Two prominent American university professors say in the year 2014 Iran will challenge the US hegemony in the Middle East and the world.
�The Islamic Republic aims to replace American hegemony with a more multi-polar distribution of power and influence,� Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett wrote in an article for the�goingtotehran.com�website.

They referred to Iran�s �strengths� like its stable position in the Middle East and its �indigenously generated political model integrating participatory politics and elections with principles and institutions of Islamic governance.�
�These strengths have enabled the Islamic Republic to withstand sustained regional and Western pressure, and to pursue a foreign policy strategy likely to reap big payoffs in 2014,� wrote the Leveretts, who are professors at the Pennsylvania State University School of International Affairs.
They said former US President Jimmy Carter�s �description of Iran as an island of stability� in the Middle East region still stands when compared to �Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia.�

The Leveretts suggest that 2014 is another �Year of Iran� as Tehran is pursuing strategies to convince�the West to recognize Iran�s right to a peaceful nuclear energy program.
�The West is increasingly challenged to come to terms with the Islamic Republic as an enduring entity representing legitimate national interests,� they wrote.
They noted that �partnering with Tehran� would require the US and its allies in Britain and France �to accept the Islamic Republic as the legitimate government of a fully sovereign state with legitimate interests.�

The Leveretts said �more US-instigated secondary sanctions that illegally threaten third countries doing business with Iran� could not force the Islamic Republic to abandon its nuclear energy program.

�Rather, Iran�s approach� seeks to make it easier for countries to rebuild and expand economic ties to the Islamic Republic even if Washington does not lift its own unilaterally-imposed sanctions,� they wrote.

By Press TV

 

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