Judy Bello's blog

March 8th was International Women’s Day.   On the Change for Equality website, Iranian activists for women’s rights released a statement opposing war against Iran and asserting that threats and war do not help women

I just saw Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation last night.  I’m not going to send formal reviews (do I ever?)  but I just want to share my feeling that it is a really great film.  Whoever said that the film should have won ‘Best Picture’ as well as ‘Best Foreign Film’ was right.  On the one hand, the film shows individuals whose motivations are in large part familiar and un

Iranian Director Asghar Farhadi’s film, Separation, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.   We at Fellowship of Reconciliation share our gratitude with all who respect and love Iranian culture and art for the victory of “Separation”.  Fardahi is the first Iranian who has received an Oscar.

I’ve long thought that the red line that would indicate an intolerable assault on Asia and her assets runs through Iran.   However, at the moment I’m not so sure.  What I mean is, that a war with Iran, once initiated, would eventually draw in all of the Middle East, and then China and Russia.   I still believe that is true.  And God knows, the current game of chicken in the Persian Gulf is certainly looking very threatening.    With two American Carrier Groups including several French and British ships and, most likely, a couple of Israeli nuclear subs, along with a third US Carrier outfitted as a Forward Operating Base, the risk of an accident alone is enough to set one’s nerves on edge.  Meanwhile the Iranians are conducting joint exercises in the straits of Hormuz with Oman.   It is, after all, the Persian Gulf.  The Western fleets are purportedly there to keep the Gulf free for oil traffic.   I would argue that filling the Gulf with warships is not conducive to peaceful trade relations.

But, while all eyes are on Iran, and we are deafened by the din of Iranophobic threats and tirades, the situation in Syria continues to boil, in fact, has begun to boil over.  

Cries for war with Iran are again rising. In November, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), under a new Director and heavily pressured by the US State Department, released a report implying that Iran is developing nuclear weapons (while stating that it isn’t).  Iran’s civilian nuclear program is heavily monitored by the IAEA, which has repeatedly confirmed that the level of enrichment is consistent with civilian uses and no nuclear materials have been diverted. The information on which this report is based is no different than the last report from Mohammed El Baradei’s IAEA in 2009.

A dangerous situation has emerged through the cyclical threats and accusations against Iran.  Due to US sanctions, Iran has started trading actively on a basket of currency.   This is a serious blow to the petrodollar.     The US struck Iraq shortly after Saddam Hussein began to sell oil in Euros.   NATO bombed Libya after Muamar Qaddhafi began selling oil in other currencies, and began lobbying the African Union for an ‘African’ Central Bank to support an African currency based on gold (which there is plenty of in Africa) and which would be use for all intra African trade.   Now Iran is selling oil and gas to India in rupees, and to China in renmibi.  They are trading with Russia in rubles.   What are we to expect?

Obama has eased the level of tensions a little the last couple of days, but this remains a very dangerous situation.  Iran is surrounded by US bases and military forces in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is targeted by US missiles in Europe and Israel. Repeated upgrades of international sanctions have left Iran without parts to repair their aging civilian airlines or high tech medical equipment readily available in western countries. Despite its vast oil reserves, Iran imports refined petroleum products like gasoline and heating oil, because sanctions have made it impossible to repair the oil refineries destroyed during the Iran-Iraq War. 

I just viewed Rick Steves’ show on Iran, which aired on PBS a couple of years ago (I think).  It is very interesting because he had the same Guide that I had on my first delegation, Seyed Rahim Bathei.  He seemed, also, to take away the same message.

I found this letter on Countercurrents.org, a widely read political blog that looks at international issues, but I think it is very important for those of us whose primary focus is to advocate for peace to see this message, and for it to be spread far and wide.   The US based attack on Iran’s nuclear program, and Iranian sovereignty through calls for ‘regime change’, often cites human rights and support for progressive social movements within the country as a justification for an attack on Iran.  Despite the fact that it is difficult to imagine how social isolation, subterfuge and sabotage within Iran, and threats of annihalation can support a progressive social agenda, and secure human rights for the targeted population, these oft repeated assertions are incessantly repeated by the western mainstream press, enshrined in the law by our political leadership, and therefore embraced by a large part of the U.S. population.   Members of the press and the government frequently cite remarks by a small group of disgruntled expatriate Iranians living in the west and refer to a broad (not clearly identified) movement of  angry disenfranchised dissidents and progressive activists in Iran to support their claim that ‘regime change’ in Iran, by any means, is necessary, and that the poeple of Iran are benefiting from the hostile agenda of the western powerbrokers.  

The letter that I have transcribed below clearly refutes these specious and misleading claims.  

Iran is, and has been for many years, surrounded by US Military installations.  We talk about the U.S. strategy to encircle China, but you rarely hear about the way in which Iran is, and has been encircled by U.S. military bases for many years.  When they you hear that Iran is a threat to the United States, you picture a us, here in the U.S. as potential victims.  When you hear the term ‘containment’ in relation to Iran, you think, perhaps, that something needs to be done.  After all, we have bases and military trainers and other military representatives in dangerous countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.    But wait, if those countries have bases, isn’t Iran pretty well contained?

Here is a map of Iran, showing the surrounding U,S. bases around 2008.   Click on the image below to open a dynamic version of the map, where you can zoom in for a better look, and a key to the various symbols and the names of the bases.  Base names and locations from GlobalSecurity.org.  If you zoom in really close on most of the air bases, you can see the runway.

U.S. Military Bases surrounding Iran, 2008

Now, a new military initiative is rapidly being deployed across the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Africa, around the world, and even here on the U.S. mainland.   New bases are being built and old ones converted to host Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAV); recently re-designated as  Remote Piloted Aircraft (RPA); commonly referred to as Drones.  The largest and most used in the region at this time are named Predator and Reaper.   The MQ9 Reaper can carry several Hellfire Missiles and laser guided 500 lb. bombs.  These Drones fly so high that they can virtually hover over a target for hours, piloted by a computer operator from his office or home here in the U.S,.   Unfortunately, misinterpretation of evidence based on cultural discrepancies, pilot impatience, inaccurate target identification before the Drone is called and other similar issues make civilian casualties in the context of Drone strikes a regular occurrence.  The image below shows some of the sites known to be used for drone bases.    

Last week, the US Attorney General announced that they had foiled and unlikely plot by the Iranian government to murder the Saudi Ambassador, here in Washington DC.   The information released amounted to a highly circumstantial case with no clear evidence to support the involvement of the Iranian government, or the precise objective of the plan.   The Iranian American at the

I returned to the United States in mid-May from spending two weeks in Iran with a Fellowship of Reconciliation delegation of eight people. I wrote some brief observations while I was there, and also posted reports of other delegates. Our hotels all had wireless internet access, which was very convenient and a nice change from the last time I visited Iran three-and-a-half years ago. The last time I went, I made notes of my observations while on the bus, and then wrote a series of blog entries when I returned. It was easy to write at that time because everything I saw was crisp and unique. I just soaked up the experience and poured it out on the page. This time, I was in a different frame of mind.