May 2021 – Mariana Vargas – Iran’s history as a strategic pivot in the Middle East has been a constant struggle for power and influence against Saudi Arabia. Both nations are fighting for the same geopolitical goal: regional hegemony.
The Middle East has well demarcated its importance internationally. Highlighting their tangible capabilities; hydrocarbons, agriculture, technology and military strength, they have made their neighboring countries (Europe, Asia and Africa) see them as a force and in turn a threat. Geopolitically speaking, the Middle East possesses a unique advantage: being equidistant. This characteristic becomes an advantage when viewed from a strategic point of view.
Its intangible resources: unity around Islam, nationalism, leadership and its organizational capacity, also make the region unique in the international community and influential in religious matters. An example of religious and political power is the figure of the Supreme Leader in Iran, who has the highest political and religious authority and has a higher rank than the president.
Iran is seen as a threat to its neighboring countries and as an asset to its allies. Its technological and arms development has been the talk of the town in recent years.
For the United States, the Republic of Iran represents a threat in three areas that we would like to break down; i) support for terrorism, ii) uranium enrichment and weapons purposes and iii) unconditional support for Venezuela. This is why the hawk has allied with Iran’s regional opponents, demonstrating folding alliances (the weaker joins with the stronger to face a common enemy) and carried out proxy wars in the region as seen in the civil war in Yemen.
Since September 11, 2001, George W. Bush accused Saddam Hussein of orchestrating this terrorist action and soon after we would witness a US invasion of Iranian territory. As time has passed, US intelligence has reported that the Iranian Republic has financially supported the armies of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Shiite militant group in Syria. Clearly Iran is supporting those sides that serve as opposition to obtain its profits and interests.
For its part, uranium enrichment, which can be used for electricity generation but also for weapons purposes, has become a matter of negotiation for Iran vis-à-vis the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. From a geographical point of view, the European Union needs treaties such as the JCPOA to come to fruition. Iran has proven to be a country that acts impulsively, as was the case in January 2020 when Iran attacked US military bases in Iraq with long-range missiles for having assassinated Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
In the case of Venezuela, the phrase, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” applies perfectly. The United States has become the enemy of two governments that are constantly sanctioned and constrained by American power. With each passing year, Iran’s relations with Venezuela grow stronger, generating technological exchanges, support in refineries, sending of diluents for the Orinoco Belt, exchange of jet fuel, barters that have benefited the Maduro regime in Venezuela and Iranian supermarkets that benefit Iranian commerce.
The sanctions against the Venezuelan regime have had a collateral effect and it is the rapprochement of Venezuela towards Iran and in turn the distancing of Venezuela from the Western world. The great challenge ahead is how to rethink the strategy towards Venezuela: how to create those incentives to bring Venezuela back to the Western Hemisphere without giving up the struggle for the return of democracy.