President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. The two nations have been subject to vicious attacks by the imperialist countries of the US and Britain.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
By Tungamirai Sunduza
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail
THE Western world is at war with every country that endeavours to affirm its sovereignty, particularly those that demonstrate a fervent desire to manage natural resources for the benefit of their people.
The unjustified wars in such countries as Iraq and Afghanistan on the one hand and the imposition of unwarranted imperialistic trade embargoes on countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and Zimbabwe on the other are undoubtedly designed to tame a people striving to realise self-determination in its entirety and total empowerment.
History will show the West to be a gross resource plunderer.
For years, it has thrived on poaching other countries’ resources for the selfish reasons of developing its empire and protecting its interests by trying to shackle the developing world in servitude.
Last week, Iran found itself at the centre of this wicked scheme after its Western detractors successfully pushed for the renewal of United Nations sanctions against it.
It came as no surprise that the US, France, Germany and Britain wanted much tougher measures. And they would have had their way had it not been for the intervention of progressive China and Russia.
Western allegations against Teheran are that it seeks to manufacture nuclear weapons, yet the Middle East country insists its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful energy purposes only.
This line rings a bell. Iraq once suffered the same fate after the US accosted it with accusations of harbouring weapons of mass destruction.
Throwing all diplomacy to the wind, George W. Bush declared war on Baghdad “with or without” the UN.
The US subsequently launched into the deep, hoping to silence Saddam Hussein while ensuring its imperialist voice was heard all the louder.
And were the weapons found? The answer is an emphatic no! The Americans returned from their fishing expedition empty-handed.
But like the crafty poachers they are, they pinned new allegations on Saddam and waltzed to the oil fields in the resultant chaos.
Iran finds itself in the shadow of the Western whip. Like Zimbabwe, the Middle East country is being persecuted for maintaining autonomy over its resources, particularly the vast oil reserves and nuclear technology.
Britain and its like-minded allies imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in reaction to Zanu-PF’s efforts to address the socio-economic lopsided racist policies of successive British colonial governments prior to 1980.
But are these sanctions necessary? Why do imperialists always turn to sanctions as punitive action against developing countries? What is their purpose?
They are indeed an important tool aimed at forcing sovereign developing states to play to the tune of these Western countries.
America, Britain and their allies are averse to witness the emergence of strong independent states like Iran and Zimbabwe.
Western powers have an insatiable appetite for raw materials and, as such, are always keen to expropriate them from developing countries.
This is no doubt at the expense of indigenous people, who are the real owners of these resources.
Iran and Zimbabwe enjoy cordial relations dating back to the pre-independence era.
The two countries are also guided by a similar conviction to defeat and unmask Western imperialism.
The barbaric conduct of the US as well as its bigoted and blatant disregard for international conventions is ever-evident.
In 2001, the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) was passed to punish the country for embarking on the land reform programme. This Act imposed, among other issues, travel and financial sanctions.
The European Union, at the instigation of Britain and America, followed suit and imposed its own round of unjustified economic and travel restrictions.
This was done to further weaken the country in a bid to coerce the leadership to reverse the indigenisation of the economy.
It is unfortunate that the UN Security Council has degenerated into a tool of the West instead of being an impartial world body.
No wonder world leaders such as President Mugabe have been vociferous in calling for the democratisation of the council.
This abuse of the Security Council should be stopped immediately.
For all intents and purposes, it is largely being used by superpowers against smaller and weaker countries.
Western countries have proved they will stop at nothing to destabilise developing countries.
Again, Iran has been slapped with ruinous sanctions and the reasons for such action are based on perceptions rather than fact.
They are afraid Iran will develop nuclear weapons.
This is all despite their having stockpiles of nuclear arms in their own backyards.
What an irony! Talk about seeing the speck in someone’s eye and ignoring the log in your own!
These additional sanctions on Iran by the UN Security Council are targeting institutions such as banks and firms, including powerful individuals and their assets.
The measures have the potential to immediately bring the desired destruction on the economy and make the ordinary Iranians suffer.
It is apparent that the target on 60 companies is meant to stir an uprising against the Iranian government and to destabilise the country.
Sanctions have caused untold suffering among the people of Zimbabwe, as they affected the country’s social services sector, particularly health and education.
This experience has shown that it is the ordinary people who get severe bruises as a result of sanctions.
In Zimbabwe, sanctions grounded the main productive sectors of mining, manufacturing and agriculture.
The brain drain that has severely affected Zimbabwe should also be viewed as a result of the economic challenges created by sanctions.
The sanctions on Zimbabwe, just like those on Iran, are illegal and have no moral justification at all. That is why they cannot be legalised by the Security Council.
These illegal sanctions have been condemned internationally, particularly by such open-minded organisations as Sadc and the Africa Union.
The only way developing countries can defeat sanctions is to unite.
Focus should be on determining the terms of trade of their resources and also to acquire technology to add value to their products.
The tremendous support the country has been receiving from Iran has demonstrated such invaluable partnership.
Iran is supporting the agrarian reforms through the supply of equipment to assemble tractors.
This collaboration will boost our land reform programme, which is under persistent attack from Britain and its Western allies.
The imposition of sanctions should therefore provide the two countries the catalyst to innovate and exploit new avenues to develop their economies.
This is critical in order to increase investment, create employment and expand rural and agricultural infrastructure to overcome food shortage, especially among rural peasant communities.
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