The international community is looking for ways to prevent the Iranian leadership from developing a nuclear bomb. In this vein, the Obama administration is constantly holding discussions with its allies and friends, aimed at agreeing on new sanctions that prevent Iran from importing gasoline, should the Iranian leadership not respond to the US invitation for dialogue. It is clear however, that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei along with President Ahmadinejad, are not interested in dialogue with the Obama administration, if the ultimate goal of such an opening is to convince Iran to not develop nuclear weapons. The fact of the matter is that Iran under Khamenei, like Iran under the Shah before, is seeking to become a nuclear power that can intimidate its neighbors, and dominate the region with its deterrent force. In addition, the Iranian leadership seems to want to maintain its people under isolation poverty and need, irrespective of the wishes of its people in this regard. The end of the Shah, however, came at the hands of this very same people who rose up against him, his leadership and his aspirations. This is because the Iranian civil society is quite advanced, while the recent demonstrations, which were suppressed indiscriminately in order to impose the results of a fraudulent presidential election, showed the world the courage of Iranian civil society. With the situation being as such, imposing further sanctions on Iran, in particular blocking Iran's imports of gasoline, would have a significant impact if Russia and China are to support these sanctions. In this regard, Obama's discussions with Russia and with the Chinese officials, in addition to his announcement of a change in US policy towards the two superpowers are also aimed at getting these countries on board his Iran policy. This would ultimately enable him to more effectively rely on the weapon of economic sanctions, again if the Iranian leadership does not change its stance. Iran is a large country with a rich history; it has enormous human wealth and natural resources. However, this faction that is currently running policy in Iran deprives this rooted people from exploiting its resources, when the latter are being used for the purposes of expanding Iran's hegemony and in intervening in the affairs of neighboring countries. Can anyone believe, for instance, that OPEC's third largest member country, which has one of the biggest reserves of natural gas in the world, still imports petroleum products because they are not available locally? Then there is this bid by the international community to impose sanctions on Iran, preventing it from obtaining gasoline. If this succeeds, things will become very difficult for the Iranians, and the problems accompanying their daily lives will only be exacerbated. As for Ahmadinejad and his team meanwhile, they will not be affected because sanctions will only affect the Iranian people, and not its leadership (which is what we witnessed in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.) It is as such that President Obama's desire to open dialogue with Iran is being dampened by the latter's hard-line and stubborn policies. For this reason, neither the dialogue with Iran is the solution to this debacle - as evidenced by the experience of the Group of Six countries - nor are the sanctions against Iran, since they hurt the people, but not the leaders. Instead, the US administration must strongly push for a just and comprehensive peace between the Arabs and the Palestinians on one hand, and the Israelis on the other, and must pressure Israel to remove settlements and end its occupation. This is because an Arab-Israeli peace would rob the Iranian leadership of the bargaining chips it uses in the region along with its allies Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah. Consequently, a just and comprehensive peace between the Palestinians and Israel is fundamental for the entire region and the world. Meanwhile, Israel is now using the Iranian card to divert America's attention and to evade of the US pressure in what relates to the settlements issue. While the White House is serious in its search for peace in the Middle East, the fact is as long as it is unwilling to use sanctions against Israel, it will be faced with further hard-line and stubborn Israeli policies, just like in the Iranian case. Also, Israel would prefer to carry out a military strike against Iran, and to turn the Middle East into an arena of never ending wars. Meanwhile, the Iranian leadership continues to influence the course of events in the region, through both its domestic and foreign policies, and via using sabotage, oppression, terror and expansion. For all the reasons detailed above, the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the key to resolving the problems in the region.
