Surviving for 37 years, Islamic Iran has defied all predictions and has made great strides in all fields of human endeavor. This is a remarkable achievement.
On February 11 Iran celebrates 37 years of the Islamic Revolution. Many politicians and Islamic scholars were of the view that the Islamic state led by the ulama would not last long. However, Imam Khomeini established the new political system based on the concept of the Velayat-e Faqih (rule of the Jurist Consult) and enshrined it in the constitution. Although the concept was first discussed by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali in his monumental work, Ihya Uloom al-Din (Revival of Literacy with the Islamic Social Pattern), it still created quite a stir not only in the Islamic world, but also in the West. However, it has survived for 37 years and is the most important regional player exerting great geopolitical influence by impacting the political chessboard of the region through a unique manifestation of its foreign policy.
The US and Israel have consistently sought to maintain Israels nuclear monopoly in the Muslim East (aka the Middle East) and wrongly portrayed Iran as the main source of insecurity and threat. This lie has been exposed by the fact that Iran has repeatedly called for a nuclear-free Middle East but the US and Israel have consistently blocked this sensible proposal, not to mention exacerbating the problem at every turn.
Since the overthrow of the US-backed Pahlavi regime in 1979 and the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, a wave of anti-Iranian sentiment has been fostered both by successive US presidents as well as Hollywood producers. The Islamic Republic of Iran is portrayed in a very distorted and negative light.
Even after signing of the nuclear treaty, the level of distrust between the US and Iran remains very high. One must review the facts of why this is the case. In 1953, the CIA engineered a coup against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammed Musaddiq. The despotic regime of the Shah was reimposed. Dr. Musaddiq had nationalized Irans oil taking its control away from the British. Over the years, the US armed the Shahs army and even provided the regime with nuclear technology. This support continued despite it being clear that the Shah was a corrupt tyrant.
In 1980, the US and its regional allies supported Saddam Husseins attack on Iran, igniting an eight-year war that killed over a million Iranians. When the Iranians fought back, the US and its Western allies provided chemical weapons to the Bathist regime that started using them against Irans revolutionary forces from 1983 onward. While Iran was the victim, there was no opprobrium for Saddams criminal acts, even at the UN and its convention against the use of chemical weapons.
On July 3, 1988, the US shot down an Iranian passenger plane as it was en route from Bandar Abbas to Dubai murdering 290 civilians, including 66 children, for which the US never apologized. Instead, Captain William C. Rogers of the US frigate, the Vincennes, which fired the missiles at Irans passenger plane, was awarded the second highest military medal! As if this were not enough, the Israel pursued covert operations in the form of assassinations of its leaders and nuclear scientists and even cyber attacks against Iran. Not exactly a record one can be proud of.
The Arabian states on the Western shores of the Persian Gulf comprising the monarchial regimes of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar continue to show extreme hostility toward Islamic Iran because it is not a monarchy. Iran is a republic with a parliament and an electoral system. Indeed, the US supports all of the dictatorial monarchies. These dictatorial regimes have bought American lawmakers through the creation of think tanks, super-PACs, and lobbyists for oil and defense industries. The anti-Iran sentiment has to do with the influence of money.
The Gulf monarchs hatred of Iran runs deep. They have financed mercenary writers and numerous media outlets such as al-Jazeera and Fox News to paint Iran in a negative light. Anti-Iran hate-speech is a regular feature of TV broadcasts while publications spread hatred in Arabic, English, Urdu, French, Persian and many other languages. They are also re-writing history by distorting it.
The extremist ideology sweeping the globe like wildfire is the direct result of the these regimes financing of institutions propagating intolerant doctrines. Unless this is checked, the Muslim Ummah will not survive the tsunami of sectarian violence.
True, there is room for improvement in Iran as well; it is not perfect but which country can lay claim to perfection? Iran supports Hizbullah and the government of President Bashar al-Asad. The US supports Zionist Israel, other fascist regimes, drug lords, and terrorists from South America and Africa all the way to Cambodia.
However, the greatest threat of terrorism against the US has not come from Iran, which has been branded an enemy, but from friendly Saudi Arabia and the Gulf oil sheikdoms, whose royal families have bankrolled al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, ISIS, and likeminded organizations. If the US were to make a genuine commitment to human rights and not apply double standards, then the war against extremism can be won.
Iran pursues its political goals free from external interference. It chooses who to associate with, who to trade with, and who to support. The Islamic Republic of Iran is blessed with oil and gas as well as a highly educated population, which has made great progress in the fields of science and technology. Iran is one of the top ten countries in the world in stem cell research, Nanotechnology, nuclear technology, and space. Iran recently launched its fourth satellite into orbit. Despite the sanctions, Iran makes highly sophisticated military and medical equipment. As the Google CEO mentioned, Iran is so advanced in technology that it can hack into a US drone system and land it safely, while the Arabian states purchase weapons from the West to terrorize their populations.
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