The public discussion in the West addressing Iran’s nuclear program has mainly relied on threat diplomacy, articulated most clearly by Israeli officials, but enjoying the strong direct and indirect backing of Washington and leading Gulf states. Israel has also engaged in covert warfare against Iran in recent years, somewhat supported by the United States, that has inflicted violent deaths on civilians in [...]
READ MORE5 Results
WMDFZ
Must arguments for a denuclearised Middle East be “breathtakingly naive”?
Following my posts about Iran and Israel in relation to nuclear weapons over the past few weeks, I had a number of offline discussions which is always an incentive to reflect further on issues. One of the more critical exchanges took place on Twitter between Michael Brull - a blogger from Independent Australian Jewish Voices - and myself, which [...]
READ MOREThe “bomb Iran” contagion: don’t believe the hype
In the week since the nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, issued its report on Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme, there has been an alarming amount of hype concerning the immediacy of any Iranian nuclear weaponisation. This pressure is emanating from governments of Israel (who in some circles want to “preemptively” strike Iran) and the US (who appear [...]
READ MORE
Criminalizing diplomacy: fanning the flames of the Iran War option
How many times have we heard in recent weeks either outright threats to attack Iran mainly emanating from Israel or the more muted posture adopted by the United States that leaves ‘all options’ on the table including ‘the military option’? What has Iran done to justify this frantic war-mongering in a strategic region that is sorting out the contradictory effects of [...]
READ MORE
Remember, Tehran’s “nuclear ambiguity” was learnt from Israel
Consider this: you are a willing outcast, with few solid friends and many formidable enemies. How do you survive? By trying to convert enemies to friends, or by instilling fear in your many enemies? More than any other state on earth, Iran is presently keeping her enemies on their toes – expertly. Iran categorically and [...]
READ MORE
