Iran’s nuclear file: What can the West do?
 
WHILE much of the speculation about containing Iran’s nuclear program has focused on a possible military response from Israel, Dr Emanuele Ottolenghi, political guru and executive director of the Transatlantic Institute, said there was still a lot that concerned nations could do economically to throw a wrench in the Islamic Republic’s war machine.¬†
Through example, Dr Ottolenghi explained at a Limmud-Oz session that Iran had often misused materials obtained legitimately through trade with countries to stock terrorist militias, as well as oppress their own citizens.
Dr Ottolenghi argued that in furthering economic ties with Iran, many countries had ignored human rights violations and placed their business interests ahead of regional security and stability. These countries, he said, had unwittingly encouraged Iran to continue its behaviour and escalated tensions in the Middle East. In his lecture, Dr Ottolenghi supported a call for tighter sanctions and pointed to laws in the European Union that were written for such a purpose. 
It is a situation, he said, where even consumer products with no obvious offensive application -— from cranes, to speedboats, to dirt bikes -— have been transformed by Iran into militaristic tools or into tools for terrorism.¬†European countries, he said, must be vigilant and enforce these laws, while other nations should do the same.¬†While pursuing diplomacy with Iran over the nuclear question, it is vital that countries not send contradictory messages by continuing to trade with the oppressive Iranian regime, Dr Ottolenghi said.
 
Photo:¬†Dr Emanuele Ottolenghi … economic measures against Iran are not yet exhausted.