☫ Iran in Latin America IV

Analysis  Iran in Latin America | Part 4

Imam Ali and The Fearless Tiger

Iran's Victory, Islamic Style

“What would make you know what is the undertaking of the Hard Task? It is the freeing of a slave, or feeding the starved in the time of famine, an orphan which is near kin, or a needy person in desolation; and above all to enjoin one another to steadfastness and pa­tience in God's path, and enjoin one another to kindness and compassion to mankind.”

Quran (90:12)

It certainly is impossible for anyone to know what is in the heart of the Iranian politicians who implemented a fluent opening of ties towards Latin America, or to learn in full detail what their aims and gains have been at each step of the way. But the founding principles of the Islamic Revolution unequivocally show that the positive influence of Iran, far from a coincidence, is an intended consequence of the nature of human exchanges proposed by the fundamentals of the religion. And on policies which are practiced for the sake of God, no one as eloquent as martyr Hemmat who reminds us that,

“If we want God's blessings, His mercy and His forgiveness to reach over us we must have utter devotion [ikhlas]... So we take a step for God's pleasure, we hold pencil-on-paper for God's pleasure, we talk for God's pleasure, we chant slogans for God's pleasure, we fight in defense for God's pleasure. Whether we strike or get killed in this path, we are successful. Nothing scares us, and defeat means nothing to us anymore.”

It is key for Iranians to remain informed of the events unfolding in Latin America, and to explore the historical threads of discords in the region, as they result extremely familiar to even the amateur student of Iranian historiography. At the same time, many people in Tehran ignored that while Western media condemned Iran over a supposed infringement of press freedom in 2009, a military dictatorship in Honduras backed by that same West was assassinating dozens of opposition journalists, with NGOs such as Reporters Without Borders not deeming it worth of mention or consideration as a violation of free press.

Unfortunately, a number of Iranians consider such pseudo-humanitarian organizations -fanned by billions of dollars from Western governments- as legitimate judges on human morals, and they do so precisely because they are not properly informed of world affairs. Being informed is not just a duty of any believer, but a requirement for the benefit of mankind, as Allamah Tabatabaei noted,

“Before all else, members of society should be able to gain a true vision of the world and of men based on the real nature of things. Only then could they know and perform their duties as human beings - in which lay their real welfare.”

These days several Latin American countries, including traditional ally of the United States, Britain and Israel, Chile, are moving to officially recognize Palestine as a sovereign state based on the 1967 borders. And the drive was unsurprisingly spearheaded by those countries friendly to Iran, such as Brazil and Bolivia. In 2009, as a result of the Gaza Holocaust, and after calling for the leaders of the secularist regime of Tel-Aviv to be tried for genocide, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua cut ties with them, while Ecuador ordered its ambassador in Tel-Aviv to leave “as an act of protest against the attack which left civilians killed and injured.”

All these moves should always be measured in terms of their implications, as they don't amount to mere press headlines, but are in practice the loss of millions of dollars for the American and Israeli weapons industries -industries which fuel instability in Iran's borders as well as in Africa and far East Asia-, and ultimately help bring about consciousness to the international community of the injustices taking place in our world, even if the majority of other nations are still bribed by exorbitant debt and a variety of political trickery.

A step and a friend at a time, the influence of the faithful Iranians in the global scenario and its correlation with the courage of other nations to stand up to foreign oppressors and their plots for seeding discord among fellow humans, would seem to be spreading as the teach­ings of Imam Ali which taught Malik Ashtar to be known as the Fearless Tiger.

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