Ayoon wa Azan (They are not foolish, but are acting so)

Part of the heritage that my parents left me consists of the famous Brooklyn Bridge, which generates a high income since cars must pay to cross it. I want to sell it to the European and American officials who carried out talks with their Iranian counterparts in Almaty in Kazakhstan last month and who will proceed with the talks in Istanbul in mid-March and then return to Almaty in April. Since the Brooklyn Bridge is in America, American negotiators will have priority. Perhaps the above paragraph needs some explanation. There is a famous English expression, “selling the Brooklyn Bridge”, that means luring in a fool and convincing him to give up his money to buy the famous bridge. I suppose that the negotiators from the permanent member countries at the UN and Germany are not so foolish as to buy the Brooklyn Bridge. The western negotiators are not foolish, but they are acting so. The Iranian negotiator, Said Jalili, is also acting foolish as he claims that the talks were positive and constituted a turning point. At this point, another ‘riddle’ comes up. Iran needs nothing from the negotiations to develop the uranium enrichment process all the way to producing a nuclear bomb. We recently saw how Iran tried to purchase thousands of magnets to be used in the centrifuge tubes to increase enrichment. I am not just saying this. All the observers agree to it. It is enough to mention a headline by the Washington Post while the negotiators of all the parties were meeting: “Don’t Let Iran Buy Time.” At this point, I want to say that I support an Iranian military nuclear program since Israel owns a nuclear arsenal. I also call on the Arab countries to work on making and owning a nuclear bomb since this is the only way to confront both Israel and Iran. Otherwise, America and Europe must step in to clear all weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East, and this will be the best solution for the people of the region. Last month’s meeting was held on the backdrop of additional sanctions, most of which were fiscal ones that the western countries imposed on Iran during the first week of February. These sanctions deprived Iran from obtaining the money from the sale of its oil in cash. Thus, Iran had to trade its oil for products and materials needed by the Iranian citizens. When the meeting was held in Kazakhstan, the West made an offer whereby the sanctions would be gradually lifted in return of Iran dropping oil enrichment to twenty percent and selling its enriched oil reserves, because proceeding with the enrichment beyond that point would yield enough uranium to produce a nuclear bomb. At this point, I feel I can sell the negotiators that famous bridge since Iran will not be halting the enrichment, and there hasn’t been any indication in the past year that it might do this. In addition, the twenty percent enriched uranium suffices to operate a small reactor, such as the reactor that the USA itself offered to Iran during the last days of the Shah in order to conduct medical experiments. The nuclear bomb requires uranium enriched up to 90 percent or more. There is absolutely no evidence today indicating that Iran has the necessary materials to complete the mission. What else can be said on the mutual acts from Almaty to Istanbul and back to Almaty? The USA wants no war and no military confrontations of any kind. It is trying to convince Israel to play along when it comes to exerting political pressure and negotiations in order to prevent the Netanyahu government from carrying out a solo military act in the spring. On the other hand, Iran’s only policy consists of buying time while it proceeds with its military and peaceful nuclear programs. As for the Arab countries, they have bought the Brooklyn Bridge and are now sitting on it. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.