America’s Real Agreement Should Be With the Iranian People
An Iranian-American political researcher and entrepreneur published an article on the influential Washington-based website “The Hill,” depicting a bipolar world in which authoritarian governments of China and Russia are on one side, and the United States, despite all its shortcomings, remains democratic on the other. He writes that by welcoming the Iranian people, America would weaken the authoritarian faction of the world.
S. Rab Sabahani (Sohrab Sabahani), founder and CEO of the Caspian Group consulting firm in Virginia, in an article published on Wednesday, August 20 (August 11), after enumerating cases of mismanagement, corruption, violence, and suppression in Iran, writes that the fundamental question facing Joe Biden, the U.S. President, is not whether to rejoin the JCPOA or limit the Islamic Republic’s malicious activities in the region. Rather, the fundamental question is whether the Iranian people deserve to live in peace and tranquility or not.
Mr. Sabahani compares Iran’s progress over the past 42 years with South Korea, whose economy in 1978 was 40 percent smaller than Iran’s economy, and is now four times larger. He also compares Iran and Turkey, writing that Turkey’s economy 42 years ago was 20 percent smaller than Iran’s economy and is now twice as large.
He concludes that the Islamic system has suffocated the Iranian nation and wasted the country’s capacities through “terrible mismanagement,” and calls on Mr. Biden to tell Ali Khamenei, Iran’s leader, to “remove his knee from the necks of innocent Iranian people.”
Sabahani, former Georgetown University professor and author of a book on Iran-Israel relations, writes that supporting the efforts of the Iranian people for democracy, human dignity, and human rights should constitute the main characteristic of U.S. policy toward Iran. While negotiating with the leaders of the Islamic Republic gives them legitimacy that they do not deserve. He writes that issuing a statement in support of the Iranian people is not only right but also wise.
He counts among the consequences of the collapse of the Islamic Republic and the establishment of a popular government in Iran the bankruptcy of political Islam, as well as the development of Iran’s oil and gas reserves for export to Europe—which could reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia—and adds that Iran’s peace and cooperation with its neighbors will lead to economic modernization in the region, and military expenses could be spent on developing human capital.
Mr. Sabahani adds that instead of manipulating bankrupt countries, a future Iran could extend a hand of friendship toward Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and through cooperation with them, undertake the reconstruction of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
Mr. Sabahani writes that accepting the Iranian people into the bloc of free nations will isolate the authoritarian bloc of the world and will be a victory for U.S. foreign policy.
Source: Voice of America
