Warmonger British Foreign Secretary Lectures Iran on the Path Ahead!

Last Monday the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, delivered a keynote speech entitled " Iran : the Path Ahead" to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London . It might be thought that the Foreign Secretary of the British government should concern himself more with the path ahead for Britain and developing a foreign policy based on respect and the pursuit of peace. But based on the chauvinist logic of the government the Foreign Secretary informed his audience that "sadly Iran is going in the wrong direction", that since the election of President Ahmadinejad last year, the country has "squandered" its chances and that in his view, "Iran and the Iranian people deserve better."

The government is attempting to present itself as the arbiter or what is good for the Iranian people. It arrogantly gives itself the right to criticise the government of Iran and the country's president and what is more directly criticises Iran 's political system which it labels "theocratic" and not sufficiently "reconciled with the modern understandings of democracy and human rights". Where does the government of Britain get its "right" to criticise the government and political system of another sovereign country? Is it not the fact that the Prime Minister of Britain has recently announced that in his decision-making he is ultimately only answerable to his God, rather than the citizens of Britain?

According to the Foreign Secretary, Iran is to be criticised because Britain does not agree with its foreign policy, and he even goes as far as to suggest that Iran might devote more of its budget to domestic matters. But it might be more appropriate if Jack Straw offered that advice to his Cabinet colleagues rather than interfering in Iran 's affairs. Should not the British government practice what it is preaching, rather than declaring that it has no funds for education, pensions and the NHS but unlimited resources for the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries and the slaughter of thousands? Jack Straw even tries to suggest in his speech that Iran 's political system compares unfavourably with that illegally established under the guns of the Anglo-American occupiers in Iraq .

The attack that is being launched on Iran appears to be a two-pronged offensive. The US government pays more attention to making military threats against Iran and makes a big fuss about Iran's nuclear programme, while the Labour government in Britain concerns itself more with Iran's alleged lack of democracy and breaches of human rights, and tries to encourage "regime change" from within. However, the government has also been at the forefront of so-called diplomatic attempts to pressurise Iran over its nuclear programme, alongside France and Germany in particular, as well as the other big powers. In his speech Jack Straw did not fail to mention the nuclear issue and even quoted the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who recently declared that the IAEA "is not in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran ". Thus just as before the invasion of Iraq, Iran is being put in the medieval position of trying to prove that it is not doing something of which it has been accused.

The government is engaged in the flagrant bullying of Iran , alongside its allies threatening that country with all manner of UN Security Council sanctions and possible military attack and launching ever more blatant provocations. The government claims that if Iran did possess nuclear weapons it would be a destabilising influence in the Middle East, although it takes a contrary view in regard to Israel . It was of course a former Labour government that provided Israel with the means to acquire nuclear capability and act as a cat's paw throughout the region. In any case, it is now well established that it is Britain , the US and the other big powers that historically have played the major destabilising role in this region, and of course Britain and the big powers that hold the largest nuclear arsenals.

The government is attempting to present itself as the concerned friend of Iran and Iranians, while preparing all the conditions to violate that country's sovereignty by any means. It is also trying to prepare public opinion for this violation by presenting Iran as undemocratic, a "pre-modern" state that has not yet adopted the Anglo-American "universal values". But the government of Britain has no right to demand that any country adopt its values or its political and economic system.

The demand of all democratic people must be – Hands off Iran !