Daily Times

Trump Town is playing to the cheap seats. Once more at Tehran’s expense. For the administration continues its risky game in that country. From public statements advocating regime change to the macabre hope that the Islamic Republic will not ring in its 40th birthday next year. And still, Washington believes it enjoys the world’s largest democracy surplus.

But where the White House gives real cause for concern is in the admission that it is once again considering designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation. If this were to come to pass, the Trump administration would have the authority to freeze all IRGC assets, impose travel bans and impose criminal sanctions. Such a move would be largely symbolic given that the no branch of the Iranian state holds financial accounts in the US, for example. But this does not mean it is not without repercussions.

The IRGC is a wing of Tehran’s armed forces; tasked with defending the Islamic system of the state. Admittedly, its ideological outreach has increasingly spread to all spheres of Iranian life. Yet this is not the primary American gripe. What Washington cannot tolerate is its support of Hezbollah and Hamas. Both of which have enjoyed parliamentary representation in Lebanon and Palestine, respectively.

Be that as it may, the fallout of officially labelling a military wing of a sovereign nation a terrorist outfit cannot be overestimated. Not least because it underscores that the US is a dishonest broker for peace in the region. The latter lectures the Iranians over their military presence in Damascus and a general penchant for proxy wars. And all the while Washington refuses to admit it is guilty of the same. From Yemen to Syria to Iraq to Libya. This is the nature of the geo-strategic beast. The only difference being that this does not represent the American backyard.

The Trump administration has been upfront about wanting to economically cripple Tehran. Back in May, it announced pulling the plug on the Iran nuclear deal. Since then, Washington has imposed a new round of aggressive sanctions; including the diktat that all nations eliminate Iran oil imports by this coming November. Seemingly lost on this White House is the fact that unilateral withdrawal from a multilateral agreement does not herald an automatic return to a unipolar world order.

The Iranians have responded not unreasonably by threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz; the Gulf passageway through which one-fifth of global oil tankers pass. The US has upped the ante by hinting that a military response would be in the offing if this were to happen. All of which raises important questions once again regarding the Islamic Military Alliance (IMA). To date, still not much is known about its mandate; though in certain quarters it has from the get-go been termed as the anti-Iran club. The fact that is has also been referred to as the Muslim NATO ought to fill no one with confidence.

And while the UN remains a largely impotent body that is rarely equipped to move beyond mere lip service — it should, nevertheless, as a point of record issue a strong warning against blatant American belligerence and warmongering. After all, the world body is supposed to be a club of peace-loving nations.  *

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th 2018.