Sputnik News- That Iran is not a free country is a self-evident truth. How could it possibly be free when it exists in the crosshairs of US imperialism?




In this respect, Iran shares the same status as�Venezuela, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China � in�other words it is one of�a select group of�countries that do not kowtow to�the diktat of �Rome�. For strip away the obfuscation, the dissembling words proffered by�the usual parade of�well fed and handsomely remunerated Western ideologues, and the only reason, the single reason that Iran is being depicted as�a �terrorist state� in�which human rights are non-existent, is because under�its current government it refuses to�bow to�Washington or its vassals in�western Europe and the region itself.

This is not to�suggest that the protests that have broken out�across Iran have no basis in�legitimate grievances. As British journalist and Middle East correspondent, Patrick Cockburn, points out�in a recent�article, �grievances [in Iran] are similar to�those in�other oil states where there is long-suppressed anger against�corruption and inequality. Youth unemployment was 28.8 percent last year. The nuclear deal with�the US and other major powers in�2015 reduced sanctions, but�has not produced the benefits that many expected. A 50 percent increase in�the price of�fuel was announced in�the budget in�December. Egg and poultry prices recently rose by�40 percent.�

As night follows day, sudden price hikes of�this magnitude are guaranteed to�bring those impacted out�onto the streets�� and understandably so. People�s ability to�survive, to�feed themselves and their families, is a fundamental right that any government impedes or undermines at�its peril. The problem for�an economy such as�Iran�s is that while it may assert political and geopolitical independence, they exist in�a neoliberal economic reality, trading in�a global marketplace dominated by�economic nostrums devised in�and which emanate from�Washington.

As such, until�Iran, along�with its other dissenting counterparts, makes a decisive break with�neoliberalism, which by�necessity also means breaking with�the dollar as�the international reserve currency, it will always be vulnerable to�global economic downturns and shocks, such as�occurred back in�2008. More crucially, it will be vulnerable to�the machinations of�dollar diplomacy, whether delivered via�Washington directly, or indirectly via�the IMF or World Bank. Ultimately, there can be no independence from�the �Rome� until�there is independence from�its currency.

Neoliberalism is the economic arm of�US hegemony. Yet as�an economic model it has been completely discredited as�a result of�the 2008 financial crash and ensuing global economic depression. The so-called Arab Spring of�2011, which morphed into�an Arab winter with�the eruption of�Salafi-jihadism in�Libya and Syria, was the product of�this aforesaid crisis in�neoliberalism. And in�the Middle East, one of�the most serious symptoms of�this crisis has been the very youth unemployment that has bedeviled Iran. This particular social malaise was indeed a key factor in�the tumultuous events that engulfed Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria back in�2011.

Compounding Iran�s economic problems has been the sanctions regime imposed on�it by�Western governments, led of�course by�Washington. The much-heralded�P5+1 nuclear deal, reached in�2015 between�Tehran and member states of�the UN Security Council plus Germany, is considered to�have been the landmark achievement of�Obama�s foreign policy, trading the lifting of�economic sanctions in�return for�the guarantee that Iran�s nuclear development program would remain non-military in�its objectives.

But lest we lapse into�any romantic illusions when it comes to�Obama�s tenure in�the White House, we are obliged to�recall that prior to�the agreement the Obama administration had done its utmost to�derail Iran�s nuclear program by�nefarious means. US author and historian, Perry Anderson, reveals how the Obama administration �launched a massive joint US-Israeli assault on�Iranian computer networks to�cripple the development of�its nuclear programme. A blatant violation of�what passes for�international law, the projection of�the�Stuxnet virus�was personally supervised by�Obama.�
This episode of�US and Israeli covert actions in�Iran, which also included the assassination of�Iranian scientists working in�the country�s nuclear program by�the Israelis, should be borne in�mind when we read various commentators dismissing out�of hand allegations by�the current Iranian government of�Western involvement in�the wave of�demonstrations that have taken place during�the current crisis. Too, no serious analysis of�Iranian affairs today can abstract the role of�the joint US-UK covert operation,�Operation Ajax, that was mounted to�topple the country�s democratically elected president, Mohammad Mossadegh, in�1953 in�response to�his decision to�nationalize the country�s oil.

Replacing Mossadegh was Washington's placeman the Shah. Over the next three decades Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to�give the Iranian dictator his real name, set about�plundering the country�s wealth for�the enrichment of�himself and his own, whilst keeping dissenting voices in�check with�his dreaded secret police and domestic security service, known by�its acronym�SAVAK, whose methods were a by-word for�savagery even in�a region where security services are notorious for�their brutality. The point is that this history of�Western imperialist intrigue in�Iran and its internal affairs must be factored into�the current crisis, as�well as�the overall state of�the country�s development if we are to�arrive at�anything approximating to�an accurate rendering.

Returning to�the P5+1 deal, rather than�the result of�any Obamaesque reaching out�to a former enemy, it was the product of�realpolitik, recognition that Iran was just too tough a nut to�crack militarily or by�dint of�economic sanctions, and that the received truth embraced by�every US administration since�the Iranian revolution of�1979 � namely that the Islamic Republic was a mortal enemy whose overthrow and destruction was non-negotiable � was no longer viable.However in�Donald Trump we are dealing with�probably the most capricious US president in�history, whose animus towards�the Islamic Republic�� to�the manifest delight of�both the Saudis and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu�� is all-consuming. Trump has made known his opposition to�the P5+1 deal, and at�his behest, the US Treasury reintroduced sanctions against�Iran, which came on�stream in�July.

he reasoning for�the new tranche of�sanctions has been given as �Iran�s malign activities across�the Middle East which undermine regional stability, security, and prosperity. Iran continues to�support terrorist groups such as�Hizballah (sic), Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that threaten Israel and stability in�the Middle East. Iran has maintained its steadfast support for�the Assad regime, despite�Assad�s atrocities against�his own people.�

In the upside-down world that passes for�reality in�Washington, we are expected to�believe that Iran is a state sponsor of�terrorism when in�truth its role in�combatting terrorism in�the region has been crucial. Sorry guys but�such base and transparent solecisms simply will no do. And neither will the blatant attempt to�turn the UN Security Council into�a rubber stamp of�US foreign policy.

The day that Trump�s otherworldly UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, blatantly abused the Security Council, scheduling a debate on�events in�Iran during�which she took the opportunity to�unleash a barrage of�condemnation against�the country�s government, irony died. Fortunately, Russia�s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, was on�hand to�deliver a righteous slapdown. �If your logic is to�be followed,� he told Haley, �Security Council meetings should have been called after�the well-known events in�Ferguson, Missouri, or when violence was used against�Occupy Wall Street demonstrations on�Manhattan.�
The views and opinions expressed in�this article are solely those of�the author and do not necessarily reflect those of�Sputnik.