After Iran’s successful takeover of the Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and the Yemen, it now has its sights firmly set on a new intermediary prize – Europe – on its way to its ultimate prize: Israel.
It’s the classic pincer movement that is as noticeable as the nose on your face, but which which Europe is bending over backwards not to notice.
As a European politician, you’d have to be unbelievably selfish, self-serving, unprincipled, amoral and clinically short-sighted not to acknowledge that the mullahs’ regime in Teheran is a threat.
Not just to the Lebanon, which it already owns via its terrorist Hezbollah subsidiary.
Nor just Iraq, most of which it also owns and runs via a range of Shia militias and proxies.
Nor just Syria and the Yemen, where Iran is steadily spreading its military, commercial and industrial tentacles.
But also Europe. All of Europe.
Thanks to Obama’s unbelievably foolish largesse, a largesse fuelled as much by puerile spite as by frightening naivete, Iran now commands billions of dollars in previously frozen assets. Iran promptly used these massive funds to
- terrorise the people of Iran, Iraq, Syria, the Yemen, the Lebanon and Israel, and
- purchase massive, absolutely massive, commercial and industrial contracts with revenue-hungry and job-hungry companies and corporations in the West, primarily within the EU.
The first group – the countries of the Middle East – has been successfully subjugated militarily with the exception of Israel, and it is working steadily – and openly – in that direction. The second group – the countries of the EU – has been even more successfully subjugated financially. Because any whiff of EU criticism against Teheran and huge contracts will be frozen or even cancelled. And there is no vote-hungry EU politician who is going to risk that.
Now we’ve moved into the third phase: direct, overt, military threats to Europe, just in case there is any politician who hasn’t quite got the message: Iran can and will extend the range of its offensive missiles to target Europe should Europe say or do anything to displease the mullahs as they continue on their inexorable march toward Jerusalem. Because that is what these threats are about: Teheran is simply clearing the ground for free action vis-a-vis Israel, without European interference. Iran is not interested in Europe per se, just in European silence and inaction as Iran muscles in on Israel.
So don’t worry, we won’t see any Iranian missiles landing in Berlin or London or Paris – because Europe’s politicians are already frantically booking first-class flights to Teheran to beg the mullahs not to attack them but to concentrate on something “safe” to which everyone can agree to turn a blind eye:
Yes, you guessed right. the Jewish state of Israel. Not necessarily because our European political leaders are anti-Semitic, but simply because Israel is a convenient emergency get-out-of-jail-free card that can be used any time they feel under threat themselves.
Like right now, when Teheran threatens Europe militarily so as to ensure a free field of fire against Israel.
You don’t have to be a chess grand master to see the methodical pattern of Iranian thinking and action. And you know what? They’re quite right – Europe will do whatever it takes to safeguard those jobs, those contracts, held by the mullahs in Teheran.
Israel will pay for those jobs in Britain, France, Germany and elsewhere.
But Israel will not pay silently. Like it or not, using Israel as bait is going to cost Europe dearly. Because the days of “local” wars are over – we live in a globalised world. If Israel is manipulated by Europe into a confrontation with Iran by a Europe too cowardly to stand up to the mullahs as they are being threatened by Iranian missiles, that confrontation is also going to impact Europe. All of Europe. In countless ways – financial, commercial, industrial, military. Because that’s the way of the world today, the globalised world.
It’s going to take a courageous European leader to acknowledge this. Note that I do not write it will take a courageous European leader to SEE this. They all see it. They just don’t acknowledge it – doing so would cost too much in Iranian-held contracts that directly impact European jobs, income, stability, votes.
Europe is in dire need of a new breed of political leader who agrees to lead.
Not follow Iran’s lead.