Thursday
Feb052009
A Look at Iranian Power: Seyed Mohammad Marandi on Al Jazeera
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 12:19
Another View from Iran: Seyed Mohammad Marandi on CNN (26 July)
Our colleague Seyed Mohammad Marandi, of the University of Tehran's Institute of North American and European Studies, has been quite busy lately, appearing on Al Jazeera English on Arab concerns about Iranian power (featured on Juan Cole's website and available below). He then appeared on the same channel to discuss the launch of Iran's first satellite, and Iran's political position in the region and with respect to the US, with Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Hadi Amr of the Brookings Institute of Doha (Parts 1 and 2 on the full-page version of this entry).
Marandi's interchange with Patrick Clawson is especially interesting, given Clawson's hard-line projection of Iran as an imminent military threat and his assocation with possible Obama envoy Dennis Ross at WINEP.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufe5dt6iVaI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Xlab7nwQk[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtQEh-ls0Nk[/youtube]
Our colleague Seyed Mohammad Marandi, of the University of Tehran's Institute of North American and European Studies, has been quite busy lately, appearing on Al Jazeera English on Arab concerns about Iranian power (featured on Juan Cole's website and available below). He then appeared on the same channel to discuss the launch of Iran's first satellite, and Iran's political position in the region and with respect to the US, with Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Hadi Amr of the Brookings Institute of Doha (Parts 1 and 2 on the full-page version of this entry).
Marandi's interchange with Patrick Clawson is especially interesting, given Clawson's hard-line projection of Iran as an imminent military threat and his assocation with possible Obama envoy Dennis Ross at WINEP.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufe5dt6iVaI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Xlab7nwQk[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtQEh-ls0Nk[/youtube]
Reader Comments (3)
Pretty good performance from Dr Marandi, Hady Amr was vague and Patrick Clawson was predictably awful. Dr Marandi parried most of Clawson's clumsy jabs, including the VERY dodgy laptop provided by MEK.
I think the issue is obviously not as simple, as Clawson points, that this is a conflict between the International Community and Iran. I think Dr Marandi's infering that the entire Islamic world supports Iran's nuclear program is also maybe a bit misleading. The Islamic Conference Organisation has supported it. With respect, I can't find much evidence that the ICO, or statements within, have had enormous relevance to any major issue (or resolution of).
As such members have freedom to express a symbolic committment in the knowledge that it MAY not translate into a political reality. I'm not saying it is an unimportant organisation- I am just unconvinced that it has succeeded in its aim of serving as a harmonious voice of the Islamic world.
There has been some evidence of discord amongst Islamic states vis a vis Iran's nuclear program. The Gulf Cooperation Counci has not been entirely, or even substantially supportive. Their concerns have gone beyond the ecological (fears of nuclear leaks etc). GCC Secretary General Abd Arahman Attiyah at a November 2005 council meeting, went as far as to say "The Iranian nuclear program does not have any justification. . . . We call on the international community to make the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction."
Libya revealed several secret connections between A. Q. Khan and Tehran when it dismantled its nuclear weapons program in 2004.
And whilst I don't think this totally undermines some of Dr Marandi's central points about the problems of the UN's representation, some Islamic countries did vote for the UNSC resolutions.
IAEA website says its is dominated by western powers? Isn't Baradei currently boycotting the BBC because of its coverage during the conflict in gaza? It seems a bit strange to use their reports as evidence of their being no proof of a hostile nuclear program, but then presumably retain the right in the future to discredit (as western dominated) any future findings Iran might not like.
I should say that, on the whole, I am not sure Iran's nuclear program is particularly positive for the region. However, I see it making economic sense to Iran and they clearly have the right to it. If I was Iranian I would support it.
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