The intensified war of words between the West and the Iranian Revolutionary Government is causing grave concern in the international community about the possibility of open conflict in one of the most politically and economically sensitive areas of the world. In the latest round of thrust and counter-thrust, the European Union (EU) has taken a series of economic sanctions against the Iranian Government. These include the freezing of assets of the country's central bank in Europe and the United States and the decision of the EU that its members would end their imports of Iranian oil.
In response Iran says it will block the Straits of Hormuz through which a large quantity of oil from the Middle East passes. Western battleships have been passing through the straits as an indication to the Iranians that they mean business.
At the base of the contentions is the allegation of the West that Iran is building up a capacity to produce nuclear weapons. The Government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied the allegations saying the research programme is for energy purposes. However, his government has not always been fully cooperative with the inspection teams from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Additionally, the Iranian President has more than irritated the West by the belligerence of his responses and, according to the Western powers, is now refusing to come to the negotiating table. But Russia and China, amongst the large powers, have not joined the proposed embargo against Iran. Moscow says "it is a deeply mistaken move that would not achieve the objective." China has been ambivalent and noncommittal on sanctions.
China is the major importer of Iranian oil, taking some 20 per cent of that country's oil exports. Indeed, all of the major importers of Iranian oil are in Asia, including India, South Korea and Japan. Italy is the only the EU country which takes a significant quantity of Iranian oil.One major difficulty of the Western position on the development of nuclear power by countries outside of the large power blocs is the deep inconsistency, even hypocrisy, of their position. While insisting against the spread of the nuclear family to countries such as Iran, the West has not only not criticised the development of nuclear capacity by Israel, but has assisted that programme.While this double standard may be due to the fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy in which the rulers subject themselves to regular elections and Iran is a theocratic dictatorship, the West has done nothing about the historical and flagrant refusal by Israel to acknowledge the countless UN declarations with regard to that country's aggression against the Arab world.
It would also be true to say that while the West has sought to deny the right of "new countries" to accumulate arsenals of weaponry, it has been the US and the major European powers which have consistently used heavy weaponry against those unable to respond in kind. The devastation of Afghanistan and Iraq on totally false bases is the most recent example.
The international community cannot afford to continue going through the cycles of human devastation and economic destruction caused by western bullying and aggression.
Moreover, the likely escalation in the price of oil first by the sanctions and second by a nervous international oil market could cost much and slow any economic recovery in the making.
Even though countries such as Trinidad and Tobago would gain revenue benefits from the escalation in oil prices, that would come with many hidden costs-including the escalation in the quantum of the fuel subsidy. Perhaps the lesson that should be followed by the EU and Washington is that of Iraq: Give the IAEA, which plans to return to Iran in a matter of days to "resolve all outstanding and substantive issues," an opportunity to find a solution. The EU oil sanctions do not go into effect until July when present contracts expire. So there remains time for reasonable men to achieve an amicable settlement.
