The West Cannot Afford A Fully Independent Iran http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/The_West_Cannot_Afford_A_Fully_Independent_Iran.htm

Iranicum: You are suggesting that the nuclear issue is only an excuse and that these conflicts were also present in the past. But what are those real problems that we have with Iran - is there any core problem?

Shafaie: Iran is an undeniably important country in the Middle East and internationally because of its strategic geopolitics, its natural and human resources and its religious and cultural history. Therefore it makes all the difference to Western powers if Iran is behaving in accordance with their national interests (like some other Middle Eastern countries) or if Iran behaves based on its own national rights and interests. In other words, the West believes that it cannot afford to have a fully independent country, especially one as important as Iran, in the strategic Middle East region. Therefore I suggest that the core problem for the West regarding Iran is neither Iran’s military threat nor its human rights status, but Iran’s national independence.

That is why it has been used as an excuse by Western powers to isolate, weaken, demonise and finally overthrow the politically independent regime in Iran. But the issue is not all about problems. Certain Western countries directly benefit, in financial terms, from demonising Iran in the eyes of Iran’s immediate and oil-rich neighbours. Creating Iranophobia, especially with an emphasis on the alleged Iranian nuclear threat, is particularly useful if one needs to sell billions of dollars worth of anti-missile shields to the oil-rich Arab States of the Persian Gulf. In short, the West is trying to weaken Iran and sabotage its national independence through economic sanctions on the one hand, while financially benefiting from reinforcing the perception of an Iranian threat in the region on the other hand.