Today, whilst arguing that it ‘had no quarrel with the Iranian people’, the government of the USA announced the imposition of sanctions against Iran, and specifically against Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's defence ministry and a number of banks. While the imposition of sanctions against Iraq resulted in a humanitarian disaster during the 1990’s, that is not to say that limited and targeted sanctions, undertaken in accordance with international law, and for the purpose of ensuring greater respect for human rights and international peace and security, can never be useful tools with which the international community and the UN can attempt to force oppressive states to adapt their behaviour.
Most recently sanctions imposed against the Hamas led government of the Palestinian Authority by the European Union and USA amongst others have resulted in both a dramatic deterioration in humanitarian standards for the Palestinian people and have crushed the development of a viable and active democratic process in the occupied Palestinian territories. Justification for sanctions must always be well thought out and clearly in line with the obligations upon states as set out in international human rights law. Propaganda however, appears to be at the heart of both the sanctions against the Palestinians and now also against Iran.
Today’s announcement by Condoleezza Rice, as reported on the Haaretz website, justifies sanctions on the basis that “the steps the Bush administration is taking are designed to punish the Iranians for their support for terrorist organizations in Iraq and the Middle East, missile sales and nuclear activities” a view shored up by reference to “the administration's concern over statements indicating a desire in Tehran to wipe Israel off the map”. Indeed, Iran’s purported intention of destroying Israel as soon as it can get hold of nuclear weapons is regarded by the White House as posing "the single greatest challenge to US security.”
So, Iran is planning to destroy Israel, and we must take direct steps against the Iranian government to prevent such from happening. But also in today’s Haaretz an article (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/916758.html) reports the comments of Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, who stated that in her "Iranian nuclear weapons do not pose an existential threat to Israel” and she also “criticized the exaggerated use that [Israeli] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is making of the issue of the Iranian bomb,” claiming that he is “attempting to rally the public around him by playing on its most basic fears.”
In effect then, the foreign minister of Israel accepts that Iran is not likely to go about destroying Israel, and furthermore states that her prime minister is only using such arguments for propaganda purposes, the propaganda of fear which has tragically divided jew from arab within all the territories under Israeli control. And this is the basis of US action against Iran? Propaganda takes many forms but it is not perfect. Lies on such a scale as those related to the supposed WMDs in Iraq were seen through by millions prior to the 2003 invasion. Vigilance in this respect need be preserved and increased with regards to US and European threats against Iran.
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