An Iran specialist has met with senior journalists and politicians
The danger the Islamic Republic of Iran poses to the world is long-standing and comprehensive, and the focus should not be solely on the country’s illicit nuclear program. This is the position of Benham Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Washington D.C. based Foundation for Defence of Democracies think tank who has been engaging in an extensive series of briefings with journalists and politicians across Australia and New Zealand as a guest of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).
Benjam Ben Taleblu
Taleblu emphasises that the Iran nuclear deal, or JCPOA, took what was only the latest issue in the Iran file and made it the central problem, relegating all other issues, such as terrorism, kidnapping, and ballistic missile development and proliferation, to the sidelines. Even by itself, the JCPOA essentially bribed Iran to postpone its nuclear pursuits until many of its clauses expire, rendering it incapable even of addressing the nuclear issue, while the lifting of sanctions flooded Iran with cash it could use to pursue its other malign activities.
The Trump administration, he argues, withdrew from the myopic JCPOA and continues to heap crushing sanctions on Iran in order to recreate the painful conditions that brought Iran to the negotiating table in the past, most notably to negotiate the end of the Iran-Iraq war after painful economic and military pressure and impending social collapse. The end goal of this approach, dubbed ‘Maximum Pressure,’ is to negotiate a comprehensive deal that encompasses the entire spectrum of Iranian activities. Iran, meanwhile, is escalating attacks across the region in order to divide the US from its allies, which want to preserve the JCPOA, and pressure the US to reenter the agreement and ultimately lift sanctions in a very dangerous game of chicken.
Recent revelations of several Australians kidnapped and held hostage by Iran, as well as a devastating strike on Saudi oil infrastructure last week that knocked out about 6% of the World’s oil supply offline, only underline how relevant these issues are to Australia. Taleblu praised Prime Minister Scott Morrison for being one of the few leaders to at least publicly reconsider the country’s stance on the JCPOA and to join the US-led maritime security mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
I think Saudi Arabia are more of a problem in the region than Iran.