Bildt on Iran

Sometimes the title of an article is a red flag warning that the author has tunnel vision, and you are not going to get the whole picture. It's probably also a sign that what you don't get could be pretty significant. Last week Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt (Moderate Party) co-authored a New York times op-ed with Finnish FM Erkki Tuomioja. The title was "The Only Option on Iran".  Actually, if you have only one choice, it's not really an "option".  What Bildt posits is that doing nothing about the Iranian nuclear weapons program, is a better "option" than preventing Iran from advancing along its ambition to be a nuclear power, which is in fact the other option.

The FMs write:

-"We are deeply concerned about all the loose talk regarding a possible military attack on Iran because of the growing uncertainty over parts of its nuclear program.

"Not only would such an attack be a clear violation of the charter of the United Nations. It could have severely negative repercussions across the region and be counterproductive to the very objectives it would seek to achieve.

"It is difficult to see a single action more likely to drive Iran into taking the final decision to acquire nuclear weapons than an attack on the country. And once such a decision was made, it would only be a matter of time before a nuclear-armed Iran became a reality."

The key whitewashing and wishing are set out in this introduction. While it is certain that the Iranians are openly enriching uranium and building and test-firing long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, this is fluffed over by the authors as "uncertainty over parts of its nuclear program".

Bildt and his Finnish colleague conveniently leave out any mention of Israel in the article. Yet continued calls by Iran's leaders to wipe out Israel constitute incitement to genocide which is a clear violation of the U.N. charter, and demands condemnation. Failing to point out the regime's stated raison d'etre of its nuclear ambitions is a dishonest omission.

Thirdly, claiming that an atack on Iran would be the cause of Iran actually producing weapons, and insistence on the pursuit of diplomacy is wishful and dangerous thinking. For Israel and the Western world, actively containing the Iranian nuclear weapons program is an existential necessity and a means to maintain stability in the Middle East. The Saudis, fearing Iran's ambitions have called on the West to "cut off the head of the snake".

Wake up Bildt. The locals know better what needs to be done.


By Chanah Shapira