Observers in no small numbers have interpreted the interference of western regimes in Iran’s political affairs as a “political gamble“. The risks that come along with the unhelpful stance of the US and three European countries vis-ˆ-vis the June 12 presidential election are pretty high.
The recent tensions between Tehran and some western capitals are not analogous to the conventional tensions of the past. The West has raised doubts about the validity of the electoral process that Iranians consider to be a pillar of the Islamic establishment. While the past conflicts between the West and Iran were limited to some political issues such as our civilian nuclear program or Tehran’s support for Islamic liberation movements in the Middle East, this time the western power circuits entered the realm of Iran’s national security. Such errors of judgment cannot and should not be compensated with apologies or back-door lobbying.
In the past few days observers have referred to Iran’s key role in the region and its prowess and have warned the leaders in Berlin, Paris and London about their mistakes toward Tehran. The game currently making the rounds in some European capitals is the worst model in ’political game theory. In this game a group of players challenge the credibility and legitimacy of a political system. In this game, which often takes place in a sensitive set-up, there is no room for logic, reason or rationale.
As such there is no trace of pragmatism or wisdom in the present attitude of Europeans toward the June 12 vote.
At the end of this game when the dust settles we should await all kinds of developments, ranging from reduction of level of bilateral ties to scrapping of lucrative trade and investment deals on both sides. Pundits and observers are awed about how the US and its junior partners who are caught in the unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worsening global economic crises have taken the liberty to enter a new crisis in this part of the world.
True, such high-stake games are not rare in European powerhouses. The foundations of these games were laid in the 1990s when Islamists won the majority in the elections in Algeria. At that time, European countries and America refused to recognize the election result and helped the Algerian Army and some fanatic secular forces to silence the Muslims who voted for change in a conflict that lasted for more than a decade and claimed 200,000 lives.
The West’s decision to help violently eliminate Islamists from the Algerian political spectrum was part of a long-term strategy that all liberal democrat governments in Europe and also the US advocate. After that they systematically implemented the same doctrine in other Muslim and Arab countries where there was the possibility of Islamists gaining power through the ballot box.
This strategy in the past decade has been used against movements and governments in Lebanon, Palestine and Iran. The most bizarre case is that of the Palestinian elections in 2006 in which the Palestinians voted for Hamas. The Americans and Europeans who had long encouraged the Palestinians to come out and vote rushed to impose punishing sanctions on the helpless Palestinians for voting for the ’wrong side’!
It is apparent that the current hostile posture toward the presidential election in Iran actually started long before June 12. The electoral scene was manipulated in European and American circles in such a manner as if it was a battle between pro-western camps and the groups who strongly believe in resisting western hegemony and their bullying tactics.
The western front has been focusing on a particular section of the political spectrum inside the country at a time when all political factions and groups in Iran have openly condemned the unwanted and unhelpful interference.
It should not be doubted that irrespective of deep political or other differences in their ranks, these factions and their supporters are united on the issue that the presidential election is an internal matter that has nothing to do with foreign powerbrokers who have their own narrow agenda.