IRAN IS VICTIM OF IAEA AND US-LED WESTERN DOUBLE-STANDARDS

Apart from the obvious loss of life and the mass destruction of infrastructure, the war on Iran by the US-Israeli joint venture exposes more fault-lines in our beleaguered international system: Double standards.

Geopolitics analysts believe that the biggest winner in the military onslaught against Iran is already the Jewish state of Israel, and in particular Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has been under tremendous domestic pressure since Hamas bridged Israel’s perceived impenetrable security architecture on October 7, 2023.

His political opponents wanted him gone, and the negative sentiment remains. It took deep root when Netanyahu appeared to prioritize the indiscriminate obliteration of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip over a negotiated release of the Israeli hostages.

Many died in the prolonged bombardment of Gaza; some killed as a result of the Israeli Defense Force’s wanton maiming and killing of everything and anything that moved in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu’s modus operandi seemed to be survival-on-conflict. Peace, it seems, would pave a way for Netanyahu’s day in a Tel Aviv court on charges that include, among others, corruption.

But then again, Netanyahu’s luck is in abundance. Among the US political elites, regardless of which party occupies the Oval Office, Netanyahu is assured not only of diplomatic cover internationally, such as at the level of the UN Security Council where the US vetoes any adverse resolution passed against Israel. Over and above everything, all American administrations without fail are ever-ready to unleash their military might on Israel’s foes –real or perceived.

From the reign of Democrats Obama and Biden to the incumbent Republican Donald Trump, the US Congress has anointed the Jewish State as an untouchable in world affairs. The consequences are not hard to fathom: Any enemy of Israel is an enemy of the US. This formula amid the unfolding reconfiguration of our international world order has proven to be nothing short of a wrecking ball.

With the US boasting the world’s biggest military, Israel especially under Netanyahu has mastered the art of the tail wagging the dog. Almost effortlessly, Netanyahu is able to drag the Trump administration into any conflict under the dubious mantra that a threat to Israel is a threat to the US.

Last weekend’s largely unexpected attack on Iran and the deliberate assassination of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alongside several top leaders, demonstrate the extent of the disintegration of the UN system. Within a space of two months following the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the US has toppled two sitting heads of state in two different countriesin two different continents. Wait for it: All this with impunity!

In the Middle East, Israel has become a dangerous extension of the US in every form or shape. As things stand, Israel is surrounded by literally weak neighbours who are increasingly unable to answer back whenever Israel threatens them. They all know the heavy price to pay if they dare stand up to Israel. Big Brother America is behind Netanyahu and the State of Israel, the so-called chosen race that can do no wrong in the eyes of some religious fundamentalists.

I’m not suggesting Iran is perfect. But Iran’s undoing has been to be the loudest detractor of Israel in the region. Through the support of Tehran, non-state actors such as Hamas and Hezbollah have been able to wage resistance wars against Israel, earning them label of terrorist organizations. The endgame for Tel Aviv and Washington has therefore been crystal clear: Effect regime change in Iran and replace it with a poodle administration. In this way, Israelites will sleep like babies, knowing that the last line of threat to Israel’s unmatched US-backed dominance of the entire Middle East is no more.

At the behest of Israel under Netanyahu in particular, Syria has fallen. Lebanon cannot lift a finger at Israel. The Palestinians have been annihilated, and their land reclassified as State land under the jurisdiction of The Knesset.

The US has military bases all over the region: In the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait – Washington’s military tentacles reach wide and far. Wherever the US bases are located, Israel is at home. Additionally, military host countries can never pose a shed of a threat to Israel, not even diplomatically, let alone militarily or in any way whatsoever.

Fundamentally, nations that host US bases are regarded as buffer zones for Israel. Iran has therefore come to resemble the last vestiges of resistance against total dominance of Israel in the Middle East. It is no wonder; therefore, that President Trump has already declared that the US will have to participate in the determination of the next Supreme Leader of Iran. The US governs Venezuela, now wants to govern Iran. The US mission, seemingly, goes beyond assassinations and regime change. It extends into the future governance of the vanquished, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. And, without a shadow of doubt, the gung-ho plan to control Iran’s oil riches in order to boost Israel’s and the ailing economy of the US is the ultimate goal.

I said at the beginning that the attack on Iran is symptomatic of the collapse of the founding principles of the UN Charter that is premised on the principles of multilateralism. The silent majority of the international community in the wake of such flagrant transgression of international law through kidnappings and arbitrary killings is testament of the end of the UN system as we’ve known it, and the rise of US-led unipolar order as we see it.

At the heart of the vilification of Iran by the West lay claims that Tehran poses a nuclear threat to Israel and the US. Europe, led by the UK, France and Germany, the so-called E3, have also become Israel’s biggest defenders behind the US.  And breathing oxygen into such questionable claims is none other than the UN watchdog body ,International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Last year, after the IAEA alleged Iran was progressing with enriching uranium, Israel and the US grabbed the opportunity, typically pouncing on Iran in what became known as the 12-day war.

The current war broke out after the US had participated in what optimistic Iranians later described as very fruitful indirect talks with the Americans in Geneva, brokered by Oman. The next round of talks was scheduled to take place a week later in Vienna. But to the surprise of many the US, led by Israel, went into Iran in fury and anger in the hope that rioters would fill up the streets in celebration of the death of the Supreme Leader.

The IAEA, like most of the Global North, has not criticized the US for walking away from the talks. But then again, they never do. They take aim at easy targets like Iran only. Now, wait for it: All this is happening whilst Israel is itself a nuclear power that does not even allow IAEA to inspect their nuclear facilities for compliance. These are the double-standards I am arguing against. For a UN body, I see no reason why they cannot be objective and carry out their duties without any fear or favour.

In the midst of all this, the League of Arab Nations, better known as the Arab League,is missing in action. The US deserves great credit in killing the Arab League through the colonial strategy of divide-and-rule.

Instead, the US has cleverly targeted the nations belonging to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which represents the Arab States of the Gulf. The GCC states include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE. All these nations play host to US military bases. They are subject to Iran’s drone attacks targeting US interests across the region, inadvertently threatening retaliation against Tehran by fellow Arab nations. This could lead to inter-Arab conflict in the region, or civil war especially in Iran.

The biggest beneficiary will be Israel watching gleefully from the sideline, and also the chief protagonist of it all, the US. Divide-and-rule is a tried-and-tested leaf out of colonial textbooks. It works. Just ask Africans.