Daily Times

Iran’s embattled regime was shaken by a wave of international condemnation and domestic criticism on Saturday night after it admitted that its forces had shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane with 176 passengers on board.

Ukraine’s top military official told BBC that his country’s investigators already had evidence that a missile had brought down the Ukrainian passenger jet.

Iran’s admission of guilt over the plane crash sparked unrest in Tehran. Protestors spoke out against the supreme leader in response to the death of Iranians in the disaster.

As tensions in the Middle East continue to worsen, Moody’s has issued a warning saying that any lasting conflict between the US and Iran would have “widening implications through broad economic and financial shock.” In the wake of the US airstrikes that killed General Qassem Soleimani last week, “war stocks’ companies in the defence industry have climbed. Over the last week of trading, the SPORS Aerospace and Defense ETF rose almost 4% while the iShares US Aerospace and Defense ETF (ITA) was up 2.5%. Big-name defence stocks are rising, with Northrop Grumman leading the rally; while Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have jumped around 4% and 2% respectively.”

Shares of energy and oil companies have risen as well, alongside the surge in oil prices.

Iran’s long border with American Cold War rival, the Soviet Union, and its position as the largest, most powerful country in the oil-rich Persian Gulf, made Iran a pillar of the US foreign policy in the Middle East.

As the oil prices jumped and the stocks fell as a result of the news that the powerful Iranian military leader had been killed in a strike authorised by the US, geopolitical tension ratcheted up in a region that supplies around 25 per cent of the world’s oil. This threatened to disrupt the global supply while the immediate price jump was among the largest since an attack on a critical Saudi oil installation in September temporarily knocked out five per cent of the world’s oil supply.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel that separates the UAE, Oman, Iran and leads to the Indian Ocean is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, and the width of the shipping lane in either direction is just two miles wide. Iran’s coastline covers much of the east side of the gulf; leaving Tehran well-placed to harass shipping with small boats, missiles, mines and other weapons.

Having just raised 25 billion dollars through Aramco’s initial offering, the Saudis have an interest in easing tensions in the region. But thanks to the shale oil boom, the US is now much less dependent on the oil from the Persian Gulf that it once was. The US is now a net exporter, competing with the Saudis and Persian Gulf producers for markets. Asian countries like China, Japan and India are now major destinations for oil from the gulf and would be most directly threatened by any disruption. How the Iran conflict has helped the US viz a viz other competing powers in the world is obvious!

And here appears the reason behind the US flirtation with any theocracy. Feigning friendship with one while posing hostility towards another according to its interests at the given moment.

When we write something against the US, it is against the US. Likewise, when we write something against Japan, Germany or Indonesia, it is against Japan, Germany of Indonesia respectively. But when we write something against Saudi Arabia, Israel or Iran, It is against Sunni Muslims, Jews and Shia Muslims respectively. Here lies the real problem.

How the Iran conflict has helped the US viz a viz other competing powers in the world is obvious!

Not to speak of a true religious scholar, a common believer cannot operate a theocratic government. To operate it, one has to manipulate the innocent, impressionable people in the name of God. For it, the theocratic leader is to send young men to be killed in the name of God and for it, a theocratic leader has to be ready to starve, kill or even massacre his people in the name of God. As a person who fears and believes in God can never do it, it can be presumed that most of the people running a theocracy are either mad or atheists; of which the latter is more probable, keeping in view their cunning moves.

It is the reason why predatory powers like the US select such leaders and impose them on the countries of their interest.

Now coming to the absurdity of threatening to destroy the cultural sites of Iran that betrays a deranged mentality bereft of a sense of history or culture. The culture of Persia or Iran developed over several thousand years. But historically, people of what are now Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia are related to one another as a part of the larger group of people of the Great Iranian culture and historical sphere.

Iranian culture is famous for beautiful poetry, luxurious rugs, and lush gardens. The English word “paradise” comes from a Persian word; meaning “elegant gardens.”

The first sign of human existence in Iran dates back to about a couple hundred thousand years ago. But the first sign of civilisation can be traced back to Jiroft, Elam and Sialk, which date back to 10,000; 6,000 and 5,000 BC respectively.

Some salient features are as follows:

10,000 BC — Earliest known domestication of a goat.

6000 BC–the modern brick;

5000 BC– the invention of wine;

1400 to 600 BC–Zoroastrianism: where the first prophet of monolithic faith arose according to some scholars, claiming it to be the oldest of the revealed religions, which has probably more influence on mankind, directly or indirectly, than any faith;

576 to 529 BC–the Cyrus Cylinder, the world’s first charter of human rights;

500 BC–the first taxation system;

400 BC–Yakhchals, the ancient refrigerators and ice-cream, and

1000 AD– the introduction of paper to West.

Avicenna, Khayyam and numerous Iranian scholars are responsible for the establishment of Algebra and advancement of medicine, chemistry and the discovery of trigonometry.

Last but not least, Rumi wrote poetry in the 13th century and its translations continue to be the best sellers in the US.

The writer is a freelancer