Media ‘Boosts’ Iranian Morale

By Ahmad Al-Jarallah

This comment was published in Arab Times on 25/11/2010

The Tehran regime has once again affirmed its resolve to move towards the opposite direction — against the will of the Iranian majority and the regional and international communities. While the entire world is pushing for peace and cooperation among nations, Iran continues to use obsolete language and threaten world peace through the expansion of its military projects, which it keeps announcing every day. It has continued to raise slogans on its plan to test rockets, war planes or warships, as if it has become a large industry for destruction. However, to a close observer of the Iranian case, most of these scenes are nothing but media propaganda. The most recent proof of this is the harsh criticism that the Iranian leaders hurled at Russia two months ago when the latter cancelled the S-300 antiaircraft deal.

Iran considers the cancellation as an expression of enmity against it even if it announced several days earlier that it was capable of developing such missiles. If this is true, why did Iran engage in the deal? Why did Iran launch a scathing political and media attack on the Russian government and accuse it of enmity?

The activities of Iran in recent years reveal the emptiness of the Iranian system. This happens while the internal political and economic crises continue to worsen due to the international sanctions imposed on the regime to prevent it from causing trouble in the world and dragging the international community into military escapades that will only result in more disasters and instability. All this for protecting the minority cliques’ grip on power and the capabilities of Iran, which is regarded as the fifth nation with the largest oil reserves, yet its people are still trapped in a suffocating economic crisis.

The Iranian regime has been bragging about its advanced military production but this is nothing but a media ‘bubble’ to boost the morale of the ruling group and at the same time to sprinkle sand into people’s eyes. This only means the regime has not learned from the experiences of similar administrations, which showed their weakness and ignominy when the whole world asked them to undergo difficult tests. The scenario only proves that a destructive scheme is unacceptable to any reasonable person.

If the media babble on the alleged military production excites the Iranian leaders, they should understand that the world is not a place for spreading terror and issuing threats, while the Gulf is not an extension of their system. The region consists of leading independent states with the ability to defend themselves. Therefore, the threats issued by some Iranian leaders against nations in the region mean nothing, because these leaders, who have lost their senses and disregard international agreements, have yet to understand the peaceful language used by Arabian Gulf countries to maintain harmonious relations with their neighbors and regional stability.

The region has affirmed more than once its commitment to promote peace. It is now up to the Iranian leaders to comprehend that this peaceful approach and the use of gentle language are not signs of weakness, instead they are part of a strategy to stabilize the region.

These leaders should realize that their military charade and muscle-flexing are no longer enough to cover up the crisis, and their missiles are nothing but media rockets, which do not scare anyone - not the Arabian Gulf nor the entire world - because the region is keen on taking decisive steps to stop their frivolous political acts.