LACKING all diplomatic nuance and statesmanship, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech directed at Iran on Monday sounded like a declaration of war. Containing threats, insults and dire ultimatums, it has confirmed what many feared: that team Trump is seeking a confrontation with Iran and undoing all the limited diplomatic gains the Obama administration had made vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic. The first sign of greater trouble on the horizon was of course Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA earlier this month, despite international consensus that Iran was abiding by the nuclear deal. Pompeo has underlined 12 ‘conditions’ Tehran has to meet in order for the US to back off; or else there is dire talk of Iran facing the “strongest sanctions in history” while the tough-talking US official has promised to “track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies ... and crush them”. The ‘charge sheet’ against Tehran is extensive. The US has demanded Iran effectively shut down its ballistic missiles programme; stop aiding Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis; “respect the sovereignty of Iraq” and cease its support for the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda. But the twelfth demand is the clincher: Tehran needs to “cease its threatening behaviour” against Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Expectedly, the Iranian president has dismissed the threats and said his country would “continue our path”.

The Middle East is a very complicated place, and to assume Iran alone is responsible for the mess is both naive and disingenuous. For one, the US itself has for decades supported vile dictatorships in the region, while its regime change adventures have destroyed nations such as Iraq, Syria and Libya. Moreover, while Iran has played a key role in propping up Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the US, its European allies and their Gulf Arab friends have funnelled money and arms to numerous anti-Assad militant groups in Syria, many of whom have been far from moderate. So for the US to lecture Iran on its ‘bad behaviour’ is a tad hypocritical. The solution to the Middle East’s problems lies in a regional approach; Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other major states must sit down and frankly discuss their issues. Inviting the US or other outside forces is a recipe for disaster. One direct outcome of Pompeo’s harangue will be that the conservatives in the Iranian establishment will now push to answer America in the same tone.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2018