Iran issue needs diplomacy, not crude weapon

"India, Russia and China must work together to lower the temperature and stave off the confrontation which is looming large."

By imposing sanctions that aim to throttle Iran's oil industry and exports, the United States and Europe have embarked on a course of action that is likely to backfire on the West and the immediate region. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Iran issue needs diplomacy, not crude weapon

Any disruption of oil supplies from the Gulf, whether as a result of conscious OPEC policy decision or due to closure of the Strait of Hormuz, will create untold problems not only for Western economies and the Gulf's oil suppliers but also for oil importing developing countries like India. Last time when oil embargo was imposed on the "west" it had a lasting impact on both oil prices and global inflation.

It is sad that the international community, fed by western propaganda, is looking at the Iran crisis as a bilateral issue of controlling Iran's nuclear ambitions, rather than at the larger consequences of the use of oil as a political weapon for the region and world.

What is required today is to stop the implementation of sanction measures the European Union (EU) has rashly announced. But oil sanctions have raised the temperature so much that a conflict by miscalculation has become a major threat.

Disengaging the weapon of oil from the dialogue required to deal with Iran's nuclear issue is the need of the hour.

Pushing Iran to the brink

"The European Union has decided on oil sanctions that Tehran has long said would represent a declaration of war. What will follow?"

This decision to impose a EU oil embargo, sets a potential bomb ticking, timed to detonate on July 1. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Pushing Iran to the brink.


The U.S. has already begun beefing up its military presence in the region, and the IRGC is planning naval war games next month.

The Strait of Hormuz is the kink in the hose of the Gulf's oil supply to the world. A small amount of pressure can send crude prices soaring and starving the world's oil-dependent economies. Maintained over the long term, that is enough to strangle global economic recovery. But it is a decidedly double-edged one.

Until now the costs of a war with Iran outweigh the gains of setting the nuclear programme back. But if the U.S. were going to war over oil, that cost-benefit analysis would change. 

Even if Washington and Tehran remain determined to avoid all-out war, with every passing month there is a rising chance of one breaking out by accident.