Persian Empire Ready to Strike Back
“The rulers of Great Britain have, for more than a century past, amused the people with the imagination that they possessed a great empire on the west side of the Atlantic.” – Adam Smith
Lads seem to have miscalculated. Sitting between two oceans is the Great Persian Empire
→ Iran: Oil to Future Nuclear Fission Power ҉
Middle East may be a hard environment for air planes but ideal for land nuclear plants.
US about-face on JCPOA appears as a reversal of fortune for Iran. Or, was it a “blessing in disguise?” In their eyes, it may have opened Pandora Box bringing Iran closer to nuclear power.
After the signing of the December 1856 “Treaty of Friendship and Commerce” or the Deal of the 19th Century between US and Emperor of all Persia, “American merchant ships found their way into the Persian Gulf…” The rest as they say is history.
For lovers, it is said that “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” May be, but for Empires, distance can be a buffer or a barrier.
The Persians, “just as they had perceived Britain as less threatening than Russia because of its geographic distance from Iran, so they now assumed the United States would be less threatening than Britain because of its still greater distance” points out Kenneth Pollack in his 2004 book, The Persian Puzzle : The Conflict Between Iran and America.
According to Pollack, “To understand the labyrinth of U.S.-Iranian relations, there are at least three things that you need to know about the seven millennia of Iranian history before the twentieth century.”
1. “The Persian Empire was a superpower like nothing the world had ever seen…All Iranians know that history well.”
2. “Last five hundred years, Iran has been the only shi’i Muslim state in the world… ‘shi’ah” and ‘Persian’ were long considered synonymous.”
3. “For roughly a century and a half beginning in the early 1800s, a weak Iranian state became prey to powerful external actors, principally the European great powers…with no regard for the needs or desires of the Iranian’s themselves.”
BUT, this is the 21st century – puzzle solved and mirrors shattered. NuClear game begins.
From the Great Game to “Axis of Evil” to Iran’s NuClear Game
“What Dercyllidas said of the court of Persia, may be applied to that of several European princes, that he saw there much splendour, but little strength, and many servants, but few soldiers.” – – Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
“Great Game” played by Russia and Britain in the 19th century appears to have a new player – China. Next century, a new pair of dice rolled onto the table – US replaced Britain.
But the pawn appears to remain the same – Iran. A number of sanctions have been tagged on Iran for a myriad of reasons including its trade engagements with China. From whence the “Definitive Treaty of 1814 pledged British support for Persia” to a 21st century JCPOA.
The “Axis of Evil,” Iraq–North Korea–Iran, was proclaimed by former President Bush. According to Pollack, “As one administration official described it “Iran was just a “prop” needed to make a point…” Seems extreme but Iran would ultimately makes its point.
Reportedly the President’s speechwriters “needed a third country to make up an ‘Axis,’” making Iran a pawn in the Great Game. But as Elaine Sciolino’s book Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran reminds us, “Iranians learn early to negotiate between extremes.” My friends, so have my Jewish American brothers and sisters.
On May 2017, in an interview with Rabbi Mark Golub, President of Jewish Broadcasting System (JBS), Zach Iscol, a former US Marine stated, “Have to negotiate with Taliban” arguing that Taliban is not some threatening organization like Al-Qaeda. Political vs Terrorist group.
“Pawn” has made a NuClear move. Now that’s what I call a “poker face.”
West response? Washington Institute sees “openings and obstacles.” It’s ultimate goal? “advancing U.S. interests in security and peace in this vital but volatile region.” Israel, sound familiar?
Israel Defending Itself by Itself?
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett previously stated, “Israel will defend itself by itself.” Sir, not according to Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State. At the Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) held in New York on December 2, 2021, Pompeo stated “The day is coming. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will defend Israel.”
Was the bold statement by Prime Minister Bennett a precursor of what was to come? “Israeli Pegasus Spyware used to Hack Phones of 11 US Diplomates.” Funny how a report on hacking came from Moscows’ Sputniknews.
Retaliation by Israel? Recall report of US Trade blacklisting spyware firms NSO Group and Condiru. Western intelligence agencies are known to operate in the shadows and play in houses of mirrors. It begs the question, why didn’t they make the list?
If the Kingdom is in fact the chosen one, then its compass will be clear in the moonlight or in the words of Prime Minister Bennett, “Israel is a lighthouse in a storm.” But the Iranians too have a saying, “When the storm comes, they bend; when the storm passes, they stand up again.”
Pollack’s book title reads, The Persian Puzzle: Conflict Between Iran and America.” Yet, isn’t this really a conflict between Israel and Iran? And if face to face on the battlefield, how will Israel counter Iran’s “elusive face?”
Some Iranians say, as Sciolino notes, “Iranians are likewater in a vase. If the vase is a globe, they become a globe; if the vase is long-necked, they become long-necked.” Yes, being fluid and adaptable are key for defense and survival in facing ugly storms.
Tehran and the “UGLY AMERICANS”
“After the second Persian war, accordingly, the armies of Athens seem to have been generally composed of mercenary troops, consisting, indeed, partly of citizens, but partly, too, of foreigners; and all of them equally hired and paid at the expense of the state.” – Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
It wasn’t until after the Great War that the faces of the armies of “Ugly Americans” surfaced. “The worst mistake we could make would be to approach Iran through the prism of the war on terrorism” warns Pollack. I take his point. But still Americans could not help themselves and made the mistake with Iraq.
Speaking of “prism,” I’ve discovered Persian gems walking the country through multiple vantage points. Amazing how playing with puzzles and making ones way in and out of mazes one can get a clearer picture of what ones sees or hears.
Trick is in creating new pieces or a space that was not there before. How? If “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” savviness is in she who knows how and where to hold the power of nuclear.
“The Trouble with Tehran” or US? Pollack noted in 2004, that for the past two decades, the US “has tended to focus on four principle concerns regarding Iran: its support of and participation in international terrorism, its violent opposition to forging a just peace between Arabs and Israelis, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction (primarily nuclear weapons), and its record of human rights abuses at home.”
Pollack, it sounds like the “tea pot calling the kettle black.” To be fair that was then, this is now:
1.US intel agencies use of SERE, torture and mercenaries’ footprints are still visible across the globe. Says CIA John Rizzo of Advanced Interrogation Techniques, “Barbaric. May or may not be legal”;
2.Abraham Accords did not presumably result in violence but business deals or “peace between Arabs and Israelis”;
3.Pursuit of WMD’s failed resulting in invasion of Iraq but no WMD’s; US, why invade Iran when you ironically sanction Israel to cyber strike them or drone their nuclear weapons facilities and at the same time impose financial and trade sanctions on Iran?; and
4.Black’s economic enslavement and record high numbers of criminal imprisonment continue in the US.
Syrian leader reportedly ordered the use of a chemical weapon on his people. Is a leader’s order to harm their own people more treacherous than doing it to others? German Nazis did not harm their own of pure German blood when they chemically gassed the Jews. And neither did White Americans when they slaughtered and exterminated native Indians.
If we abide by the maxim that harming “the other” is deserving of the fate that befell the Nazis, then it seems only fitting that such a fate finds the US.
My brothers and sisters, it seems the hangman has been cheated.
“Coming Full Circle”
“When the George W. Bush administration took office in January 2001, it seemed more likely to take a softer line on Iran than a harder one. American oil companies widely favored lifting the sanctions, and the background of many Bush administration officials in the oil industry (the President included) led many to speculate that they might do so unilaterally.” – Kenneth Pollack
CIA reportedly stated recently that no evidence was found that Iran was weaponizing its nuclear facility. Events appear to be “Coming Full Circle.”
Accords between the West and East are as easily made as threats. Former President Trumps’ warning of “fire and fury” seems to have had an effect on North Korea. Nuclear weapons testing reportedly ceased. But do no mistake North Korea’s apparent cease and desist with incapability. And do not confuse one dynasty with another.
Americans, be reminded of your Independence Day fireworks – Bottlerockets are not sparklers. China’s production capability is so fierce that North Korea has it at the top of its list of trading partners. China certainly does not underestimate its neighbor’s powerful nuclear arsenal. Nor that of its other friends, Russia and Iran.
Twenty years earlier, Pollack writes, “Ironically, it was the political arm of the MEK (the National Council of Resistance, or NCR) that dropped the bombshell…NCR announced that its sources had discovered two secret facilities in Iran built to produce missile material for nuclear weapons.” Pollack, as I, understood that “all Iran had to do was play for time.”
Pursuit of the “great white whale” for its oil was sought by New England in the film In the Heart of the Sea. That is until oil was discovered in the State of Pennsylvania. “Oil from the ground, fancy that.” Heard of the other giant on land, Texas oil, lad!
“By September 11, 2001, Iran policy was officially “still being studied”…it became clear that Iran was not going to be a target of the war on terrorism, at least not at first. Instead, Iran was going to be an ally.”- Kenneth Pollack
Ahoy mate, heard of the Titan in cyberspace, Israeli data new “oil!”
Persia, time is running out for your empire to strike. When the Republican administration takes office in January 2025, it seems more likely to take a harder line on Iran than a softer line.