Nuclear accord elevates Iran’s regional status: analyst
By Javad Heirannia
TEHRAN – Political analyst Yuram Abdullah Weiler says the nuclear deal between Iran and great powers has strengthened the Islamic Republic’s status in the Middle East region.
“There has been an elevation in Iran’s regional status by virtue of the fact that Iran was able to bring the nuclear agreement to fruition despite the naysayers in the United States and the powerful influence of the Zionist lobby,” Weiler told the Tehran Times.
The interview with Weiler took place before Democrats in the Senate succeeded to block efforts by Republicans to scuttle Barack Obama’s nuclear accord with Iran.
This is the text of the interview:
Q: What are the effects of the nuclear deal between Iran and great powers?
A: First of all, there has been an elevation in Iran’s regional status by virtue of the fact that Iran was able to bring the nuclear agreement to fruition despite the naysayers in the United States and the powerful influence of the Zionist lobby, which effectively controls the U.S. Congress, particularly the Republican members who now hold a majority in the U.S. Senate. For Iran to succeed in its diplomatic endeavors despite the unabashed spending of the Israeli lobbyists, which averages over $50,000 USD per senator, is an amazing achievement. And the more money the respective senator receives, the more voracious is the attack on the Iran nuclear deal. For example, Senator Lindsey Graham received over $285,000 during the 2014 election cycle. Tom Cotton, the notorious author of the letter to Iran’s leadership, received some $900,000 from Zionist-aligned sources.
Second, Iran has masterfully forced the United States into a position where it has little choice but to ratify the agreement or risk irrelevance in the international arena. Despite the rhetoric of the reactionary Republicans, the U.S. is in no position to finance another war, especially against a country as formidable as Iran, which is well equipped militarily and fully capable of not only defending itself, but also inflicting significant damage upon any would-be aggressor. In fact, before the deal was inked, right-leaning editor Zachary Keck conceded that if the U.S. were to try to exercise the “military option” in an attempt to roll back Iran’s nuclear progress, “Tehran would be able to impose prohibitive costs against the U.S. military.”
In short, the U.S. is faced with a choice of ratifying the agreement it so vigorously sought with Iran, or be isolated as the European powers and others enthusiastically flock to the Islamic Republic in hopes of expanding economic and diplomatic ties. As former U.S. presidential adviser Gary Sick put it, “If [the Iran nuclear agreement] is turned down by the U.S. Congress, the United States will be on its own.”
Q: Is there any possibility of new regional alignments including one between Saudi Arabia and Turkey now that Iran has struck a nuclear deal with major powers?
A: According to stalwart Zionist Charles Krauthammer, Saudi Arabia has been pushed in a contrary diplomatic direction as a result of being “shell shocked by Obama’s grand nuclear capitulation to Iran that will make it the regional hegemon.” Typical of western observers, Krauthammer ignores the U.S.-backed unitary nuclear hegemon in the Middle East with its undeclared arsenal of some 80 nuclear warheads. Also unmentioned is the very real nuclear arms race taking place between India and Pakistan, which has been a threat to regional stability for decades.
Furthermore, the historical close ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan fuel concerns over the existence of a covert nuclear weapons agreement between the two nations. However, such speculation is not new, as can be evidenced by a New York Times article, which appeared on the subject on July 10, 1999 entitled, “Saudis Visit to Arms Site in Pakistan Worries US.” Saudi-Pakistan nuclear intimacy goes back even further to the 1970s when former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto received funding for Pakistan’s nuclear program from former Saudi King Faysal in exchange for providing a security umbrella for the kingdom. Obama’s former counter-proliferation advisor Gary Samore acknowledged the existence of such an agreement. The Pakistan Muslim League, current Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s political party, continues to be heavily funded by the Saudis, so certainly there appears to be no radical shift in alignment here.
In contrast, relations between Iran and Turkey at least have the potential to move in much more positive direction provided Ankara can overcome its historical fear of increasing Kurdish power and autonomy. Turkey views the unification of the Kurdish regions spanning from the border with Iran to Latakia in Syria as a “Kurdish-Alawite” belt, which threatens to cause increased domestic unrest and demands for Kurdish autonomy. Behind these concerns are centuries of latent Persian-Ottoman rivalry, which lies beneath the surface of current relations.
While Iran and Turkey are on opposite sides of the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, the nuclear deal brings the opportunity for closer economic ties between the two countries. Hopes exist in Iran of increasing trade with Turkey from a current level of $14 billion to $30 billion by the end of 2016. Moreover, with the further development of reserves in Iran’s South Pars gas field and Turkey’s desire to improve its standing as a gas transit hub, the two countries have a strong basis for mutually beneficial economic development, which no doubt would be a boon to regional security. And if historical trends continue, Iran stands to receive the greater share of economic benefit from increased trade with Turkey.
Q: Will Washington’s “Asia Pivot” affect the U.S. relations with its allies in the Middle East? If so, how can the power vacuum in the region be filled?
A: In reality, Obama’s much-touted “Asia Pivot” with its fast-tracked Trans Pacific Partnership agreement has not met with resounding success. This is despite numerous predictions by right-leaning academians of the impending ‘irrelevance of the Middle East’, dating back to before 2007. The amount of diplomatic capital invested by the current Washington regime in securing an agreement with Iran should supply sufficient evidence to convince all except the most fervent neocon holdouts of the fallaciousness of this concept.
Arguably, a power vacuum was created by a combination of the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but it has long been Iran’s policy to balance against the American juggernaut with its own pivot towards Asia, resulting in a realignment and rejuvenation of the traditional Silk Road powers. This Silk Road group of nations, which includes China, Russia and India, has transformed from an economic cooperation organization into a strategic alliance to counter Washington’s hegemonic ambitions. In particular, the efforts made by Iran in cultivating favorable relations with Russia and China have paid dividends in the recent nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 as well as in countering U.S.-created terrorism in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
Q: Can the nuclear deal help resolve conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq?
A: Due to the elevated diplomatic status of Iran as a result of successfully negotiating the nuclear deal with the P5+1, the potential has been established for Iran to play a major role in resolving all the outstanding regional issues. However, I hesitate to point out that the U.S. still remains a major obstacle to peace in the region with its unflinching support for the Zionist entity and its steadfast alignment with Saudi Arabia, which is currently carrying on an unabashed aggression against the people of Yemen and is a major factor in supporting the ongoing takfiri insurgency in Syria.
*********Highlight*********
Relations between Iran and Turkey at least have the potential to move in much more positive direction provided Ankara can overcome its historical fear of increasing Kurdish power and autonomy.
*********Highlight*********
A power vacuum was created by a combination of the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but it has long been Iran’s policy to balance against the American juggernaut with its own pivot towards Asia, resulting in a realignment and rejuvenation of the traditional Silk Road powers. This Silk Road group of nations, which includes China, Russia and India, has transformed from an economic cooperation organization into a strategic alliance to counter Washington’s hegemonic ambitions.
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