The US needs to leave Iran alone

The United States has invaded and occupied two countries on Iran’s eastern and western borders in Afghanistan and Iraq. Directly to Iran’s south, in the Persian Gulf, fleets of U.S. Navy warships are on continuous patrol. U.S. troops reside in a number of Iran’s neighbors in both Central Asia and the Middle East. Despite the reprehensible policies of Saudi Arabia and Israel, the U.S. heavily supports both, which happen to be two of Iran’s top security threats.

In addition to all of this, the United States has launched cyber-attacks against Iran to sabotage its civilian nuclear program. Iran is on the defensive, not the offensive.

The economic sanctions placed on Iran threaten to cripple the nation’s entire economy. Already, Iran’s currency has lost half its value in less than three months, and a European oil embargo will virtually paralyze Iran’s export industry. This is not a recipe for Iranian submission.

In fact, the mullahs are the least vulnerable segment of Iranian society. The powerless will suffer most. As American Enterprise Institute scholar Fred Kagan said in 2009, “Iranians are going to die if we impose additional sanctions.” Sadly, this is actually intended by some in Washington. As one of the drafters of the sanctions bill, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), wrote: “Critics also argued that these measures will hurt the Iranian people. Quite frankly, we need to do just that.”

Many have pointed to similar sanctions regimes on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq during the 1990s, which left the country destitute and led to the deaths of over 500,000 Iraqi children. Increasingly bellicose measures, such as the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, eventually led to the 2003 invasion, the subsequent devastation of Iraq and the deaths of several hundred thousand more Iraqis.

Once again, posturing politicians are paving the road to war with Iran. The potential repercussions cannot be overstated. The Obama administration needs to end the harmful sanctions, stop trying to dominate the region and clearly reiterate to Americans that Iran has no nuclear weapons program and presents no threat. Otherwise, blood and treasure will be lost in yet another unnecessary war in the Middle East.

John Glaser is the assistant editor of Antiwar.com.