Summary:
The US and UK withdrew forces from a military base in Qatar after Iran threatened to strike said base should the US or UK actually intervene with the protests. Tehran also closed airspace after making this threat. Although both sides admitted that these were “precautionary” actions, there’s weight behind the fears as Iran struck Ul-Udeid after the US attacked Iranian nuclear enrichment sites.
Middle Eastern states advise against intervention out of fears of conflict. Over 2k people have been killed and 18k arrested.
Government supporters are blaming the ordeal on America, with chants saying, “Death to America!” Meanwhile, the government has aired over 97 confessions, likely coerced via torture, saying that the treasonous activity was in kahoots with the West.
Class Connection:
This article connects to ideas regarding sovereignty, human rights, etc.
Analysis:
This article is important because it’s representative of how easily P5 countries abuse their power. They claim that sovereignty is the pinnacle of global respect, but they’re so quick to jump into the affairs of weaker countries. It’s ironic because Trump claims that we’re on the side of justice and freedom while ICE has unchecked powers to rip apart millions of families. Our policy regarding Iran is the support of regime change, but the government proceeds to silence the dissenters of those currently in office.
The whole situation’s disorienting because no one’s trustworthy. There’s minimal trust between Iranian citizens because there’s no organization for a united, transparent goal. States are untrustworthy because there’s always the concern of mutually-assured destruction. People all over the world are skeptical of the US because Iran and America have antagonized each other for so long, and people can quickly recognize what the US’ll gain if they get on the Iranians’ good side: oil and access to natural resources. We don’t actually care about citizens’ rights (if we did then we wouldn’t have propped up Batista when he was in power); we care about making money and convincing them to be friendly and surrender all nuclear weapons. Even if we did care and get involved like we said we would, it’ll tear apart our country. This conflict also brings up the question of what happens to bystanding countries like Qatar, who aren’t doing anything but have an involuntary stake in the game. People will become significantly polarized because they’ll compare it to Iraq’s situation where we put boots on the ground; except, this is worse because there are less-clear end goals and the disorganization WILL result in more power struggles (during the rebuilding process) than Iraq ever experienced.
The death of protestors is a clear violation of human rights as the freedom of speech is globally highlighted. No matter what happens, Iran will continue to be chaotic, and if this “revolution” isn’t successful, there’ll be two outcomes: there’ll either be more oppression or people’ll realize that they need organization and protection (through a voluntary militia) because an Iranian government official said himself that they can’t kill everyone, but it’s easier when there’s no uniform shield.