Iranians back atom drive but wary of worsening cost
Iranians back atom drive but wary of worsening cost | Energy & Oil | Reuters.
* Iranians blame West for increasing economic hardship
* Support nuclear drive but wary of increasing economic cost
* Some would welcome ‘win-win’ compromise with West
By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Iranian translator Saba Mirzai, 31, seemed oblivious when told of a bomb attack in Tehran that killed a nuclear scientist in his car on Wednesday.
“Was there a bombing? How should I know? Why care at all?” she said after thinking carefully for a moment and staring up at the ceiling of a restaurant in an upmarket Tehran district.
The scientist, who worked at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant, was killed by a magnetic bomb attached to his car by a motorcyclist. Tehran blamed his death on the United States and Israel, its arch-adversaries.
Tension between the West and Iran over its nuclear ambitions has escalated since the United States and European Union announced plans to broaden punitive sanctions against Tehran by blocking crude exports of the major oil producer.
The Islamic clerical establishment has brandished its sword by sentencing an Iranian-American citizen to death on charges of spying for the CIA, threatening to block oil shipping routes out of the Gulf if its own crude exports are embargoed, and starting to enrich uranium in a fortified mountain bunker at Fordow.
Chances for a thaw between Iran and the West look even more remote as the nuclear deadlock deepens over Iran’s refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activity and give unfettered access to U.N. nuclear inspectors and investigators.
Despite the increasing international isolation imposed by U.N., U.S. and E.U. sanctions, the capital still hums with luxury restaurants, coffee shops, high-tech electronics outlets and billboards advertising the latest European designer brands.
However, the upscale lifestyle is on offer only to a privileged small percentage of Iranians. Most others struggle to put food on the table and make ends meet because of the economic slump induced in part by sanctions.
While ordinary Iranians generally continue to support their hardline leaders’ unswerving quest for nuclear power as a matter of national pride and development, many have also become wary of the ever worsening cost to their economic well-being.
Although they cite what they see as unjustified sanctions as a major factor in Iran’s economic crunch, many Iranians also would prefer a peaceful compromise between the Tehran government and world powers to stop the rot in their living conditions.
“WIN-WIN COMPROMISE”?
Economic hardship, not the internecine geopolitics of the nuclear programme, is the main concern of Iran’s working class, where the average monthly income is $600.
“Unfortunately, lower income Iranians are being worst-hit by these sanctions. How I wish we could compromise with the West over the (nuclear) issue on a win-win basis without yielding to pressure,” said postman Mohsen Sedghi, 45, whose monthly salary is $400. “Since, otherwise, these tensions are sure to end up in war that is not in the interest of any country.”
Businessman Morteza Ghaderi said: “I back Iran’s firm nuclear stance. But I think this row should be settled peacefully and through diplomacy.”
There was no mood of conciliation among the powers-that-be. A hardline newspaper with links to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the clerical elite to exact reprisals against Israel for the scientist’s killing.
Frustrated and financially strapped, many Iranians who spoke to Reuters blamed the United States and its allies for making their lives difficult, generally siding with Tehran’s nuclear course, which the government says is for civilian energy only.
“It is our right to use nuclear technology … Why are we punished for trying to enjoy our right?” said Maryam Firouzi, 37, a mother of two. “All the economic hardship that we face is because of America’s unfair and unjust pressures.”
Taxi driver Mohammad Reza Sharifi, 45, said, “I am sorry for the family of our killed scientist. I think America and Israel were behind it. But to be honest, I have no time to think about anything but basic financial needs of my three children.”
Some Iranians privately express misgivings about the Islamic state’s uncompromising nuclear stance given the increasing economic pain it is associated with.
Inflation stands officially around 20 percent but critics say the actual figure hovers around 50 percent. The cost of many basic goods like bread, meat and transportation has increased dramatically, sometimes by over 50 percent in the past months.
Tehran denies its nuclear activity is anything but peaceful and aimed at generating electricity for a rapidly expanding population, not to develop an atom bomb as the West says.
The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran’s nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to defuse the dispute. Iran has warned its enemies off that course, saying it would retaliate against Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
“The situation is very tense. It is like both sides have nothing to lose and threats are answered by threats,” said journalist Dara, 37, who refused to give his surname.
“The message of Iran is simple. You mess with our economy, we will mess with yours by disrupting oil shipments.”
(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
WarSclerotic 
Leave a comment