Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Iran…”It’s Arrogance” | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page

It is useful for us to look at how the elites close to the Iranian regime think, and how they view our region and our issues. The best example here is the article published in our newspaper yesterday by the Iranian writer and journalists Shakir Kasrai, who presented Iran’s point of view in an arrogant manner and with logic that does not make sense.

The writer complains that the Iranian media is not as large as the “opposition” media, and he said that Iran’s voice is not heard as much as that of the “opposition” media, such as when Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed said in the opposition media that the Iranian occupation of the Emirati islands is equivalent to the Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territory. What the Iranian writer and journalist failed to realize is that our media is strong due to its professionalism and credibility, and I was extremely impressed by the words of our reader Mohamed Abu Aziz, who commenting on this article on our website wrote “I found an opponent [writing] in a major Arab newspaper, meanwhile the editor-in-chief of the smallest Arab publication that expresses anti-Iranian views cannot express his opinions in the most important Iranian newspaper.” This is true; for in Iran newspapers are massacred and opinions are muzzled, more than this the problem is the magnitude of the different fabrications put forward by many Iranian media outlets, whether these are against our countries, our policies, or even our media.

The Iranian arrogance can be seen when the writer says that the regional countries are imposing double standards, as they allow Turkey to play a role in the region, however they deny Iran this, and the truth is that this is twisted logic; firstly, is the region a wasteland or “a neighborhood where everybody can do whatever they want” as the Arab proverb goes? Secondly, does playing a role or expanding political influence take place through supporting and exploiting armed militias to undermine the security of the state and its citizens, and working as an agent of Iran under false names? The Iranian writer could not publicly express what he wanted to say when he wrote that the Arabs are imposing double standards with regards to the Turkish and Iranian roles in the region. Perhaps the Iranian writer wanted to express his dismay at the Syrian – Turkish rapprochement on the grounds that Tehran is always talking about its strategic alliance with Damascus whereas Syria today is talking more and more about its alliance with Turkey, as evident by the influx of Turkish goods and projects into Syria? Perhaps this is what was bothering the Iranian writer?

As for comparing the Iranian nuclear file with the Arab regional countries desire to possess nuclear technology, as well as mentioning the Arabs opposition to Iran building nuclear weapons while not opposing Israeli nuclear weapons, then this is the very definition of arrogance. The Arab countries announced that their energy program is peaceful, and more importantly than this is that these Arab countries enjoy international credibility and trust, which is something that is not even enjoyed by the Tehran regime inside Iran. The Arab countries have also struggled against and opposed nuclear armaments of all kinds for more than twenty years, and the mullahs of Tehran should remember that there is an Israeli occupation [of Palestine] which they are trying to exploit to serve their own agenda.

Therefore we say that what was written by the Iranian writer represents an arrogant and illogical Iranian viewpoint, however it is important to get to know this, and observe this, if only through the door of “know your enemy.”