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Business Recorder
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Know thy enemy
In the recent Iran-Israel conflict the Islamic Republic of Iran was able to withstand the combined onslaughts by the two bullies. Israel was the un-disputed bully of the Middle East while the USA holds international ranking in this field. There were major security breaches, but the people were able to defend themselves. The government could not be toppled as there was no enemy within. Iran's Missile Technology and the resilience of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards prevailed against all odds. Unfortunately, in most Islamic countries there are both internal and external enemies which must be balanced out for common good. There are vested interests that strike from within to weaken the nation. Iran as a country has suffered heavily on this count. Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected Prime Minister (PM) of the Iranian Republic in 1951. When he decided to nationalize the British owned Anglo Persian Oil Company together with the Abadan Refinery the West came after him. The then PM of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan was asked to intervene but on his refusal, he was assassinated followed by the removal of the Iranian PM. There was a military coup in 1953, Mosaddegh was captured and imprisoned. Reza Shah Pahalvi was installed as the Shah of Iran who ruled with an iron hand as an agent of the Western powers. Finally, Shah was toppled in an Islamic Revolution led by Imam Ruhullah Khomeni in the year 1979 thus ending royal dominance of Kings and Monarchs for all times to come. After Israel today Iran is the only democratic country in the Middle East (ME). Elections are regularly held for the Majlis and the President, but candidates must be cleared by a council of elders to stop undesirables from entering the corridors of power. In 1953, the enemy within succeeded in regime change but in 2025 it failed despite the massive external support. When the US decided to enter WW II (World War II) the balance tilted in favour of the allied forces. General Dwight D. Eisenhower played a key role in the war. Finally, after the fall of Berlin, the hostilities came to an end and the victorious forces went home to a hero's welcome. The heat of popularity of the men in uniform was felt by the civilian quarters. Very thoughtfully it was decided to include the Generals in the mainstream of politics. In the year 1953 Eishenhower was elected the 34th President. He completed his two terms in office and went home in 1961. As head of state, he strengthened the democratic process and was very sensitive to the emerging power of the Military-Industrial Complex. His exploits in the battlefield and in the corridors of civilian authority are revered till today, he remained loyal to both. As a General he led the men in uniform, as President he served the people to the best of his abilities. Richard Nixon served under him as Vice President. In his second term of office as President when Nixon was facing impeachment by the Congress, the Chief of Staff of the White House General Alexander Haig advised the President to declare emergency as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and send the Congressmen home. Instead, Nixon decided to resign and go home to save the democratic order. General Mustafa Kemal, a graduate of Ottoman Military College, led the Ottoman forces to victory against the Allied Forces in the battle of Gallipoli in 1916. At the peak of his popularity after the victorious campaign he was given the title of Ataturk (Father of the Turks). He then founded the Turkish Republic and remained President till his death in the year 1938. In his constitution he gave the Armed Forces an upper hand to take control of the country at will. The Ottoman Empire was dismembered. Turkey remained a 'sick man of Europe' under the hybrid system introduced by the General. Finally, there was resurgence of civilian authority led by Recep Tayyib Erdogan. His Justice and Development Party first took control of Istanbul in 1994. There was no looking back. He turned around the historic city of Istanbul. Based on his performance he was elected Prime Minister (PM) and then President. To restore civilian authority, he introduced constitutional amendments to end the role of the Armed Forces in running the country. Those who resisted were dealt with. In July 2016 a military coup was attempted to topple the civilian government but the brave people of Turkey took to the streets to block the takeover. As President, Erdogan decided to change the name of the Republic from Turkey to Turkiye. Today the country is a constitutional democracy under civilian control where religion and modernization have been balanced. Since 1994 till today the country has been turned around and continues to prosper. In US it is widely believed that there must be an enemy for direction and build-up. In the decade of the fifties the Soviet Union was declared an 'Evil Empire'. The focus of the nation was to bring it down. Finally, after the collapse of the mighty Socialist Empire (1922 to 1991) the target moved towards Islamic Fundamentalism. It was called the clash of civilizations. The entire Islamic World has suffered because of this phobia. Israeli Armed Forces are built around territorial integrity/expansion. Generals after retirement follow the democratic order to serve in civilian capacity. The Islamic Republic of Iran seeks resurgence of Islam. It is perhaps the only Islamic country that believes that Israel has no right to exist while others have reconciled to the idea of two states (Israel, Palestine). Iran prepared itself to take on the enemy. As ground war not possible they used technology to face their foe. Their missiles were able to penetrate the Israeli defences. Israel and then USA were able to bomb Iran by flying over neighbourly countries. I am sure some lessons have been learnt to develop better air cover and not to trust Indians. Pakistan decided to build the nuclear device after the break-up of the country in the year 1971. Technology is a key component of our defences. Originally, the plan was to reduce the size of the troops and rely more on the technological strength. Unfortunately, it has not happened. Nation's resources have been consumed by both. It is time to reevaluate priorities. Traditional defence paradigms have now become obsolete. Enemy must be targeted and dealt with. For Iran, Israel is the enemy. It is prepared to take it on. Despite all its under-hand tricks and external support Israel had to bite the dust in the recent war. The regime in Tehran has not only survived it has come out stronger. For Israel it's beginning of the end starting with creation of a Palestinian state. The message is loud and clear, know thy enemy both internal and external to thwart its evil designs. Force must have clear direction to be beneficial in meeting national objectives otherwise it can become a menace. (The writer is Ex-Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation; email: [email protected]) Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
IOL News
06-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
The collapse of precision warfare: Iran's role in the struggle for dignity
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives to attend the funeral of Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami and other military commanders, who were killed during Israeli strikes on the first day of the war, during a state funeral procession at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in the capital Tehran on June developments were not 'escalations', but a culmination, argues the writer. Image: Iranian Foreign Ministry / AFP Ali Ridha Khan THE fantasy of precision warfare is collapsing. With each Israeli airstrike, each Iranian drone, and each jittery American deployment, the veneer of 'surgical retaliation' is being stripped away. What remains is raw and elemental: a struggle not merely over territory or proxies, but over dignity, narrative, and the political horizon of the Global South. And it is in this horizon that Iran has positioned itself as the last strategic spine in a region otherwise bent by American fear and Israeli force. Let us be clear. The West— then led by an ever-confused Biden and now shadowed by Trump's isolationist pantomime—still believes that violence can be compartmentalised. That one can bomb Gaza, assassinate scientists, and sanction hospitals without consequence. But this belief, like Zionism itself, is a settler delusion. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has understood something Washington cannot: reputation is a weapon more potent than warheads. The Islamic Republic's restraint during the escalations of 2023 and 2024 was not a weakness. It was the patience of the hunted turning hunter. Israel's moral currency has never been lower; its genocidal siege on Gaza has moved even the most cynical into recognition. Iran knew then that the world did not need its rockets—it needed its example: a state that would not be baited into annihilation but would strike when the strike became unavoidable. And yet, we hope—for the sake of history, for the raped soil of Gaza and the bombed flesh of Beirut—that Iran's restraint ends soon. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Not because war is noble, but because there are worse violences than war. The violence of waiting. The violence of witnessing. The violence of survival without sovereignty. This is the violence Frantz Fanon spoke of when he wrote that the colonized 'learns that he is nothing in the eyes of the settler.' And so he must rise, not simply to destroy his oppressor, but to resurrect his own worth. Iran, in this framework, becomes not just a nation-state—but a vessel of defiance. Fanon never saw 1979, but he would have recognised it immediately: a rupture in the colonial order. Ayatollah Khomeini, like Ali Shariati before him, did not believe in Westoxification—the intoxication with the West that neutralises the revolutionary soul. The Islamic Revolution was never meant to mimic the Westphalian world—it was a call to reimagine it. Today's battle lines are no longer Cold War relics. They are metaphysical. On one side, Zionism, bolstered by empire and Silicon Valley surveillance; on the other, a constellation of wounded nations refusing to forget. As Steve Biko reminded us:'The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.' Iran's war is as much epistemological as it is ballistic—it is about reclaiming truth from CNN, memory from Mossad, and meaning from a UN that counts bodies but never blames the butcher. Some will call last week's developments 'escalations.' That is incorrect. This is the culmination. The slow agony of colonised people cannot continue in half-measures. The Arab regimes, with their palatial cowardice and U.S. bases, now face a mirror they cannot avoid. To host the empire's hardware is to be targeted by the rage it generates. Iran's message is clear: if we burn, you burn with us. And what of the world's so-called 'moderates'? The liberals who pace between peace and politics, issuing statements and equivocations? Ghassan Kanafani dismissed them best: 'If the Palestinian cause is not the cause of every revolutionary, it is not a cause at all.'
Hindustan Times
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Iran has ‘serious doubts' over ceasefire with Israel, says ready to strike if truce broken
Iran said it is not convinced and has "serious doubts" that a tentative US-brokered ceasefire with Israel will hold, signaling it is ready to strike back if hostilities resume. This handout picture provided by the Iranian foreign ministry shows Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mourning next to the coffin of Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, who was killed during Israeli strikes.(AFP) 'We have serious doubts about the enemy's commitment to its obligations, including the ceasefire,' the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, as saying. 'We are prepared to deliver a firm response if aggression is repeated,' Abdolrahim Mousavi added. Mousavi made the comments in a Sunday phone call with Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, addressing the fragile truce that began on Tuesday, June 24. The Iran-Israel conflict began on June 13 with Israeli strike that killed several senior Iranian military and nuclear officials, including Mousavi's predecessor — a move that shook global markets and raised fears of regional escalation. Alongside military and nuclear targets, the Israeli strikes also hit civilian areas in Tehran and other cities. The Donald Trump administration later joined the Israeli campaign with its own offensive, bombing three key nuclear sites in Iran— attacks President Donald Trump said had 'completely and totally obliterated' the Iranian atomic infrastructure. Iran-Israel ceasefire On June 24, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the two regional foes have agreed truce. Trump's post read: 'CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED! Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, 'THE 12 DAY WAR.' This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn't, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!' In another post, Donald Trump said, 'Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, 'PEACE!' I knew the time was NOW. The World, and the Middle East, are the real WINNERS! Both Nations will see tremendous LOVE, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY in their futures. They have so much to gain, and yet, so much to lose if they stray from the road of RIGHTEOUSNESS & TRUTH. The future for Israel & Iran is UNLIMITED, & filled with great PROMISE. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH!' The ceasefire hit a setback briefly as both Israel and Iran accused each other of violating it, with Israeli strikes targeting Iranian cities again. The ceasefire resumed after Donald Trump's outburst, asking both countries, particularly Israel, to not drop bombs anymore. Iran reported 627 people killed in Israeli attacks, while Israeli emergency services cited 28 deaths and over 1,300 injuries from Iranian strikes. (with inputs from Bloomberg)
Gulf Today
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Thousands mourn top Iranian military commanders, scientists killed in Israeli strikes
Thousands of mourners lined the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday for the funeral of the head of the Revolutionary Guard and other top commanders and nuclear scientists killed during a 12-day war with Israel. The caskets of Guard's chief Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh and others were driven on trucks along the capital's Azadi Street as people in the crowds chanted: "Death to America' and "Death to Israel.' Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war, June 13, as Israel launched a war it said meant to destroy Iran's nuclear program, specifically targeting military commanders, scientists and nuclear facilities. There was no immediate sign of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the state broadcast of the funeral. Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war, has in past funerals held prayers for fallen commanders over their caskets before the open ceremonies, later aired on state television. Mourners stand next to the coffin of Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami (front), and other military commanders killed during Israeli strikes on Friday. AFP Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group. Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people. Saturday's ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women and four children. Authorities closed government offices to allow public servants to attend the ceremonies. Mourners gather around the flag-draped coffins of the Iranian armed forces generals, nuclear scientists and their family members on the trucks in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday. AP Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. But Israel views it as an existential threat and said its military campaign was necessary to prevent Iran from building an atomic weapon. Khamenei's last public appearance was June 11, two days before hostilities with Israel broke out, when he met with Iranian parliamentarians. On Thursday, however, he released a pre-recorded video, in his first message since the end of the war, filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries. The 86-year-old downplayed U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites as having not achieved "anything significant' and claimed victory over Israel. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, has characterized the damage done by American bunker-buster bombs to Iran's Fordo nuclear site, which was built into a mountain, as "very, very, very considerable.' Associated Press
Indian Express
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Ramin Jahanbegloo writes: After Iran-Israel war, a different Middle East
It has now become customary for people around the globe to take sides easily in the war between Israel and Iran and respond to the strategic and political needs of this confrontation rather than to answer to their own conscience. Right now, the correct question to ask is why we got here and, of course, the right answer is that the ideological face-to-face between the state of Israel and the Iranian regime during the past 40 years has been all about hegemony in the Middle East. On the one hand, the Iranian Shiite clerics and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in Iran lived, until very recently, with the illusion that Iran was so powerful that it could fight back Israel and the US at the same time. For nearly five decades, the Iranian regime made the mistake of being immensely loudmouthed about its rhetoric against the state of Israel and minimising the US power in the Levant. This was intensified after the end of the eight-year war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, with the starring role played by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, especially the Quds Force. The unexpected killing of Qassem Soleimani by the American military in Iraq during Donald Trump's first presidency was a decisive step against the mastermind of Iran's proxy wars in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Despite the assassination of Soleimani, the Iranian regime continued to push forward its hegemonic perception of international relations in the Middle East and beyond. In the past five years, the Iranian regime has tried to attack Israeli and American interests in the Middle East through its proxies, like the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis of Yemen. The Iranian people had to pay the price of the presence of this 'syndrome of hegemony' by being isolated economically and politically through Trump's maximum pressure campaign and the EU sanctions against Iran in response to its human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities and military support for Russia's war in Ukraine. However, despite this, Iran continued to play a diplomatic game with the Biden administration and the EU, leaving Israel out of the equation each time in talks on the nature of Iranian nuclear sites. It also did not get involved in direct clashes with these two countries. However, on October 1, 2024, Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, and on October 26, Israel responded with three waves of strikes against Iranian military targets. Unlike the recent war between the two countries, though, Iran and Israel did not aim at each other's citizens, army officers or sensitive installations. Things have been different in the present war between Iran and Israel. First and foremost, Israel could count fully on Trump's political and military support in an attack against Iran's military and its nuclear installations. On the other hand, Ayatollah Khamenei is said to have been asked by advisers not to escalate the war after the bombing of Iran's main nuclear sites — Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Third, the Iranian regime kept open the option of firing missiles and drones at Israel, as it did hours after the US suggestion of an unconditional ceasefire, knowing perfectly well that the survival of the Islamic Republic of Iran was at stake — as in the case of the 1988 Iran-Iraq war, Iran might run out of missiles and ammunition. Last but not least, though some of the Iranian military commanders might have suggested a crushing response to the US by closing the Strait of Hormuz — through which more than a quarter of the world's seaborne crude oil passes — even Russia and China, the two key allies of Iran, have not supported such a folly. The Arab leaders of the Persian Gulf region, notably Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar, have tried to calm the tensions between Iran and the US, while not entertaining a Shiite Iran in search of regional hegemony. But they seem to be preoccupied by the sudden isolation of Iran from its weakened proxies and its two political allies, Russia and China, who are deeply embedded in the global economy and have much to lose from the turmoil in the Middle East. Regime change in Iran is not an easy task. Until now, Israel and the US have been able to set back Iran's nuclear capacities without permanently removing its nuclear and ballistic missile threats. Many questions remain after the United States joined Israel in the war against Iran. First, what are the immediate consequences of Trump's 'spectacular military success'? Second, would the Iranian authorities still go for a comprehensive nuclear deal with the US and Europe? Third, will the fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Iran and Israel hold? Last, will the Iranian regime turn its guns once again against its civilians who dare to ask about the moral legitimacy of the country's leadership? One way or another, Iran post-June 2025 will lay the groundwork for a new Middle Eastern roadmap. The writer is director, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, OP Jindal Global University
