Iran: the region’s ‘black sheep’

From The Arab Times (Kuwait), 18th Jan 2007 : Web Edition No: 12766, by Ahmed Al-Jarallah Editor-in-Chief....

BY exaggerating its capabilities, Iran is hallucinating and thinking that it can do more than it is able to. Tehran believes it is God’s regime and acts under the orders of the Almighty. Iran’s imagination is running wild making it believe in its own myth. Gulf countries have come to the conclusion that Iran has become an uncontrollable power which can harm not only itself but also its neighbors.

As a country infected with such dangerous imagination, Iran sees itself capable of taking on the mighty United States. It thinks it can control the region and force its policies on its supporters.This explains the behavior of Tehran in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. It also explains the current visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Latin American countries, which are well-known for their anti-US policies. If Iran wants to nominate itself as a leader of the region, then we must awake it from its dream and remind it that all Gulf countries are united.

Iran’s dreams of expanding its power have brought it under the scrutiny of the United States, which is closely monitoring Tehran’s activities in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine where it is creating chaos and instability.

In this tense atmosphere, Ahmadinejad has angered Americans by visiting countries located in their backyard. The Iranian President has donated two billion dollars to the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez for a fund to support countries which are against Washington....Iran is declaring war against the United States and trying to drag the Gulf countries into it without any thought for the tragic consequences of this dangerous game.

Tehran continues to stand against the international community, ignore warnings to abandon its nuclear program and insist on teasing superpowers. In 2003 as a part of its preemptive strike policy the US attacked Iraq, which was thought to have nuclear warheads. We wonder what Iran is trying to do by angering and challenging the United States.In our opinion a US strike on Iran is imminent to correct Tehran’s misguided policies, and prevent that country from becoming a black sheep in the Middle East...