‘Old men dream up wars for the young to fight and die in.’ US Representative George Stanley McGovern said this, and it holds good with every war. It would perhaps be a good quote for US President Donald Trump to remember. In the present scenario, it would be difficult to find faults with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani only because the US has ignited the scene with virtually no provocation known to the world. There are clear indications that tensions between the two nations can very easily spill out and cause further trouble not only in the region, but also around the world. With the US President facing impeachment, it is difficult to believe that the decisions he is taking and the posturing he is doing are in the best interests of his own country or the world at large. He has already threatened Iran with strikes against 52 targets in that country if the Islamic republic decided to exact revenge for the assassination of Quds Commander Qassem Soleimani. It is time the US realised that its strong arm tactics are of no avail in a world that has become globalised. Not only that, the experience gained at Iraq and Afghanistan should make the USA wiser. The American intervention in both those countries has only helped fuel the radical elements further.
No nation, particularly ones the size and history as Iran, can bow to undue pressure from a bully. USA should stay away from the affairs of other nations rather than playing global police, as the nuclear button is no longer the monopoly of superpowers today. Trump may deny the existence of climate change as an anthropogenic catastrophe that is fast approaching. He will only hasten the doom by rubbing nations the wrong way. If the US is today unhappy with the irredentist ambitions of China, it needs to also take a look at itself as to whether it has the kind of leverage it enjoyed in the past to make nations toe its line. The US may have represented the guardian angel in the past. It may still have an edge over many other global counterparts in terms of technological and military might. But no nation in the history of mankind has ever been able to hold on to power for might. Changes being cyclical, the power equations are bound to change yet again if not immediately, quite possibly in the near future. Trump is a desperate person and the immense power resting in his trigger-happy hands are a threat to world peace. When the Allies won World War II, most atrocities that were perpetrated by these forces were painted over in benign colours. But fact remains that these atrocities did happen. The forces that emerged as the victors wrote history. Therefore, it would be unwise to consider the US leadership as the saviours of the world. Their decisions for the rest of the world need not and should not be accepted as it has turned into hegemony.
When powers such as the US are trampling upon international law with impunity, it is nations like India that are hit the worst. Huge Indian investments in the Iranian port of Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman are now a matter of concern for this country. Among the few nations of the Gulf region that India quenches its petroleum thirst from, Iran happens to be one of the most important. Apart from this, Iran has always been a close ally of India in most international forums. This is especially valid now because India is stuck up with its anti-Pakistan mindset. While Sunni Pakistan musters great support from most other Moslem nations, Shi’ite Iran can be expected to back India when the crunch comes. Also, in a hostile neighborhood, Iran probably is the only country that has proper relations with India even now.
Any US intervention in Iran, therefore, shall directly affect Indian interests. This is a testing time for the defunct Indian diplomatic system. If seen leaning towards the US at this juncture, India will alienate Iran. At the same time, it is to be remembered that the Saudis are the ones who have, at the behest of Pakistan, recently summoned a summit on Kashmir. The present attack by the US on Iran may be perceived as an American effort to win over the displeased Saudis who are incapable to fight their own battles. The recent drone attacks on Saudi oil installations by Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels were an eye-opener about Saudi Arabia’s military capabilities. In such a complicated diplomatic background, India has to tread extremely carefully. The world would be watching how our diplomacy manages this situation.