Never mind Iran, when will we see sanctions against Israel and Saudi Arabia?

JOHN WIGHT

John’s work appears regularly at RT, Counterpunch, the Morning Star, and he is a regular commentator on BBC Radio Scotland.

The international sanctions in place against Iran, which have just been lifted after decades, were a study in injustice and hypocrisy - a product of the West’s perfidious engagement with a region in which regional allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia have long been a source of instability and conflict, fomenting sectarianism as they pursue regional agendas inimical to peace and security.  Though there remains a long way to go before Washington reorients is policy towards the region, ending sanctions against Iran constitutes a significant step in this direction.

Inevitably, and understandably, the lifting of the sanctions have been treated as a major victory in Tehran; the country’s president Hassan Rouhani claiming it that has “opened new windows of engagement with the world.” In this respect he is right, as for the first time since 1979 Iran will be able to trade unimpeded with the rest of the world, which for obvious reasons means that oil prices are guaranteed to plunge even further than they have been over the past year. In concrete terms the lifting of sanctions means that

• Iranian oil revenues are set to increase by $10 billion over the next year
• $50 billion of frozen Iranian currency reserves will now be released by foreign banks
• According to the IMF Iran’s GDP is set to increase to 5% in 2016-17. Currently it’s GDP growth is zero

Evidence that a new chapter in relations with the West has begun came with the immediate release of four Americans being held prisoner in Iran. They included Jason Rezaian, a reporter with theWashington Post who wasarrested by the Iranians in 2014 for espionage. It was also evident in the almost immediate release of the 10 US sailors recently intercepted by Iranian Revolutionary Guards when they unwittingly entered Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf.

At the other end of the geopolitical spectrum the aforementioned Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded to the lifting of Iranian sanctions with yet another apocalyptic warning. "Without an appropriate reaction to every violation,” he said, “Iran will realize it can continue to develop nuclear weapons, destabilize the region and spread terror." Such sentiments are of course no surprise coming from Netanyahu, for while the Iranian government is entitled to bask in the glow of victory over this seminal moment in the country’s history, it counts as an ignominious defeat for the rejectionists of Likud and its allies and supporters.

Consider the extraordinary efforts Netanyahu made to scupper the deal. At the beginning of March 2015, just prior to the start of the talks over Iran’s nuclear program in Geneva between the US government, the UN and EU and the Iranians, out of which the current agreement was reached, Israel’s hardline leader went as far as to take up an invitation from US Republicans to travel to Washington and address the US Congress, willfully bypassing the White House in a clear and studied insult to President Obama’s authority.

Another loser here is the Saudis, whose long running cold war with Tehran recently risked spilling over into direct military confrontation in the wake of the execution by the kingdom of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. In conjunction with its military operation in Yemen, where Saudi jets have been conducting operations against Shiite Houthi rebels, and added to the upsurge of executions that have been in the country itself in recent weeks, the lifting of sanctions against Iran is guaranteed to make an already insecure regime even more insecure. This carries with it the risk of Saudi Arabia being propelled into even more extreme behavior and actions as a consequence.However the move backfired with many even in Israel criticizing Netanyahu over a speech which only succeeded in isolating him and his government in the eyes of a world that has grown markedly tired of Israel’s rejection of anything other than conflict and aggression when it comes to the Palestinians, the settlements, and Iran.

Here we come to the fundamental weakness of US and Western policy in the Middle East. Hitherto it has been wedded to support for sectarian governments and forces in the region, such as the Israeli and Saudi regimes, and opposed to non-sectarian governments and forces, such as the Iranians, Syrians, and Russians. Until a major reorientation of this policy takes place the region will continue to be riven with conflict, chaos, and crisis.

Something that has to be acknowledged in all this is the remarkable tenacity of the Iranians in resisting such draconian international sanctions for so long. It has travelled a long way since it was being included as part of George W Bush’s ‘axis of evil’ along with Iraq and North Korea. Much of the credit for this turnaround goes to Barack Obama, who despite huge opposition in the region, already explored, and at home from Republicans, is entitled to feel proud of his achievement in bringing Iran in from the cold.

Despite claims to the contrary on the part of the Israelis and the Saudis, Iran is a pillar of stability in the Middle East. It has no territorial ambitions across its own borders and has long called for an end to Western hypocrisy and an end to the oppression of the Palestinians at the hands of Israel. Unlike Israel and its supporters, Iran does not view Hezbollah in Lebanon as a terrorist organization but as a legitimate resistance movement, founded in the 1980s in response to Israel’s brutal invasion and occupation of its northern neighbor.

Today, with Iranians and fighters from Hezbollah giving their lives in the fight against ISIS in Syria, it’s hard to make the case for continuing to anathematize them. On the contrary given the role of the Saudis in supporting terrorism over the years, fuelled by the medieval theological doctrine of Wahhabism upon which the state rests, many believe that justice demands international sanctions are placed against Riyadh. Also against Israel over its longstanding flouting of international law vis-à-vis the Palestinians. Add to the mix the sheer gall of Netanyahu and his supporters declaiming against the possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons, when Israel is known to have hundreds of its own, and we perceive the locus of disdain for the double standards that have long prevailed when it comes to the region.

Indeed, taking everything into consideration, perhaps the most important aspect of the lifting of sanctions against Iran is that it marks a small victory over hypocrisy.

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