Shah receiving model plane (1960). Hardly a popular leader, he presided over a corrupt regime that did its loyal bidding for the Anglo-Americans who put him in power. Today’s Iran with its rightwing Ayatollahs and justified alienation is a Western creation.
In early February, new U.S. Sanctions against Iran went into effect despite the growing sentiment that Washington is discreetly moving towards a more nuanced policy with respect to Iran. To wit, the nomination of Chuck Hagel for the post of Secretary of Defense, whose views on the Middle East in general and Iran in particular are characterized as moderate in American terms. In addition to which, a report just released by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), the Washington think tank whose purpose is to develop U.S. security policy is unambiguous: fears that an Iranian nuclear weapon would trigger a arms race in the Middle East are grossly exaggerated.
The three countries in the region eventually interested in developing their own nuclear devices are said to be Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey. However, as the authors of the report indicate, Saudi Arabia is a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and “…would more likely pursue a more aggressive version of its current conventional defense and civilian nuclear hedging strategy while seeking out an external nuclear security guarantee.”
With regard to Egypt, not only does that country not see Iran’s nuclear ambitions as an existential threat but is besieged by internal political and economic problems rendering it unlikely to embark on such an adventure. In addition, because Egypt’s economy and its military forces being heavily dependent on U.S. largesse, it would probably hesitate antagonizing Washington by developing a nuclear weapon. Finally, Turkey already possesses a nuclear deterrent through its NATO security guarantees.
It has been stated repeatedly that an aggressive Iranian government would represent a danger for the region and for the U.S. Historical fact, however, turns that argument upside down. To the contrary, Iranians have been witness to a number of acts of foreign intervention against their country.
Who can forget that it was foreign intervention, by the British and American governments, that destroyed democracy in Iran. In 1953, the CIA was instrumental in overthrowing the democratically elected government of Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh following his nationalization of Iranian oil and in bringing the Shah back to power.
The U.S. staunchly supported the Shah of Iran’s regime, despite its brutal repression of the Iranian people. According to Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup And the Roots of Middle East Terror, fears by the Iranians of more U.S. intervention in the internal affairs of their country was what prompted the occupation of the U.S. embassy in 1979.
In 1988, toward the end of the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S.S. Vincennes shot down an Iranian civilian airliner over the Strait of Hormuz. Two hundred ninety passengers were killed, including 66 children, ranking it the seventh among the deadliest airliner fatalities. According to the U.S. government, the U.S.S. Vincennes crew misidentified the Iranian Airbus A300 as an attacking F-14 Tomcat fighter. Although a settlement was reached between Iran and U.S., the Vincennes’ captain received the Legion of Merit, and the crew was awarded Combat Action Ribbons.
Last September Efraim Halevy, head of the Mossad from 1998 to 2000, declared in an interview with Haaretz, “What we need to do is to try and understand the Iranians. The basic feeling of that ancient nation is one of humiliation. Both religious Iranians and secular Iranians feel that for 200 years the Western powers used them as their playthings…Thus, the deep motive behind the Iranian nuclear project –which was launched by the Shah- is not the confrontation with Israel, but the desire to restore to Iran the greatness of which it was long deprived.”
Both the U.S. and Israel, however, have repeatedly threatened military action against Tehran in flagrant violation of the UN Charter whose Article 2 states, “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.”
As President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have repeatedly stated, diplomacy should be pursued in dealing with the Iranian government. Such an approach should include important verification concessions on the Iranian government’s nuclear energy program, as well as security assurances to the Iranian government that it will not be attacked by the US or Israel.
Dr. César Chelala is an international public health consultant and a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award.
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ADDENDUM
An Unusual Article on USA Today, of all places
Tourists see a different Iran reality than ‘Argo’ image
Ben Affleck’s hostage thriller Argo may have nabbed the Oscar for best picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony. But its depiction of 1979 Iran as a seething hotbed of anti-American fervor is a stark contrast to the curiosity and warm hospitality that has greeted the relative handful of adventurous U.S. tourists willing to buck a longstanding State Department travel warning and years of governmental saber-rattling.
“There are many things that Americans justifiably find outrageous about the Iranian government” under President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, guidebook guru Rick Steves told me after his 2008 trip.
But the peripatetic author also said he’d “never had so many preconceived notions torn apart,” and proclaimed the Middle Eastern lightning rod the most “surprising and fascinating” land he’d ever visited.
Americans Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott, who toured Iran in 2011, had a similar experience.
“Iranian people were often shocked to discover that we were American and that we were able to get a visa to their country. Once this fact set in, they often went over the top in welcoming us — everything from cordial greetings, to smiles, hugs, gifts and invitations to homes — especially when our guide was out of sight,” they wrote on their travel blog, Uncornered Market.
During my own 2008 visit, the eight Americans in our Canada-based tour group were treated like Hollywood celebrities. In my case, it included being engulfed by autograph-seeking schoolgirls at the Shiraz garden and tomb of the 13th century poet Sadi, and being invited to dinner at the home of an Isfahan shopkeeper whose illegal satellite TV beamed CNN and the latest American soaps.
RELATED: In Iran, open arms, rich history greet intrepid Westerners
To be sure,notes a recent story in the Washington Post, the vast majority of Iran’s foreign visitors (about 3 million in 2011) come for religious pilgrimages to Shiite holy sites.
“Due to its many restrictions, including required head coverings for women and a prohibition on alcohol, Iran is not an obvious choice for most Westerners,” an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Americans per year among them. But, the story added, “the country’s allure lies in its seemingly countless ancient sites (including the ruins of Persepolis, a 2,500-year-old palace complex), its reputation for hospitality and, for some, its forbidden quality.”
“Most Americans’ perceptions of Iran are limited to images of Ahmedinejad delivering anti-American speeches and crowds chanting ‘Death to America!’ with the blessing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini,” says a 2012 story in The Atlantic. “Yet a 2009 World Public Opinion poll found that 51% of Iranians hold a favorable opinion of Americans, a number consistent with other polls, meaning that Americans are more widely liked in Iran than anywhere else in the Middle East. The U.S. favorability rating isn’t even that high in U.S. allies India or Turkey.”
As for Argo‘s take on the real-life rescue of six Americans caught in the Iran hostage crisis, the former Canadian ambassador featured in the film said it does does little to dissuade notions that Iran is “one long revolution and riot.”
Ken Taylor told Canada.com that he spent almost three years in Tehran and never felt in jeopardy, and described Iranian hospitality as “warm and genuine.”
“The amusing side,” he added, ” is that the script writer in Hollywood had no idea what he’s talking about.”
