The United States, together with the world’s major nuclear superpowers, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have just orchestrated a coup against Iran, one that is far more effective than the one mounted by the United States in the 1950s against that nation’s democratically elected, secular government.
The fiercely proud Islamic republic has agreed to roll back its nuclear program and scratch the possibility of making any bomb in the foreseeable future. Not only that, but Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, is willing to surrender to stringent inspections to assure skeptics that it abides by its commitments. Even if Iran were to renege on its commitments, the United States easily could degrade its military power. Defusing the Persian nation’s march toward military nuclear capability through diplomacy, however, is a much smarter and bolder approach.
Let me explain.
Iran may be a pariah state today, but it is an ancient nation that has given much to world civilization. People nowadays think Saudi Arabia is the main seat of Islam, because the Prophet Mohammed is believed to be from Mecca; however, it is in the Persian sphere of Iraq, a place with a long tradition of learning and scholarship, that the Islamic religion, with its canons and histories, was crafted.
In addition, if you consider that Iran, a country of nearly 80 million proud people, is scientifically and technologically far more advanced than any Arab nation, you begin to get a sense of why any rational leader would want to strike a deal with Iran, not Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or even Egypt. By any measure, Iran — aside from Israel and Turkey — is the natural superpower of the broader Middle East. It behooves us, therefore, to get it on our side and help us contain the dark forces of Sunni terrorism, like al-Qaida or the Islamic State.
You might say Iran is a theocracy that is hell-bent on the destruction of Israel. This is true, but the reason Iran fell into the hands of zealot mullahs in the first place is because the United States thwarted that nation’s democracy in the 1950s and then supported the abusive, megalomaniac Shah in the 1970s. In some real ways, the regime we deplore in Iran these days is the product of America’s narrow-minded ideology and diplomatic shortcomings. Had we been fair to the Iranians’ choice in the 1950s, the Middle East and the world would have been a different place today.
Undoing America’s political blunders in the Middle East can’t happen overnight, but Obama’s deal most certainly is the best bet we have. If, as a result of this agreement, Iran is integrated into the world economy, one could reasonably expect that most Iranians would lose interest in fighting the West or trying to undermine Israel. In the long run, Iran might — and should — make common cause with the Jewish state, because Shiites and Jews are equally maligned by Sunni Muslims. A liberated Iran might come to the conclusion it would never be able to get Sunni Muslims to its side and, therefore, adopt a more pragmatic diplomatic strategy.
The United States has a golden opportunity to transform the Middle East and dramatically change the course of world affairs by merely executing this nuclear deal. The nuclear superpowers sponsoring it have said as much in their Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. This is why Congress needs to support this historic agreement.
Anouar Majid is Vice President for Global Affairs at the University of New England in Maine. He is the author, most recently, of “Islam and America: Building a Future Without Prejudice.”