Carta OpinionGlobal, 24.04.2019 Riad Fouad Saade, empresario libanés y cónsul honorario de Chile en Beirut
It has been sometime that I did not write to you, not that all is quiet in the Middle East, as much as all has been more complicated by the increasingly frantic behavior of the US diplomacy and its open support to the extreme right in Israel.
- Relations have deteriorated with Turkey, an important NATO member,
- Clear uncertainty reflected on US military intervention in Syria and its interaction with Russia,
- Continuous dismantling of Iraq, dangerously stretched between US and Iranian influences,
- Dramatic little known humanitarian situation in war torn Yemen
- Unclear position as to relations with Pakistan and its interaction in Afghanistan
All that with:
- A “silent” Europe, itself busy with its fundamental problems (Brexit, immigration, yellow vests)
- A strengthened Russia, playing it smart, diplomatically and militarily
- A steadily moving China which Silk Roads are strongly networking the Middle East; &
- A Gulf region “seemingly peaceful and stable” but in fact, “hostage” of US world Oil and Arm policy.
President Trump has his own businessman style of dealing with great issues (China, North Korea, Palestine etc). His attitude towards the Islamic Republic of Iran opened hostilities in 2015 by withdrawing from the multilateral nuclear deal. In 2018 he threatened Iran with the strongest sanctions in history if it does not comply with a list of a dozen US demands. On April 23, 2019 the US has announced it will no longer exempt countries from sanctions that aim to impose a complete oil embargo on Iran.
Is this latest attitude a wise one?
The analysis "The West's irrational fear of Iran is a disaster waiting to happen" (published in Middle East Eye by Seyed Mohammad Marandi) reflects the academic opinion of an Iranian university professor. It certainly expresses the Iranian position. However, it sheds the light on many aspects worth to be known by you.
