Iran Nuclear Weapons Issue: U.S. and Israel Playing a Dangerous Political Game

This week, the world leaders of 53 countries and major international organizations gathered at the Nuclear Summit in Seoul  to discuss possible solutions to curb nuclear terrorism and protect nuclear material and facilities. As expected, neither North Korea nor Iran took part in the event.

Since the West believes that Iran is constructing nuclear weapons, the issue has skyrocketed to the top of political agendas of the U.S. and Israel, which claim that Iran poses immeasurable threat to humanity. This political game surrounding the Iran issue is simply that, an exaggerated game. Iran is unlikely to declare war on Israel or the USA, because war would not be in the Iranian regime's strategic interests. Iran is not as powerful today as has been depicted by the U.S. and Israel.

At the Seoul summit, President Barack Obama once again urged Iran “to meet its obligation” and said" “Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands.” He restated his will to solve issues diplomatically, although he did not exclude a military option.

While Iran is portrayed in the mainstream media as the chief security problem in the world (Newt Gingrich even compared Iran to Hitler’s Germany, unprecedented and severe Western sanctions on the country have weakened the regime and made the political situation in the country friable. “Although the regime is debilitating, it still has got its supporters and the issue is not religion, it is a matter of nationalism and populism in Iran,” said Roberto Toscano, former Italian Ambassador to Iran (2003-2008) while talking last week about diplomatic tension in Iran at the Frontline club in London. And indeed, suffocating sanctions imposed on Iran harm the entire population and turn the people against the West, rather than the regime. 

Explaining that Iran poses an “existential threat” to Israel, Ran Gidor, the Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the Embassy of Israel in London said that Iran is a global problem which demands a global solution. He therefore prompted the rest of the world to join Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign against Iran. Gidor expressed his concerns that once Iran gets a nuclear weapon, it would pave the path for Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia to do so as well.

But, there is a little possibility that Iran will attack Israel; Iran is just trying to ensure the survival of its regime. Throughout history, neither the brutal Soviet Union, nor fanatic North Korea has used nuclear weapons. Ironically, the United States advocates for peace, yet it is the only country which has misused a nuclear weapon.

“Neither Israel nor Saudi Arabia are afraid of being attacked by nuclear Iran, they are afraid of Iran getting regional hegemony; it is a game where Iranian hegemony is not acceptable though its political exclusion is not possible,” noted Toscano. On the other hand, while paying too much attention to Iran, we seem to have forgotten about countries such as Pakistan, which already has a nuclear weapon and even more precarious and fragile than Iran. 

Frankly, the dustup over Iran seems to be a political game by the U.S. to weaken Iran both economically and politically and eventually to bring regime to its knees. Likewise, Israel has effectively used Iran to draw away serious international attention from the issue of Palestine.