|
|
Global Views
Letter from Tokyo
Iran and America, Friends or Foe
By Lee Jay Walker Tokyo Correspondent
 | Iran and America, Friends or Foe | America and Iran are meant to be natural enemies, however, their relationship is very complex and sometimes both nations share a common vision in the realm of geopolitics. Yet to the outside world both nations do not trust each other and this is based on so-called tension and mutual loathing. However, do both nations really hate each other or are quotes taken out of context or do they have cultural meanings? Or do both nations use each other in order to salvage domestic support at home? So what is the real relationship? If we focus on economics and the nuclear issue, then it is abundantly clear that America does enforce a strict economic blockade on Iran. At the same time the nuclear issue could be the one area which causes a possible limited conflict or where America gives Israel the green light. So it is clear that you do have major tensions within the relationship and maybe it is Iran which is forcing this breakdown? After all, if it wasn`t for the nuclear issue then tensions or conflicts could be contained, just like in the past. Given this, Iran should remember that America once had dealings with Saddam Hussein but he also over-stepped the mark. Yet when we concentrate on the field of foreign affairs and geopolitics then we see a very different relationship because in recent times both nations have worked together. Sometimes this may have applied to mere tacit support and not directly working together, yet this tacit support did sometimes involve a shared common ground. Therefore, it is important to focus on this unspoken side in order to highlight the complex nature of their recent relationship. If we turn the clock back to Bosnia and Kosovo respectively, then America and Iran had a shared interest in supporting the Muslims of the Balkans. During the Bosnian conflict the United Nations enforced a military embargo on all sides. However, America clearly gave Iran the green light to send military arms to the Bosnian Muslims and this is how the Bosnian Muslims, and Croatians, could turn the table against Serbia within both Bosnia and Croatia. Because the military arms embargo was clearly broken and Iran often sent in military arms in order to prop-up the Bosnian armed forces. Also, this American-Iranian policy in the Balkans shatters the myth that America is anti-Islamic. After all, during Bosnia, Kosovo, and Cyprus respectively, the armed forces of America and senior politicians sided with Islam every time. If we even dig further and turn the clock back even more, then we even see covert dealings under the late Ayatollah Khomeini. This applies to the murky Oliver North scandal with regards to the Iran-Contra affair, whereby Iran was involved in supporting the Contras in Nicaragua, via American economic support. Therefore, elements within the American administration were adopting a different policy and sometimes elements within different departments were ignoring senior political leaders. Now if we forward the clock to more recent times then the same situation happens again. For example, when America attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan they allied themselves with the Northern Alliance. The Northern Alliance in turn was supported by both the Russian Federation and Iran. More astonishing was the fact that Iran gave America secret information about the Taliban, after all, the Taliban hated Shia Muslims. So both nations, just like the Balkans, had a shared and vested interest. If we also focus on Iraq then a similar linkage emerges once more. Because Iran also gave covert support to America via knowledge they had obtained during the Iran-Iraq war. Also, Iran did little to prevent this conflict because they hated Saddam Hussein and his secular regime. Therefore, was the trade off an Islamic state? Because once the secular government had been defeated, then America installed Sharia Islamic Law which in turn persecuted the Christian community. Given all this, then what is the truth behind the "veil?" Do both nations share similar aims and objectives within a limited geopolitical space? If they don`t, then how do you account for past dealings between both nations? This issue needs to be debated openly because nothing appears to make sense when it comes to the relationship between America and Iran. Lee Jay Walker Dip BA MA http://journals.aol.com/leejaywalker/uk/ Lee Jay Walker TOKYO JAPAN
Related Articles Myanmar, Bangladesh Sign an Accord but ... Japan Hopes to Boost Ties with Myanmar Drugs Crisis in Iran Emanating from Afghanistan Mexico Resembles a Civil War: Three Murders ... "Door Remains Open," French President Says President Trump and Ousted FBI Chief Comey: ... Moon Jae-in to Become President of South ... America, China, Russia Should Work Together on ... The Fading Spirit of Kano Chikanobu Awakened ... Japanese Poetry of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro: ... Trump Offers China Economic Inducements If ... Syria & Khan al-Assal Massacre: Western ... United States Botanic Garden and Stunning Art ... Syria: FSA and Al-Qaeda in Power Struggle Syria and the Sponsored Revolution Costing ... South Korean Fashion and Kpopsicle: Summer ... Syria and Shia Massacred by al-Nusra: Gulf and ... Turkey & Discontent towards Premier Erdogan: ... UK, MI5 and Syria: Hypocrites, Somalia and ... Christian Clergy in Syria Held Hostage by the ... China and Japan Play Cat and Mouse over ... Cameroon and Nigeria: French Hostages Released ... Alyse Radenovic, Bratunac and Srebrenica: Art ... Japanese Art and Bunjinga: Tani Buncho, Power ... Italian Fashion and Simonetta Sala: Adorable ... France, UK Want to Send Military Arms Directly ... Political Crisis in Tunisia after Belaid ... World of Art: Yuzo Saeki and Alyse Radenovic ... Nuclear Test by North Korea and Need for a ... Israel Violates the Sovereignty of Syria Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood: President Mursi ... Japan Art: Erotic Art, Sexuality and ... Algeria Hostage Crisis: Japan Needs to ... Syria and Bashar al-Assad Addresses Powerful ... US, France, UK Support Islamism LDP Wins Election in Japan FSA Islamists in Syria threaten to kill ... Syria Needs Support to Defend Itself against ... Egypt, Jordan and Turkey: Political Crisis and ... Japanese Art, Culture and the Yamabushi: ... Israel, Gaza and Doha: The Sham of the Western ... Syria & New Charade: Gulf Nations Should ... Tokyo Fashion and the Exquisite Boutique ... Sudan, South Sudan Crisis & Int'l Community Claude Monet Was Smitten by Japanese Art: ... Japan Tourism and Fukushima: Abukuma Cave, ... Japanese Art and Saburosuke Okada: the Power ... Japanese Art and Tosa School: Tosa Mitsunobu ... Syria and Terrorist Threat from Opposition: ... Russian Federation Lambasts Anti-Syria ... Syria: Outsiders Support Terrorism and US & ... Japanese Art and Bunjinga (Nanga): the ... Ontoshiki Is a Stunning Photographer in Tokyo: ... Japanese Art and Van Gogh: Japonisme, Ukiyo-e ... Associated Press Opens a Bureau in Pyongyang Fashion in South Korea: Kpopsicle & the trends ... Japanese Buddhist Art at the National Museum ... Japanese tourism: Jigokudani Monkey Park in ... South Korean Fashion: Kpopsicle, International ... BoA Releases Stunning New Song "Milestone" K-Pop and New Mini-Album Called "Snow Pink" by ... La Carmina and Tokyo: Alternative Fashion, ... K-Pop and T-ara in Japan: Stylish, Energetic ... Kanstyle Magazine to Open Up South Korean ... Tokyo Fashion: Jiyugoaka Is Trendy and a Great ... Korean Pop Music Continues to Hit Heights
in ... Yoshihiko Noda to Become New Prime Minister of ... Japan and the Political Farce: The Race Is On ... Tokyo tourism: Mount Takao-san Is a Stunning ... Ryo Ishikawa: Near to Making a Breakthrough at ... Lindsay Ann Hawker: Verdict Is Life in Prison ... Hokusai & Hakone: Ukiyo-e & Stunning Scenery Lindsay Ann Hawker: Does the Joji Obara/ Kim ... Burma (Myanmar): Free Burma Rangers update Japan & Child Abduction: Interview with Sonia ... Novak Djokovic Beats Rafael Nadal to Claim ... Kawanabe Kyosai: the Underworld and the ... Tatsuya Ichihashi Admits to Killing Lindsay ... Utagawa Kuniyoshi: Tranquil Art and Natural ... Southern Thailand and Islamization Islamic Terrorism: Afghanistan to Bosnia and ... IslamicJihad within the Territory of Russia Muslims Burn a Christian Alive in Pakistan Radical Islam and Terrorism in the Balkans Pakistan and Ongoing Christian Persecution Turkey Is Trying to Dictate to Armenia Bosnia and Clinton's Radical Islamists Iraq's Jewish Identity Faces Extinction Muslims Slaughter Christians in Egypt Somalia and the Reality of Radical Islam Racist Ishihara Fails to Get 2016 Olympic Games Daily Life in Japan and Isolation USA and the Internal Islamic Threat Indonesia and Ba¡¯asyir, the Preacher of Hate Nigeria and Christian Martyrs Indonesia and Islamic Terrorism Aceh in Indonesia Passes Stoning to Death Law 2016 Olympic Bid and Racist Governor of Tokyo Randy Collins and Child Abduction in Japan Islamic Militants Target Buddhists in Thailand Bangladesh Destroys Hinduism, Buddhism Child Abduction in Japan: Shane Clarke Case Islamic Ramadan Begins, Blood Keeps Flowing Kosovo and Ongoing De-Christianization USA Appeases Islam under President Obama Somalia, UK, and Killing of Christians Buddhists Fear to Walk in Southern Thailand Pakistan Must Abolish the Blasphemy Law Pakistan and Burning Alive of Christians Nigeria Challenged by Radical Islamists Somalia and Christian Martyrs Killed by Muslims KOSOVO & Systematic Persecution by KLA Japan Ignores Child Abduction because of Racism Japan Allows International Child Abduction Ethiopia Continues to Develop under EPRDF Saudi Arabia and Why Child Marriage Is Allowed China Faces a Fresh Bout of Ethnic Hatred Islam and the Myths of Unity and Peace IRAN Enters a Political Minefield alongside ... Islam Needs to Be Challenged by True Democracy North Korea's Point of View Myanmar: Ethnic Minorities & Aung San Suu Kyi Colombia and Extrajudicial Killings Scandal IRAQ and the Destruction of the Mandaean ... Non-Arabs of the Middle East and Persecution USA Is Worried about Events in Pakistan USA, CIA Created Sunni Islamic Terrorism Pakistan Faces Internal Threat N. Korea Pulls Out of 6-Party Talks because of ... Japan under Ishihara Must Not Be Given the ... USA Is Looking at Plan Colombia in Order to ... MYANMAR – Karen Christians Face Joint ... Bolivia under Morales and the Indigenous Issue Mexico -- Drug Cartels and the American Market Saudi Arabia Allowing 8 Year Old Girls to ... USA -- Bail Outs Must Be Questioned after AIG ... Ethiopia under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Europe Is Facing a Real Economic and Social ... USA is Deeply Concerned about Pakistan and ... USA -- Obama Is in Free Fall at the Moment Japan Must Not Be Rewarded the 2016 Olympics ... China, Russia Rebuke America at World Economic ... PAKISTAN -- Radical Sunni Islamists Are Now ... EU Is Alarmed by Gas Dispute between Russia ... USA -- Obama Faces Major Internal and External ... Zimbabwe Now Faces Cholera Epidemic alongside ... Pakistan and the Persecution of Ahmadiyya ... USA -- President Bush Is Trying to Contain ... India Becomes Yet Another Major Victim of ... Japan Needs to Create an Independent Foreign ... Mongolia and The Importance of This Nation to ... Islamic Radicals Support Stoning Women, ... Inflation Threatens to Engulf Vietnam and The ... Turkey and The Secular Card, Myth or Reality? Ethiopian Ambassador to Japan and Third ... SOUTH AFRICA, Race Attacks and Underlying ... EGYPT -- Coptic Christians Are Still ... Ethiopia Needs International Support to ... Armenia and Azerbaijan Are Still in Dispute ... Kosovo and the Crisis of Ignoring ... The UN Is Undemocratic and Manipulated, So ... America Is Seeking to Contain the Russian ... Iran Is a Stabilizing Power in Afghanistan and ... Venezuela -- Chavez the Enigma, a Great or ... Lebanon Needs to Dismantle the Armed Forces of ... Iraq and Destruction of Christianity since ... Bolivia Is Facing Meltdown So Can a Solution ... Macedonia Could Become the Next Balkan ... Russia Faces Many Security Concerns State Intervention Versus Globalization and ... Ethiopia and Its War against Radical Islam and ... PM Fukuda of Japan Resigns and This Nation Is ... Japan Needs Stability in a Time of Urgency Russia Responds to America's Intimidation Russian Federation & Next Stage of Development ... Market Confidence Remains Extremely Mixed Why China Needs to Modernize Her Armed Forces MEXICO -- President Calderon Is in a Flux ... Georgia Took a Huge Gamble in South Ossetia ... Japan and the Suicide Problem Zimbabwe: Can Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur ...
Lee Jay Walker serves as Tokyo Correspondent of The Seoul Times. He specializes in int'l relations and geopolitics. He is also involved in analyst work and research on business.
After finishing BA degree in East European Studies at the University of London, He earned MA degree in Asia Pacific Studies in Nottingham Trent University. He also studied business at London Institute.
back
|
|
|
|
|