It must be considered fortuitous if wisdom has indeed dawned on the USA and Iran in reaching a preliminary agreement to stop the West Asia conflict. It would have been even more stunning if Israel, which is not a party to the agreement yet, had decided to give up the war in Lebanon and give peace a chance to mend a region that has been ravaged by aggression of man against man for several decades.
The world will heave a huge sigh of relief if the good sense lasts and the Strait of Hormuz opens, without toll, for the shipping traffic to bring oil and gas freely to Asia. Of course, many issues remain unresolved, primarily that of Iran’s nuclear ambitions that were the foundation of this foolish action by the USA and Israel to force the issue this year by waging a war.
Scepticism aside, a furthering of the memorandum of understanding with western sanctions being eased and withheld funds of Iran released gradually will mean that lasting peace could return and all parties, including Iran’s militant proxies in Hezbollah and Hamas which must find other ways to contribute meaningfully to life in a conflicted region riven by religious hate.
Never mind if US President Donald Trump, who waded into this region with ‘epic fury’, would be coming to the signing of the accord in Geneva on Friday with his tail tucked as it were because he had to finally accept that this was an unwinnable war in which the only ones to have gained something are those like Iran and Israel who may have been left room to believe that they had made their point.
The world would be a better place if the same wisdom were to dawn on the Russian president Vladimir Putin that, in a world in which asymmetrical warfare with armed long-distance drones is a new feature, no war is winnable. The greatest fear in West Asia is that between now and the end of the 60-day period after Friday when many conditions will have to be met, disruptive actions by Israel and its war hawk of a Prime Minister in Netanyahu could upset the applecart.
Any offensive action would stymie talks on how much economic relief would flow to Iran if it remains stubborn on keeping its nuclear fuel enrichment options open along with its advanced ballistic missile programme that gave it the ability to strike back, mostly at Gulf states that were enraged by the aggression of a fellow Muslim-majority neighbour.
The cause for hope is somewhat deeper this time because Mr Trump, who boasted of having obliterated Iran’s nuclear fuel store in strikes last year and this year, seems determined to bring Mr Netanyahu to his senses. That he may be prepared to release at least $12 billion of frozen Iranian assets to make a final deal possible is a sign that the need to talk about issues has become paramount.
The truth is that Messrs Trump and Netanyahu started this war and the IRGC, seizing greater powers in an interregnum after the death of the Ayatollah and the disfiguring of his figurehead leader son, was emboldened to indulge in strikes at Israel and US assets in its military bases.
India, which suffered deaths of three sailors as collateral damage from US action will be pleased, as all other nations that the principal combatants in the war involving Iran have agreed to an “immediate and permanent” end to military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon. To get Israel to toe the line is as much a challenging task for Mr Trump as negotiating with Iran.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
