesmen, dignified and articulate. And people, even if not quite able to articulate this, sense this and they cannot help but compare a Zarif with a Bolton or Pompeo or Trump himself. Of course it is also election season in the US and strange events tend to become easier during this madness. For example, even if the US surrounds Iran with military bases, they still cannot solve what to do with Iran. You have many countries (let’s point to Pakistan and Turkey which border Iran, but Russia too and others) which are going to make a unilateral attack by the US very difficult to achieve. Others, too, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and even Iraq have all indicated they will not follow US diktats. So the Trump government is failing and increasing the bellicosity of their rhetoric, but in the end what are they going to do?

Saudi Extremism A Main Factor behind Spread of Islamophobia: US Analyst

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An American political commentator highlighted Saudi Arabia's major role in spreading extremist ideas that have led to Islamophobia in the world and said Saudis "export the most virulent nihilistic kind of extremism one can find" which is used by the West.

"Well, sure, one important factor (behind the spread of Islamophobia) is the role of Saudi Arabia overall," John Steppling, who is based in Norway, told Tasnim in an interview.

"And they (Saudis) export terror. They export the most virulent nihilistic kind of extremism one can find. But it is an extremism that the US and Western capital has made use of when it suits them."

Steppling is a well-known author, playwright and an original founding member of the Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, a two-time NEA recipient, Rockefeller Fellow in theater, and PEN-West winner for playwriting. He is also a regular political commentator for a number of media outlets around the world.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Tasnim: Turkey hosted an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) about "increasing violence based on Islamophobia" in Istanbul a week after the New Zealand mosque attack killed at least 50 Muslims, including children. What do you think about the importance of the emergency meeting and the concerns of the participants?

Steppling: Before I answer about the relevance of the meeting in Turkey, I think it is worth emphasizing the degree of Islamaphobia in the West today. And this relates to the shooting in New Zealand. The shooter was an Australian. And it is important to know that slavery of Aboriginal people was still common throughout the 1950s. And reflecting what happened to Native Americans in the US, the children of Aboriginal families were taken away from the parents and put into "schools". And throughout, nobody paid Aboriginal workers the same as their white counterparts. This also reflected what was going on in the US with black workers. The overt racism of Australian leaders, in particular the odious John Howard, shaped the sensibility of white Australia. In the United States, the fight for civil rights was long and arduous. Martin Luther King was killed, and so was Malcolm X. Two generations of Black Panthers were jailed or murdered by the state. Today, mass incarceration still is overwhelmingly targeting blacks and Latinos. And nearby New Zealand is the island of Tasmania, an island state of Australia, and the site of the most efficient and ruthless genocide of an indigenous population perhaps in history. Not a single descendent of Tasmanian Aboriginals remains. Now this meeting held in Turkey is certainly important if only because it officially responds in some way to the massacre. But remember, the OIC is headquartered in Saudi Arabia. Like all such institutions it is fraught with contradictions.

Tasnim: Brenton Tarrant, the Australian terrorist who carried out the pre-planned attack on two mosques in New Zealand’s Christchurch, penned a 74-page manifesto that he published around the time of the shootings. Revealing his admiration for Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway back in 2011, Tarrant also praised US President Donald Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose." Breivik’s attacks in Norway were described as "lone wolf" domestic terrorist attacks. Some claim that the terror attack in Christchurch was also the same. Can we describe the attack “lone wolf” or you think that an anti-Islam current is behind it?

Steppling: It is always convenient to call a mass shooter a "lone wolf". In some sense, it is often true but in a more important sense, it is never really true. Men like Breivik or Tarrant are shaped by global fascist propaganda. They are the product of that climate I described in Australia. And today across the UK, Australia and the US, you can find national level politicians who are shockingly ignorant about Muslim history and society, just shockingly ignorant, mind-numbingly ignorant. The US president is shockingly ignorant. So are most of the Tory leadership in the UK. One is looking at a rise in global fascism. And the US is leading the way in a propaganda that aims to rehabilitate fascism. And of course, Israel now has major political voices who openly praise fascism.

Tasnim: In your opinion, how can Muslims prevent the spread of Islamophobia? Wahhabism is Saudi Arabia's dominant faith and blamed for the rise of Islamophobia in the world. The ideology is closely linked to extremist ideas that have nothing to do with true Islam. Do you not think that one way to prevent the  Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)?

Steppling: Well, sure, one important factor is the role of Saudi Arabia overall. They are the biggest arms buyers in the Muslim world. They are the darlings of US defense industries. And they export terror. They export the most virulent nihilistic kind of extremism one can find. But it is an extremism that the US and Western capital has made use of when it suits them. The divide today between the advanced white west...the so called "advanced", and the global south, the non-white world, the non-Christian world, grows starker every day. The US has occupied Afghanistan for 18 years. It intends to remain there and in Iraq indefinitely. The US continues to occupy huge chunks of Syria. And on the very day that the shooter attacked the mosques in Christchurch, Israel was bombing Gaza. The Saudis must be stopped. For like Israel, the House of Saud is regional muscle for the Imperialist USA. Regime change is possible anyway as on several levels the royal family there has used up its value to the West. But for the Islamic world, I think it is high time to start challenging Saudi power.

US Knows It Cannot Afford Direct Confrontation with Iran: American Analyst

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The “hawks” in the Donald Trump administration are fully aware that their country “cannot afford” any direct military confrontation with the Islamic Republic, an American political commentator said.

“…They (American hawks) know also, the US cannot afford a direct confrontation with Iran,” John Steppling, who is based in Norway, told the Tasnim News Agency in an interview.

“So I don't see anything happening right away,” he said, adding, “And Trump has a lot of other problems at the moment.”

Steppling is a well-known author, playwright and an original founding member of the Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, a two-time NEA recipient, Rockefeller Fellow in theater, and PEN-West winner for playwriting. He is also a regular political commentator for a number of media outlets around the world.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Tasnim: As you know, the US government’s hostility toward Iran has recently entered a new stage. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has formed a dedicated group to coordinate and run the country's policy towards Iran following US President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. Pompeo announced the creation of the Iran Action Group (IAG) at a news conference, naming Brian Hook, the Department of State's director of policy planning, as its head. What do you think about the group and its objectives and do you think that it would be able to reach its goals?

Steppling: It’s amazing when you think about it, that the entire narrative since the last election in the US has been about Russian interference in the political process. The whole story is fictitious but that hasn't stopped it becoming the main storyline for almost all mainstream media. And yet here you have an illegal group that has as its stated goal the overthrow of a sovereign nation. The contradiction is breathtaking, really. But Pompeo is a rabid Islamophobe and a Christian extremist. Still, this was going behind the scenes anyway, now it is out in the open at least.

Tasnim: The Trump administration recently threatened to cut Iranian oil exports to zero, saying that countries must stop buying its oil from Nov. 4 or face financial consequences. Washington later softened its threat, saying that it would allow reduced oil flows of Iranian oil, in certain cases. Since oil is a strategic product and countries around the world always demand it, do you think that the US is able to carry out this threat at all?

Steppling: This is an interesting question. How much will the NATO nations of Europe push back against the Trump decree? I don't know. Clearly, Germany, in particular, is very unhappy. But Europe basically functions as a series of vassal states to the US. They will do what they are told in the end. I think more likely is that this whole embargo is just too much trouble for the Trump administration. There is an interesting question looming in just how much of the Pentagon and CIA focus is on how Iran, how much on China, and how much on Russia. Each is a different problem from the perspective of the US I think Trump, personally, fears China the most. They have the economic upper hand. But the real crime for any official US enemy is independence. Look at China, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, the DPRK, Syria, and Cuba. Each rejects US imperialist aims. Each rejects Western capital and all those international financial organizations. That's the only crime any of them have committed.

Tasnim: Trump's threat is part of his walking away from the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He also plans to fully reinstate anti-Tehran sanctions from November 4. In the meantime, the EU has vowed to counter Trump’s renewed sanctions on Iran, including by means of a new law to shield European companies from punitive measures. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas recently said Europe should set up payment systems independent of the US if it wants to save the JCPOA. What do you think about the EU’s role in reducing Washington’s pressures against Tehran and saving the deal?

Steppling: Yes well, this is again a question about how much spine Europe will show. And maybe I'm being cynical suggesting they won't show any, for after all a lot of money is going to be potentially lost. But this issue of payments raises the question of the power of the dollar vs the yuan or any other. And here China is, again, very powerful. The US wants to have some form of proxy conflict -- that's Bolton's style. And you can bet he wants a false flag regards Syria to justify more direct military action there. At the same time, the real fear is about China and its financial power. And I think Washington senses this shift toward Russia and China and Iran globally. The promise of a future, let alone a better future, lies in that direction and away from the US. There is no question the US is nervous if not desperate and the danger is that hawks like Pompeo and Mattis and Bolton are in positions of great influence and each is most happy when bombs are falling somewhere. And yet, they know also, the US cannot afford a direct confrontation with Iran. So I don't see anything happening right away. And Trump has a lot of other problems at the moment. I think we will learn soon if Trump really has any say at all in foreign policy.