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John Miles
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The United States and Europe’s backing of Israel, which has killed more than 36,000 in its ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip, is doing permanent damage to Western hegemony, according to one observer.
A group of European countries spearheaded a vote by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to censure Iran this week, but Dr. Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran claims Western nations are increasingly “isolated” and without credibility due to their support for Israel’s deadly military campaign in Gaza.
The analyst discussed the issue Friday on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program.
“The whole thing is inconsistent because the E3 countries, they obey the United States,” said Marandi, referring to the European trio of France, Germany, and the UK that have previously joined together to engage in negotiations with Tehran. “When Trump pulled out of the [Iran nuclear] deal, they, too, imposed maximum pressure sanctions on Iran. And when Obama violated the deal, they, too, violated the deal alongside Obama.”
“So, the European countries know quite well that it is not Iran's fault that we are in the current situation,” he argued.
Former US President Donald Trump suddenly ended the United States’ participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, in 2018. The agreement had been reached by the administration of former President Barack Obama in 2015, offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its critical nuclear facilities.
Iran has historically held the title of the world’s most sanctioned country, with the US imposing coercive measures against the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The United States has continued to consider Iran a primary adversary, with foreign policy neoconservatives long calling for a US invasion of the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also demanded Western action against Tehran, a strong public advocate of the Palestinian cause.
“This organization is dominated by Western countries,” said Marandi of the IAEA. “Independent countries have a smaller role – they all abstained.” The final vote for the IAEA measure, which criticized Iran for not cooperating with the nuclear watchdog, was 20-2, with Russia and China voting against the resolution. Twelve countries abstained from the vote.
China, Russia and Iran issued a joint communication before the vote calling for talks to revive the former nuclear deal after European countries joined the US in abandoning its provisions. The statement said it “was time for the western countries to show their political will, to refrain from the endless cycle of escalation that has been going on for almost the last two years. Passing of the resolution was a mistake that will only lead to confrontation.”
“As long as the Europeans and the Americans do not abide by their side of the bargain, they should have no expectations from the Iranians to abide by their side of the bargain,” argued Marandi.
“After Trump pulled out of the deal, the Iranians continued to abide by their commitments in full for a full year after the Americans and the Europeans discontinued fulfilling their side of the bargain. And only after a year did Iran, in five stages, decrease their commitments until they reached where we are today.”
“So the Iranians gave the Americans and the Europeans two years to change course, but they refused to do so,” he said. “The world has changed now. The Americans and Europeans simply don't have the sort of power or clout that they had in the past… the United States and Europeans have isolated themselves.”
Marandi claimed that tensions over Taiwan, a loss of economic potency, and backing of Israel have contributed to the West’s loss of influence in the world as China and Russia spearhead the creation of alternative global institutions that undermine US attempts to impose political hegemony.
Evidence is mounting that lockstep support for Israel, in particular, is contributing to the West’s loss of political legitimacy both internally and throughout the world. Recent polling reveals that half of Democratic Party supporters in the United States – and one-third of Jewish Americans – believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Yet US President Joe Biden has repeatedly proven incapable of challenging the US ally.
Observers have argued that the West more broadly has lost credibility over the issue as the values of the liberal world order it purportedly presides are openly defied.
A watershed moment occurred last month when the International Criminal Court announced it is seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Critics have lambasted the intergovernmental organization as the “International Caucasian Court” for its reputation for primarily focusing on cases involving adversaries of European countries. The announcement that the court would pursue a case against Israel signaled that the international body was no longer able to ignore the conduct of a powerful Western ally.
“We have the genocide, the ongoing Holocaust going on in Gaza, which should be the top news every hour of every day,” said Marandi. “The West is on the losing side for all of these conflicts. And, of course, they are being disgraced because of their support for the Israeli regime.”
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