Winds of Change in Ramazan

We need to change the current trend of affairs in today's world. The world is suffering from an acute case of mismanagement. global powers intervene in the affairs of nations only to secure their interests. It seems that nothing is in its place.The ongoing escalation of violence in many parts of the world, the widening gap between rich and poor nations, the scourge for more wealth and prosperity among the rich and insecurity, poverty and hatred among the miserable masses has taken the world to the verge of unsustainability . The world has not become a better place for people after the world powers intervened in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Palestine,  in Libya, in Syria. Now, Snowden tells us that the details of our lives are all under the scrutiny of the US intelligence apparatus, the so called  leading country  of freedom and human rights in the world is now accused of controlling everything to maintain its supremacy and control over the wealth, resources and peoples of the world. What can we do as humans who aspire for justice and peace. 

 In  2004, as the Vice President of Iran  and during the Khatami Administration , I was invited to deliver a speech at the University of Seoul. The conference hall was jammed with students and academics who were curious to hear from a woman Vice President from Iran.

In that session I spoke about the common aspirations of human societies , about the fact that many global challenges including environmental degradation and the widening gap between rich and poor nations are rooted in the distorted lifestyles that we humans pursue. We need to improve ourselves individually and collectively in terms of  consumption patterns,  destruction of the natural environment, violence, war and abrogation of human rights.Today we come to the conclusion at the international level that we need to change lifestyles and attitudes in order to correct the current unsustainable trends. I mentioned the need for an inner journey to correct the attitudes and behavior that has become so detrimental. The Four Journeys of Mulla Sadra could be taken as a model , where four stages of cognition and spiritual upliftment were included, I noted. I was fascinated to hear the very intelligent questions and the level of understanding that Korean students displayed to concepts which came from a very distant country and culture but which touched common human values and aspirations. 

The inner journey we all aspire for may begin with the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a chance to change the monotonous routine of our self-centered and egoistic lives . It is a chance to see beyond the material limits of the self and by closing doors on material senses and desires, to open a door to the mystical realm of the spirit. Ramadan is the month when Muslims refrain from eating and abstain from desires. One should endeavor to refrain from lying and all other sins during this holy month. Ramadan is a time for the inner journey for perfection.  Ramadan has benefits for both the mind and the body as well as the spirit. Eating, sleeping and work behaviors are all altered during this month paving way for a new lifestyle during the whole year ahead.

Ramadan tells us that in order to change the world people need to change their lifestyles, their attitudes, their desires and behavior needs to change before they can change their society and change the current trend of affairs in today's world. 

The Environment Suffers in War

 The Center for Peace and Environment has convened an international seminar every year on the occasion of November 6 the International Day for the Prevention of the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. Members of the diplomatic community and countries which have suffered from war were invited to speak about the devastation that war had caused in their homelands. Also, representatives from the international organizations such as the UNDP , OCHA and the International Red Cross attended the seminar and provided reports on their actions in this regard.  As a Champion of the Earth, I would invite these international figures to attend our ceremony and they had usually responded favorably.  This year, considering the circumstances and continuing restraints on the activities of the civil society, the Center decided to issue a statement and postpone the session to the next year. The full statement is available at www.pengoo.ir . This is the opening phrase:

"Since mankind has always counted its war casualties in terms of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, as well as destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war.

Yet when the environment   suffers in warfare, it threatens the well-being of vulnerable populations and undermines prospects for lasting peace, thus triggering a vicious cycle of destruction...."

Mr. President Say No to War With Iran

Here is a copy of the one page advertisement that the Iranian American Council posted a few weeks ago in the Washington Post. Several retired Generals and high ranking American military officials have signed a letter to Obama asking him to resist pressures on him to attack Iran. " Military action at this stage is not only unnecessary it is dangerous... We urge you to resist the pressure for a war of choice with Iran." the letter ends. This could be an indication of the pressures on Obama by the zionist lobby and AIPAC. It was published before a meeting of the leaders of both  countries (US and Israel ) last month.

Many observers believe that the American public  should start asking themselves finally who runs the foreign policy of their country; Americans or Israelis.  There is plenty of information and analysis available  in the internet on the influence of zionists in the Congress and Senate and how they are shaping US economy , media and foreign policy. It is a shame that the American public is not informed and/or is not sensitive about the future of their nation and particularly when it comes to sending their young people to war and sacrificing their lives, they are so impotent.
While the quantity of  propaganda, news items and analysis on war against Iran has been escalating during the past months a recent article in the Guardian  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/22/nuclear-watchdog-iran-iaea serves as an eye-opener.
The IAEA chief has been accused of pro-western bias over Iran by several former Agency officials. They have warned of parallels between the Agency's current approach to Iran and its past mistakes over Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction. Wiki leaks documents also show that Amano is bending increasingly towards the US.

In these sensitive times it is important to remember that the UN and related bodies have an official responsibility and mandate to protect world peace. The American neocon and zionist lobby have taken the US to war for several times in this part of the world, the devastating consequences of which for humanity are immense.  It is now time that the UN takes a serious step to contain zionist  American politicians and to inform them that the Islamic Awakening or the Arab Spring however you name it, is a symbol of an end to Zionist hegemony in the middle east. The recent ruling of the Egyptian Parliament calling for a severance  of diplomatic relations with what they have called the "zionist entity" is a clear sign of this reality.
Nations are seeking freedom and dignity under the umbrella of their national and Islamic identity, not under foreign supremacy and rule. The international community should realize that despite the challenges Iranians face in Iran, they are strong and unified in the face of any external threat.  They should have known that threats of this kind  will not help to promote freedom or human rights in Iran, nor will it force Iran to relinquish its rights as a member of the international community.

Chemical Weapons

A seminar concerning the effects of air pollution on those injured by chemical weapons was held, this week, in Tehran. Many war veterans and civilians who had been seriously injured during the war had attended. As I entered the seminar hall, loud and incessant coughs could be heard, continuing throughout the session. During the war, between 1980 and 1988, Saddam employed scores of various chemical weapons against both civilian and military targets; enjoying the active support of Western powers and the indifference of international bodies responsible for world peace and security. The tragedy and massacre of Halabje and Sardasht are evident examples of genocide in contemporary times.
Medical scholars spoke on the various long term complications of sulfur mustard, one of the commonly employed gases, on respiratory, skin, eye and immune systems. Those afflicted usually suffer from severe respiratory illneses throughout their life. Government authorities lectured the audience on the importance of combatting air pollution and honoring the war veterans. I noted in my speech that public officials should provide a report of their work indicating what they have achieved . I reported on the status of the environment committee established in the Tehran City Council and particularly what has been done to abate air pollution in Tehran. I was also very careful to mention that the government had failed to fulfill its legal commitments, had dissolved relevant working groups and had not taken proper steps to address the matter during the past four years.
A group of young men who had been injured in the city of Sardasht when they were very young, performed a Kurdish dance at the end of the ceremony. When one of them went up to the podium to describe how he suffered from the wounds and injuries of the sulfur mustard gas employed in Sardasht, when he was only five, many people in the audience wept.

As I spoke with many of the chemical victims, I was thinking about certain European governments that were accomplices in providing Saddam with chemical weapons and their tacit support for his policy of attacking residential areas . Have those countries been held accountable for their actions or have they escaped justice to date?
I have been working with the Sardasht Cohort Study Group on the immune parameters of injured citizens of Sardasht, about two decades after the attack. I will link some of our research articles which have been recently published in this field.