By:
Joseph Amoroso.
In reviewing any potentially conflicting
constitutional issues, I find us in a situation where we will face difficulties
dealing with the immediate threats now confronting us at our borders and in the
surrounding area. There are forces at
work that require us to modify our stance towards the West, but the strict requirements of our Constitution
may slow down any efforts to bring about a major shift in our approach -- at a
time when it is vital that we create a common front to destroy the Islamic
State (Daesh).
The current situation in the Middle East
presents us with many challenges, all of which have the potential to affect us
negatively. Among these are the rise of
Daesh, oil price pressures, The Gulf States' anti-Shia paranoia, and the West's
fear of Iranian nuclear and military capabilities. Similarly, we are surrounded by ongoing
conflicts and several of our key partners are threatened by them. If Daesh is successful, they will target our
interests in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq and eventually Iran itself (1). We must take drastic actions to preserve our
Revolution.
The situation confronting us did not come
from us. Miscalculations by the U.S.,
Europe and Israel have created these crises, but their potential effects
require that we do all we can to help defuse them -- and we can only do so in
concert with these new "allies".
Otherwise, Daesh, Sunni irredentists in the Gulf States and who have
come to power in the Arab Spring, Israel, and Christian fundamentalists in the
West will rush headlong into an impasse that can only affect us negatively and
even mortally. If Assad falls, our Shia
allies in Lebanon will suffer and both Israel and Daesh will be able to isolate
and destroy them. Sunni fundamentalists
will gain power in the Arab Middle East, and the Palestinian cause will be
lost. Furthermore, oil markets will be
destabilized and OPEC will fall to the wayside.
Our Revolution is at risk.
My
Proposed Solution:
There is but one choice open to us at this
point and it involves entering into closer military, economic and diplomatic
relationships with the U.S. and The European Union. Given the instability of virtually all of
their partners in the Middle East and
the fact that we have many goals in common, there are reasons for the West to
try to improve its relations with Iran.
If we do not take these steps, combined internal and external pressures
have the potential of putting us in a situation which will threaten the fruits
of our Revolution.
We have already begun intelligence sharing
with Russia, Iraq and Syria on Daesh (2) and, on 9 April, our Supreme Leader
articulated the view that Iran is ready to cooperate with the U.S. on regional
issues if the U.S. would indicate some willingness to change its policy. (3)
Proposed
Steps:
1) We must send out feelers to the U.S.
pointing out these common goals and offering to cooperate as much as possible
with this effort. We can let the U.S.
send out similar feelers to its European allies and Russia. We will also offer our commitment to partner
with our Shia allies in this effort and work together to reach an improvement
in this situation.
2) At the same time, if we receive
encouraging responses, we will have to start preparing the groundwork for this
major shift in policy by courting those who we expect will welcome it and those
who will likely oppose it.
3) We must explain to our people that the
situation is serious and threatens the stability and future of our
Revolution.
4) We must also explain to to the U.S. and
the West that the sacred language of our Constitution forbids us from
cooperating with our enemies and allowing them to gain any influence over us or
interfere with our Constitutional objectives.
We will not violate any Chapter or Article of the Constitution in making
any shift in policy and we expect any potential partners to be aware of their
responsibility to adhere absolutely to the principles of our Constitution. Thus, any shift we make will have to follow
the requirements or our Constitution.
Relevance
To The Solution:
The West is now starting to realize that
President Assad is their best option and that cooperation with Assad, Russia
and Iran offers an opportunity to establish a strong counterbalance to Daesh
and the unstable states of the Sunni Middle East. (4) It is in our interest to take a
behind-the-scenes role in this effort and, when the time is appropriate, all
actions that we can.
The reality is that the U.S. and Europe are
amenable to bringing stability to the Sunni world and defusing the threat from
Daesh, that a solution to the Palestinian problem is essential in order to
attain this goal, and that Iran and its Shia allies can contribute to these
efforts. Of course, it is similarly
advantageous for us to weaken the relationships between the West and the Gulf
states and between the West and Israel.
Potential
Allies:
It is clear that our people -- once they
understand the seriousness of the situation -- would generally welcome a move
that will defuse tensions with the West, protect our Revolution, and bring an
end to some of the problems above. When
the time is appropriate, we can explain our proposal to the people, the
advantages that would fall our way and the potential fallout from failure. We would expect considerable support from our
youth, business community, and education community -- all of whom would benefit
from improved relations. We will need
their support in securing the necessary Constitutional approvals for any future
policies.
Potential
Opponents:
Internally, past relationships with the
West have not been beneficial to our country and our revolutionary
efforts. There is a long history of
Western efforts to corrupt our officials, sabotage our economy, generate
internal conflict and try to gain economic advantages. In our approaches to the West, we must
explain to our people what we expect in future relations with the West; i.e.,
commitments to not interfere in Iranian internal affairs, not obstruct our
efforts to improve our economy and infrastructure, and bring meaningful
pressure on Israel to find a rapid solution to the Palestinian problem and to
protect Shia interests in Lebanon.
There are many factions in our Country who
will try to obstruct any improvements in our relationships with the West. It will be necessary to consult with all of
them as we take this effort forward and convince them that this is in the best
interest of our Republic. Similarly,
there are factions in the West that will do everything they can to sabotage any
cooperative efforts with us. Our hope is
that they will all see that, otherwise,
Daesh will only continue to destabilize the Middle East and the World in
the goal of bringing their caliphate to its desired apocalypse. (5)
Adhering to our Constitution, we will
secure the cooperation and support of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the
Leadership Council, the Executive, the Judiciary and the Supreme Council for
National Security and -- through them -- the support of our people in moving
forward towards this objective.
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(1) https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/rival-islamic-states-isis-v-iran-0
(2) http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/28/russia-iran-iraq-and-syria-to-share-intelligence-on-islamic-state/
(3) http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/09/10/why-us-and-iran-arent-cooperating-against-isis
(4) http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/25/us-syrian-regime-change-isis-priority
(5) http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
