Iran’s influence in the Middle East is not a matter of concern

While the Zionist-controlled western media is crying hoarse over the rising influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region, there are conscientious journalists in the US who do not bite the Israeli bait, and think that it is but natural for a powerful regional country with a rich history, civilization and independent stance, to build concrete ties with neighbouring governments and people for collective development, defence, and stability of the region.

Now we have an article that appeared in the Tribune Content Agency, written by Rachel Marsden, a political strategist and former Fox News host based in Paris.

With President Bashar Assad still in power in Syria, supported by Russia, Syrian ally Iran is about to dominate West Asia, and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

But is this really such a bad thing?

Maybe it is if you’ve put all your eggs in other West Asian baskets to the total exclusion of Iran, while your rivals long ago established a solid footing there. In that case, you’ve just lost a mighty expensive “long game” bet, and it won’t be easy to eject the entrenched competition from that market in order to gain a foothold.

So what to do? Perhaps you would continue to do what other US administrations have done: keep trying to convince the public that it’s not about global oil dominance or big business at all, and that it’s really about politics and human rights.

The gullible might believe it. Just like they’ll believe that Iran’s allies, Syria and Russia, are threats to humanity, despite the fact that both countries just teamed up with Iran to wipe out an actual threat to humanity: the Takfiri terrorist outfit that styled itself as Daesh or the Islamic State.

Do you ever wonder why Iran is always the West’s whipping boy when there are so many more egregious cases? Not only are rogue states left alone by Western nations, they’re often supported in their transgressions.

Take, for example, the United Arab Emirates, a country known for employing expats from underdeveloped countries in modern-day slave labor to build a massive playground for rich Arab oligarchs on a foundation of desert sand. Hollywood legend Robert De Niro was in the UAE recently to speak at the World Government Summit, where he lamented the Trump administration’s stance on climate change.

I hate to break it to De Niro, but Dubai was plagued with sand and heat long before the industrial revolution.

While standing in a center of slavery, De Niro also criticized Trump’s America for a lack of sophistication. He said: “We don’t like to say we are a ‘backward’ country, so let’s just say we’re suffering from a case of temporary insanity.”

The actor was apparently oblivious to the fact that he was uttering these words in a country where women must receive permission from a male guardian to marry. Meanwhile, the endless saga of Iran’s hijab law for women is covered on a near-weekly basis in the Western media.

The double standard for Iran vis-à-vis other West Asian countries more pliable to Western interests is glaring.

Iran is only considered a “threat” because it refuses to sell out its national interests to those who show up at its doorstep demanding it do so.

In other words, Iran has exactly the kind of protectionist approach that many Americans demand of their own government. Imagine if the shoe were on the other foot and Iran led a coalition against the US with sanctions and accusations of being a global menace, all because Iranian leadership didn’t agree with the way the US ran itself. As an American, you’d tell them it is none of their business, right?

Well, now it’s easy to understand why Iran has been telling the US for decades to minds its own business.

If you’re younger than 50, you’ve been bombarded with anti-Iranian messaging for pretty much your entire life: how Iran allegedly sponsors terrorism, how Iran is a nuclear threat, how Iran is a regional hegemon. It all seems plausible until you venture beyond the one-sided messaging and seek the point of view from the other side.

And yes, there is another side. Iranian officials with whom I’ve spoken over the years are just as paranoid about outside interference in their domestic affairs and threats to their national security.

The difference is that Iranians can point to a CIA-backed coup d’état in 1953 as proof of Western meddling, as the old adage goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that you don’t have enemies.

So let’s cut out the nonsense when it comes to Iran. It’s a country just like so many others.

AS/ME