Pursuit of peace instead of war in
the conflict with Iran
An immediate end to sanctions and
threats of war
A declaration from the peace movement and those
involved in peace research
The conflict
with Iran is escalating dangerously. Both the planned oil embargo and boycott
of the Iranian Central Bank by the West are perilous interventions. Once in the
past, in the 1950s, Britain and the USA imposed an oil embargo on Iran. This
led to the overthrow of the democratically elected Mossadegh government. The impact
of today’s oil and financial embargos will primarily be felt by the ordinary
people of Iran. And in light of the historical parallels, these measures will
only serve to vindicate the current regime’s claim to be a victim of Western
aggression and enable it to present itself as the legitimate defender of Iran’s
independence, an uppermost political goal of all Iranians. Militarists in the
Islamic Republic now even feel justified in threatening to close the Strait of
Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. To embark upon a further escalation of sanctions
will inevitably lead to war. This would not only have catastrophic consequences
for the people of Iran, but also destabilize the entire region for many decades
to come.
All evidence
suggests that the Iranian people have no desire either for war or an Iranian
nuclear bomb. They will, however, defend themselves from any foreign military
threat. Israel’s nuclear arsenal and the military encirclement of Iran by the
USA, which at present maintains military bases in almost all of the countries
neighbouring Iran, are important motives behind Iran’s efforts to arm itself. By tolerating Israel’s nuclear arsenal while
simultaneously opposing the Iranian nuclear programme, the USA and the EU must
bear chief responsibility for fact that hardly any opposition politicians in
Iran dare to question the nuclear policies of the Islamic Republic.
We in Germany
and in Europe as a whole also feel confronted with the growing danger of war, as
it would clearly pose serious consequences for Europe and the world. Those
interested in eliminating the Islamic Republic though foreign intervention simply ignore realistic solutions to resolving
the nuclear conflict. We therefore warn influential players in the USA and
their exiled Iranian supporters from attempting to instrumentalize the nuclear
conflict in order to push for regime change. The claim that a nuclear armed
Iran can only be prevented through war is a deceptive claim that we decisively
reject.
We call upon
the President of the United States, Barack Obama:
To stop the
embargo against Iranian oil and the Iranian Central Bank. Do not allow the upcoming American presidential
election campaign or Israel to instigate a war with unforeseeable consequences.
Offer Iran a mutual non-aggression pact, preferably together with Israel, in
compensation for the supervised restriction of its nuclear programme in
accordance with the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
We demand from
the German Chancellor:
Publically rule
out any German participation in a war against Iran and put a stop to the
dangerous escalation in sanctions. Support, preferably with other European
governments, the UN conference for a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction
Free Zone, which is scheduled to begin in 2012 and which has received next to
no public attention. The conference, which could be supplemented by something
similar to the CSCE, aims to achieve a completely new opening for peace and
cooperation in the whole region. Only a policy that requires all states in the Middle
East, including Israel, to pursue nuclear disarmament and the renunciation of
nuclear weapons can overcome mutual distrust as well as hostile stereotypes
between the region’s religions, peoples, and states. The arms race and regional
dictatorships would lose their raison d’être.
We ask the
United Nations to convene the planned conference as soon as possible, even if
it is boycotted by Israel or Iran. In the long term, no one in the region can
afford to impede the perspective offered by the conference without losing their
credibility and legitimacy. A permanent Conference for Security and Cooperation
in the Middle East (CSCME) would raise hopes that a new framework for peace
policies would arise to help solve – in addition to the current nuclear dispute
– other existing problems, in particular, the Middle East conflict.
At
the invitation of Andreas Buro, Christoph Krämer, and Mohssen Massarrat, the
following individuals have expressed their support for this declaration:
Franz
Alt, Elmar Altvater, Johannes M. Becker, Hanne-Margret Birckenbach, Reiner
Braun, Daniela Dahn, Hans-Peter Dürr, Theodor Ebert, Iring Fetscher , Ute
Finkh, Johan Galtung, Ulrich Gottstein, Peter Grottian , Matthias Jochheim,
Heiko Kauffmann, Karlheinz Koppe, Ekkehart Krippendorff, Wiltrud
Roesch-Metzler, Christine Morgenroth, Wolf-Dieter Narr, Oskar Negt, Bahman
Nirumand, Norman Paech, Bergrun Richter, Clemens Ronnefeldt, Werner Ruf,
Christine Schweitzer, Eva Senghaas-Knobloch, Gert Sommer, Hans von Sponeck,
Eckart Spoo, Otmar Steinbicker, Mani Stenner, Peter Strutynski, Helga Tempel,
Konrad Tempel, Renate Wanie, Herbert Wulf, and Christian Wellmann.
Contact and
liable for editorial content: Andreas Buro
(andreas.buro@gmx.de), Christoph Kraemer (kraemer.ak-sn@ippnw.de), and Mohssen
Massarat (mohmass@uos.de)
Berlin, 23rd February, 2012