As Pakistanis, we sympathise with Iran in the time of her economic and political crises. We are religiously compelled to offer support to our Persian Muslim brothers and certainly we stand behind them. Our solidarity with Iran is unwavering, even when the Shiite Muslims are unsafe, unprotected and unguarded here in Pakistan — when the Shiite minority is under attack in their homeland by Sunni extremists and when they are victims of decades long, vicious and relentless genocide. We reckon that the pursuit of nuclear weapons is Iran’s legitimate prerogative and the recent sanctions from the west are unjustified. These measures only portray the contempt of the ‘non-Muslim infidels’ not only towards Iran, but also the entire Muslim Ummah. It is their fear that after being armed with weapons of mass destruction, Iran can easily jeopardise the existence of the State of Israel — the country we ‘all’ proudly abhor. It can also take on the supremacy of the United States of America — that we desperately aspire to — and ultimately, help us (Pakistan) lead the world to achieve the long-awaited Islamic (Sunni/Salafi) renaissance that we all pray will happen. (It essentially outlines the basic framework of our greater yet clandestine master plan.) With our undisclosed wishes (read mania) to command the world once again — something that has never happened before — we actually do not pay attention to the cost that the Iranian people would have to pay. The devaluation of their currency in the last one year alone has been phenomenal, along with all the other economic parameters. It has lost 50 percent of its value and is projected to lose even more after the European Union (EU) ban has been completely implemented in July of this year. While we are exhorted to get inspiration from Iran’s Islamic Revolution and are constantly (mis)informed about its political and economic stability, the inflation rate in Iran is running close to 20 percent and its unemployment rate is rising every year. The economy of Iran is the 26th largest in the world that largely depends on fossil fuel and natural gas exports. But after the current embargo in place on its petroleum exports, its economy would plummet and the people of Iran would suffer even more. Nevertheless, it is not our concern since we have a celestial and universal agenda in our minds of vanquishing the west. We believe (dream) that Divine help would guarantee the ultimate success to protect Iran through us (Pakistan, i.e. the Nation of the Pure) because of our faith (anti-Shiite plus anti-Christian plus anti-Semite plus anti-Hindu) and without any hard work (education, research, intellect). We have also fixated ourselves on the gas pipeline from Iran as the sole solution to our escalating energy requirements. We are the signatories of a binding agreement with Iran to build the pipeline by 2014 in order to avoid a monthly surcharge. We have signed this agreement when China, India, South Korea and Japan — the largest importers of Iran crude oil — are scrambling to find another source to fulfill their energy requirements. Obviously, all these Eastern nations are allies of the west and are practically their slaves. They are ‘godless’ and would face the same annihilation from the emergence of the pure faith from the deep rural village of Afghanistan that was once butchered by the Taliban. The current sanctions on Iran are likely to be very effective, because the European-based insurance companies are banned by the EU from providing coverage to ships that carry Iranian oil to other nations. These insurance companies provide coverage to 90 percent of the shipments even when they are boarded to India and China (the only godless friend of the Pure). They cover both direct and pollution-related claims through a complex team of insurance companies and the Protection and Indemnity (P&I) clubs. A tanker containing two million barrels of crude oil therefore, is typically covered for $ one billion that no insurance company outside the EU can afford to protect. These challenges for Iran are crucial for its economic viability, its political stability and its security policy. But we are not concerned by all this petty and convoluted legal mumbo jumbo when our mission is far superior and divine. Clearly, we know that God is on our side (the sub-segment of Sunnis) and waiting anxiously to serve us. But we are not ready yet. We are terribly fragmented as a nation and have failed to progress in every aspect of our spiritual (sectarian) life. We have only marginally excelled in our animosity for the west and the abomination of the United States — the open enemy of God (the same God we both trust). We still have a long way to go to leave our rationality behind and abandon our intellect completely. Once we fulfill these simple prerequisites of our success — a strong belief (rage), sincerity of our intentions (revulsion for the infidels) and the unity of the nation (existence of a single Sunni/Salafi faith only) — we are certain that the triumph is at our (Pakistan-led-Saudi consortium) doorstep. The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at skhashmi@yahoo.com