By Melarbor L Thabah
The animosity between the USA and Iran started when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill asked for help from America to remove the democratically elected socialist Prime Minister of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh when he decided to nationalise the vast oil field resources located in southern Iran held by the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). America under President Dwight Eisenhower acceded to the request. The CIA and MI6 intelligence agencies sponsored a coup which successfully removed Mossadegh. A puppet ruler, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, known as “The Shah”; a monarchical descendant of the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran was installed by Britain and America. This autocratic monarch who ruled Iran from 1953 to 1979 consolidated power and negotiated the Consortium Agreement with Britain which gave split ownership of Iranian oil production between Iranian and Western companies up to 1979. The Shah, because of corruption, westernization and autocratic rule was overthrown via the Islamic Revolution led by the cleric Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. Since then and presently, Iran has become a theocratic state.
The United States provided refuge to The Shah till his demise which prompted the supporters of the clerical regime to storm the American embassy and held Americans hostage for 444 days. Over the decades, the Americans helped the Iraqis during the Iran-Iraq war, shot down an Iranian airliner while the Iranians used proxies like Hezbollah to bomb the American embassy in Beirut and Shia militias in Iraq to kill Americans during America’s illegal occupation of Iraq. Forty-six years of hostility culminated in the brief bombing of Iran in 2025 and the prolonged protracted war between both sides this year. The main cause of this conflict is because of Iran’s uranium enrichment cum research programme in its approximately 18 nuclear facilities for which America suspects that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. America has finally faced an adversary who would not back down to its threats, who responded to America’s aggression and who choked the Strait of Hormuz responsible for 20% of the world’s oil supply. During this conflict, Iran successfully protected its military assets, its nuclear facilities and its uranium stockpile. America’s aim of denuclearising an NPT signatory; Iran from its right to nuclear enrichment and research has now digressed to the reopening of this vital strait. Both sides are making unreasonable demands from each other thus, negating a deal.
The demands from the Iranian side are that the USA must never threaten Iran again, that America must permanently end the war with Iran and its allies in the region, that it must permanently lift all sanctions; never to be imposed again, end the naval blockade of all Iranian ports and ships forever, unconditionally release all frozen Iranian assets, provide war reparations and that Iran will maintain some control over the Hormuz strait. Reciprocal demands of the USA are that Iran must end all forms of nuclear enrichment – research which is the core issue that has led to this war, that Iran must end all support to its terrorist proxies, freedom of navigation and to limit the number of missiles and drones.
In light of the reciprocal demands and intransigence, herein is my suggestion. “Iran being a big nation can have 6 -7 Nuclear Reactors for uranium enrichment and research sparsed in North-South, East-West and Central Iran. It can use only one nuclear mine at a time. Only after the first mine is finished, then only can another mine be mined. Two or more mines cannot be mined at the same time. Iran can enrich uranium up to 4% maximum more than that of the JCPOA permitted enrichment level. The USA has to recognize the fundamental right of Iran as guaranteed under the NPT to peaceful nuclear enrichment and research just as it recognizes this right of all Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signatory countries. The USA even recognized non-NPT nuclearized nations’ rights. Nuclear apartheid against Iran must stop.” The consequences if Iran enriches uranium to more than 4%, operates undeclared clandestine nuclear facilities, mines more than one uranium mine at a time, then hostilities will resume. Crippling sanction types will be imposed by the Security Council with no veto by any permanent. IAEA will be the permanent arbiter to ensure and determine that research – enrichment, number of mines and facilities is upheld as per an agreement that has to be made or is not strictly followed. Any violation by any side will be determined by the IAEA. To ensure perpetual inspection and arbitration, an IAEA Asian branch must be permanently set up in Iran. This agreement should be incorporated in the Non-Aggression Treaty to be signed and ratified by both sides and Israel too if need be. As per this treaty, all attacks by Israel and USA will never occur again if Iran maintains its side of the agreement as derived from IAEA reports. America will impose crippling financial and military sanctions on Israel if it attacks Iran when Iran has fulfilled all obligations under this treaty. America will be the guarantor unlike the guarantor of Ukraine which America broke when it did not militarily intervene when Russia attacked Ukraine. If America fails as a guarantor, Iran can exert self-defence when attacked by Israel, exceed enrichment limits, construct or restart other nuclear facilities and America will have to bear war reparations if it or Israel attacks Iran.
All reasonable Iranian demands from the Americans will be accommodated under this treaty like ending all threats, aggressions, the war against Iran and its allies, lifting of all sanctions, unfreezing of all Iranian assets; all of which should be permanent. America may provide 30 billion dollars for the 1953 military coup with subsequent 26 years of oppression and current bombing of Iran to provide some meagre war reparation. Ending the naval blockade of Iranian ports and ships will be subjected to the complete freedom of navigation through the Hormuz strait. However, Iran will be allowed to take a toll over the Hormuz strait if America does not or is unable to pay the 30 billion dollars for which the toll must end under international supervision once the 30 billion is recuperated.
America’s demand that Iran must terminate all support to violent resistance revolutionary groups in the region with expansionist ambitions must be met by Iran in order for no sanctions to be imposed. If Iran militarily or financially supports such groups, then, sanctions will be imposed by the international community led by the Security Council with Iran being blacklisted as a state sponsor of terrorism; though the sanctions imposed here will be different yet de-hyphenated from those of the uranium brokered agreements. The unfrozen money must be accounted for so that this money will be spent for the overall socio-economic and infrastructural development of Iran to enable Iran to have world class cities, advanced technologies with a prosperous people. America’s final demand of limiting the number of missiles and drones cannot be met since Iran has the inalienable right, like any other nation, to self-defence and make innumerable numbers of missiles, drones, naval, army and air force assets besides other military weapons and hardware. Its missiles can have a range of 3,500 KMs maximum. Iran must have the sovereign right to purchase military technology, sign defence deals and alliances with other nations. Iran must also never threaten to wipe out any nation ever again because with uranium enrichment, the apprehensions of Iran not developing nuclear bombs increases immensely. The suggestions are merely hypothetical proposals worth delving deep as a means to end this stalemate.
Conclusion: Iran has to come to the realization that the Islamic Revolution was not established through arms, bombings, financial assistance from an extraneous entity but by the Iranian people who fought diligently and overcame the struggle thus helping to establish the Islamic revolution of 1979. Iran, like India should urge violent groups to abjure violence by restoring to democratic protests via processions, boycotts and strikes. Iran claims to be democratic nation with elections held at the local, state and federal level, should exemplify and tolerate democratic protests. If Iran gives up its revolutionary ideology and becomes a facilitator for peace, the nation will rise by leaps and bounds. The American President also should step from his high table of pride, haughtiness and arrogance by starting making concessions. Donald Trump should reinvent “The Art of Making the Deal” through compromises, sacrifices and in the making of such a deal, no side should appear to be the losing side for the deal to achieve an amicable yet permanent long-lasting solution. This war has to stop since the world is suffering from it. The Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei should also overrule his hardliners by grabbing and seizing this opportunity as a chance for procuring a perpetual viable long-lasting peace.
