By George H. Wittman on 10.9.09 @ 6:07AM
The driving force in Iran's nuclear ambitions.
While there is great speculation on whether or not Iran
will achieve the ability to create deliverable nuclear weapons in
various time frames, the reality is that Iran's leaders are
wallowing in the attention they receive as key players in global
affairs. They don't care about what is said, just so they remain
the center of world interest.
Persian national ego is as much a driving force in Iran's
foreign and defense policy as is the leadership's desire to
politically and economically dominate the Middle East. These
ambitions are symbiotic. The irony in this is that it is exactly
what the late Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlevi also had as his goals.
In fact, it was under his regime that the construction of Iran's
first nuclear power plant was begun at Bushire -- in spite of
being on a seismic fault line!
The essential underpinning of Iran's foreign and defense
policy is a prideful belief that the country's ancient imperial
heritage justifies its existence as the dominant power in the
Middle East. This egocentric concept is buttressed by a belief in
dissimulation as a religiously justifiable methodology in its
strategic operations.
What then further flows from the nearly mystical manner of
making political choices? To begin with, one must remind oneself
that behind the protective cover of Persian Shia pragmatism is
acceptance of the principle of taqiyah.
It's a simple yet overarching guide, well known but too
often overlooked: Dissimulation to protect the faith and the
defenders of the faith is not merely an accepted practice, but
can be essential to the furtherance of the faith. (One of the
citations most often referred to is Quran- III, 28)
When the anti-Ahmadinejad riots began after June's disputed
elections, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had an
excellent chance to toss the questionably re-elected president to
the wolves -- an old Persian custom. Instead Khamenei steadfastly
supported this aggressive and opinionated onetime Tehran mayor.
It seemed like such a poor political choice when the crowds would
have eagerly adored the Islamic leadership for the righteous
removal of Ahmadinejad.
The answer lies in the essential character of Ahmadinejad
and how that is perceived by the Supreme Leader. Iran's bumptious
little president believes totally in the divine right of Persian
leadership. Muhammed Ahmadinejad is completely loyal to Shia
Islam and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This
loyalty and the fealty that flows from it is the ultimate test of
usefulness for the Supreme Leader. It wasn't even a close call in
choosing to support the outspoken president over his far more
sophisticated competitors
Underlying Tehran's need to have Iran nuclear armed is the
continuing egotistical -- some say paranoiac -- belief that the
world outside of Persia wants to take it over. The theme that
Russia desires warm water access has been played for years. The
evolution of a global petroleum-based economy has been used as an
argument to support claims that Western industrialized nations
want Iran for its oil and gas. One way or another, Iran has been
seen by its leadership as the jewel that attracts.
At the same time as it carries this sense of
self-importance, Iran is bedeviled by concomitant inadequacy. The
country has vast oil and gas reserves but has to import gasoline.
Shia Islam has a history of extraordinary religious scholarship,
yet 25% of Iran, its greatest exponent, is illiterate. While
advanced jets are serviced everyday at Iranian airfields, the
basic mode of transportation in the countryside is horse or
donkey-drawn.
The nations with which Iran deals know full well the
principles by which Iran is guided. Actually Tehran has been
quite straightforward, contrary to the guidance of
taqiyah. Iran's leadership openly has
announced its belief that Israel is an evil state that must be
removed from the map. Exactly how and when is the only thing
still left in the shadows. Holding this threat over the head of
the Jewish state and the United States satisfies quite well the
ego of Persia. And that's what really counts for Tehran.
Iran's operational plans incorporate not only lying about
the country's nuclear weapon development, but it is on this basic
dissimulation that the defense system of the Islamic Republic of
Iran is built. There is, therefore, no logical reason to accept
anything that Tehran says, officially or unofficially. In
consequence Western defense planning for dealing with Iran must
accept the fact that Iran sooner or later will arm itself with
nuclear weapons. The Persian ego demands it!
topics:
Iran, Mahmoud Ahmajinedad
