A Neighbor's Vision of the New Iraq
By
M. JAVAD ZARIF
 EHRAN, Iran
In the mid-1980's, when Saddam Hussein started attacking commercial ships
in the Persian Gulf, initiating the "tanker war," Iran proposed
the establishment of a security and cooperation arrangement in the region
to prevent the widening of the Iran-Iraq war and to ensure stability in the
area. This idea was later enshrined in United Nations Security Council
Resolution 598. The resolution brought the Iran-Iraq war to an end, but the
provision on regional security foundered.
Likewise, when the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was
brought to an end in 1991, the Security Council once more underlined the
need for regional security, but again nothing was put in place. In
retrospect, those proposed security systems, under an appropriate
international umbrella, could have spared our region two decades of
devastation and tragedy.
Now, with the menace of Saddam Hussein
gone, it remains to be seen whether the Iraqi people and the region as a
whole will benefit, or whether we will see chaos in Iraq and a new
round of instability in the area.
There is an international consensus —
extremists of all sides notwithstanding — that stability and moderation in
the region are pivotal for global security and prosperity. Yet efforts by
the major powers to attain these objectives through the old paradigm of
political domination, force projection and imposition of their will have
produced little but conflict, insecurity, arms races, dictatorship and
extremism. Iran
has suffered tremendously; we have a vested national security interest in
helping to reverse this trend and replace it with participation, moderation
and confidence.
The devastating effects of the invasion of
Iran by Saddam Hussein's regime in 1980, as well as protracted instability
in Afghanistan over two decades — producing terrorism, drug trafficking and
an influx of refugees — have given rise to a strong national consensus in
Iran that confrontation, regardless of outcome, brings nothing but death,
destruction and tremendous waste of valuable human and material resources.
Iran has no territorial
ambitions and has not invaded any neighboring country for close to two and
a half centuries. Thus, while prepared to defend our dignity, we have opted
to build strong relationships with our neighbors and will continue to do
so. We further believe that it is time to finally establish an indigenous
and internationally guaranteed regional security arrangement under United
Nations auspices.
The momentum created by the removal of
Saddam Hussein should be used to replace mistrust and the arms race with
mutual security and transparency. As the region's largest and the most
populous country, Iran
has a great stake in discouraging a renewed arms race, especially one
involving unconventional weapons. Furthermore, considering our huge
reconstruction needs and a young population requiring a large portion of
our limited resources, a costly arms race is counterproductive and
obviously contrary to our security interests.
We also understand that developing nuclear
arms and other weapons of mass destruction does not enhance Iran's
security. That is why it is party to more international disarmament
treaties than almost any other country in the region. As for recent
complaints by the Bush administration, Iran
would have no difficulty showing maximum transparency with regard to its
nuclear energy program, provided that reciprocal guarantees for access to
nuclear technology for peaceful purposes can be provided by the
international community, particularly the United States. It is our right
as well as our obligation to future generations to acquire peaceful
nuclear, chemical and biological technology under the relevant
international rules. It would be inconsiderate of the needs of future
generations to allow oil and gas, a finite resource, to remain our only
source of energy and our major source of foreign exchange.
The rising extremism in the region is as
much a threat to Iran
as it is to the West. Long before the 9/11 tragedies, Iran nearly went to
war with the Taliban and their masters in Al Qaeda who had murdered
Iranians inside Iran and Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan. We provided
vital assistance to the Northern Alliance
before the defeat of the Taliban, and have supported the creation and
stabilization of the new government.
However, while we have a high stake in
defeating extremism, we cannot accept many of the tactics employed to this
end by the United States.
Bare and brutish force may reap some rapid benefits, but in the long run it
creates a more fertile breeding ground for extremism. This phenomenon has
spread largely as a response to lack of justice and political
participation. It can be removed only by addressing the root causes that
gave rise to it in the first place.
Our region needs reform geared toward
greater participation, respect for the rule of law and human rights.
Reform, however, must be homegrown. Democracy cannot be imported, let alone
imposed by tanks and missiles. Indigenous models of reform and
participation may not be as fully articulated as the systems of the West
(which has had its own periods of trial and tribulation). Reform efforts
like that within Iran
should be seen as a process rather than a project — with the attendant ups
and downs, setbacks and victories. But in the final analysis, these are the
only models that Middle Eastern people can truly claim ownership of, and
that can withstand the pressures of time and changing geopolitical
circumstances.
The most urgent test case is Iraq. The
challenge is how to move to a peaceful, democratic, inclusive and representative
system on the ashes of one of the most brutal dictatorships in recent
memory. While all members of the international community must help in the
process of stabilization and reconstruction, no one from the region or
outside can or should impose his image of a democratic and peaceful Iraq on its
people. The people of Iraq
are inheritors of a great civilization and possess vast human and natural
resources. They have the right and most certainly the ability to determine
their destiny. Iran
is prepared to fully support and contribute to any genuine process by the
Iraqi people in this direction, a process that should also enjoy the
legitimacy of the United Nations. We do not seek to interfere or impose any
type of government on the Iraqi people, and believe all should refrain from
doing so.
Iran and its neighbors have
paid the price for three wars that took a tremendous toll on human life,
economic stability and national and regional trust. We cannot afford to
lose yet another opportunity. No short-term interest or political or
ideological design is important enough to allow confrontation, imposition,
exclusion and rivalry to prevail. We must all join in building a better
future for our region.
M. Javad Zarif is ambassador of Iran to the
United Nations.
|
