IRAN took a calculated risk yesterday when it reached an agreement with the US and its allies that it would allow extensive and exhaustive inspections of its nuclear facilities so that they could be sure that it was not developing nuclear weaponry.
Iran has always insisted that it did not want to have nuclear bombs in its possession, but now the American imperialists will be absolutely sure, and have no doubt that this is the case.
The UK under Blair made such an agreement with Libya, that it give up its WMDs, so that a ‘normal business relationship could develop between Libya and the West. Libya handed over its WMDs and what followed was a NATO organised coup and the murder of its leader Colonel Gadaffi. Now Libya is in chaos, part of it considering itself to be a province of the IS Caliphate.
Earlier, in 2001-2003, Iraq had denied that it had WMDs, and indeed it did not have any. That did not stop the US and UK invading Iraq and destroying it as an advanced society, creating the conditions for, first of all Al Qaeda to emerge, and then IS. The agreement does bring Iran great immediate benefits, in that the Western sanctions will be lifted and some very big debts will have to be paid to Iran.
The Iranian economy will immediately begin to rapidly develop, boosted by its gigantic gas and oil resources and the fact that is has a basic industrial base. The Western capitalists are also licking their lips in this respect – at the prospect of ‘Iran opening up’.
‘An economy bigger than Thailand’s and oil reserves rivalling those of Canada’ is how investment bank Renaissance Capital sees the country. Renaissance sees the Islamic Republic’s stock market opening to investors in early 2016, with inflows totalling $1 billion in the first year. It added: ‘Iran is the largest and most important economy in our view that is still closed to institutional investors.’
Iran’s stock market has been one of the best performing in the Middle East even under crippling US-led sanctions. Over 450 companies listed on the Tehran exchanges have a combined capitalisation of more than 3,644 trillion rials ($110.5 billion). In 2014, Tehran Stock Exchange’s All-Share Price Index TEPIX rose a record 130%.
Further, ‘The country has an educated population of around 80 million and a GDP of $419 billion, with a market capitalisation size of $170 billion.’ It is a great prize indeed! And now it is being opened up.
The response of Israeli leader Netanyahu to the deal has been immediate. A ‘historic mistake.’ – ‘Sweeping concessions were made in all of the areas meant to block Iran from the ability to arm itself with nuclear weapons.’
Netanyahu also took umbrage at a deal that would see Iran getting economically richer and stronger.
He added: ‘Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars (after sanctions are lifted), which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world.’
Israel has over 100 nuclear bombs, and has threatened to use them against Iran. Perhaps Iran should have insisted that the agreement had to be binding as far as all of America’s allies especially in the Middle East, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are concerned, and that the whole Middle East should be turned into a ‘nuclear bomb free zone’.
As well, there is already great interest in whether the ‘new Iran’ – with a much better relationship with the USA, will prove useful in settling the region’s problems, that is the ‘problem’ of the refusal of Syrian leader Assad and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement to give way to imperialism.
The reality of the situation is that peace will only come to the Middle East once US and UK imperialism and their feudal agencies in the Gulf, plus their Zionist mercenaries in Israel have been defeated and driven out of the region and replaced by a socialist Palestine and a Socialist Federation of Middle Eastern states, whose gigantic wealth will be used to make the region the envy of the planet.
The strategic aims of the USA and its EU allies are exactly the opposite, and these leopards do not change their spots.
