The history of my country of birth, the old land of Iran, taught me a lot in an endeavor to see the world as it is and to evaluate its ups and downs and do’s and don’ts. The Russian’s behaviors and actions in Ukraine and their total lack of respect for the integrity of nations around them may come across as an astonishing phenomenon to some people, but are no surprise to most Iranians. The Russian government doesn’t care what the consequence of their actions are and who and how many will get hurt. The response of the world to their atrocities is similarly stunning, literary amounting to nothing of value.
The leading world governments decided to freeze the assets of the wealthy Russians and that of Putin and his associates. This reminded me of an old Iranian proverb that perfectly fits the situation: “If you cannot Punish the Donkey, whip the Pack-Saddle.”
The story goes something like this: A peasant comes to town and buys his necessities, places the items on his donkey’s back and heads for home. Some distance away, due to unforeseen circumstances, the donkey topples and falls to the ground with all the cargo on his back, causing financial damages for the peasant. The peasant, upset, decides to punish the animal. However, he soon realizes that it is an impossibility. Therefore, he chooses to whip the instead. That way, he will get his revenge.
Is this what the free nations are doing? Of course, if the action of freezing assets impacts those who are Putin’s supporters, it will be the right choice. However, if some of them are not, then is it not an action in futility?
Unfortunately, the U.S. has never learned the true nature of the Russians, whether it was the pre-communist era, during the communist regime, or in the present generation. During WWII, the US Government had only two so-called Russian specialists to help the administration: Joseph Davis and William Bullitt. Of these two, Davis could not speak or read a word of Russian, and Bullitt was kept out of circulation for his problem with Sumner Welles, the assistant secretary of state during the Roosevelt era (1936-1943).
In 1943, at the Tehran Conference, where President Roosevelt met with Prime Minister Churchill and the Russian Premier Josef Stalin, he told his labor secretary, Frances Perkins: “I cannot distinguish between a good Russian and a bad one as I can point out a good Italian from a bad[1]. I wish I could study them better. Frances, can you help me on this matter[2]?”
In a reprisal manner and to avenge Putin’s dictatorial action, the West adopted sanctions against Russia and many Russians supposedly close to Putin, by freezing their assets. I am not sure of the accuracy of their selection. I am always cautious in believing these types of reactions, since I have seen so many unjustified undertakings.
Are westerners punishing the pack-saddle in place of the donkey? Even if not, how much will the sanctions help the victims, in this case, the Ukrainians? I have said on multiple occasions, and I will repeat it again, that Russian understands no language but that of force.
Let me direct your attention to sanctions and freezing of assets. Sanctions are not a new phenomenon, they been with us for many centuries in one form or another. The big powers used and abused this method to serve their purposes. Sanctions are appliced for various reasons: Political, Economic, Military, Sport, and Environmental. Multidisciplinary organizations and governments have used it, supposedly, for the betterment of the societies.
We often forget that the sanction in many areas should come from the United Nations, specifically the Security Council, Article 41, Chapter seven of the UN Charter. Many of these serve only the big nations’ interests. Whatever the sanctioned materials are, they will be targeted and used by opportunists and their governments to fill their pockets.
With her reserve in foreign nations, my country of birth has been a target for such behavior. At present, aside from Iranian assets in the different countries, billions of the money stolen by the people of the present regime and their colonies in Iran have been safely stashed away in other countries. This money belongs to the Iranian people and should someday be returned to its lawful owners.
What laws are the American, French, British, or any other countries using to justify their action in freezing the Russians’ assets? Do they have the permission of the United Nations? What procedure is to be used when these belongings need to be returned to the original owners? Unfortunately, the United States has a shoddy record in protecting foreigners’ assets, as I shall point them out.
As of January first 2021, according to the Congressional Service Records, Iran had between 100 – 120 billion dollars in the U.S. and other countries as follow:
| Country | S. Korea | Iraq | China | Japan | Luxemburg |
| Reserved funds | $7B | $6B | $20B | $1.5B | $1.6B |
This statistic is not from the money stolen by the present government’s officials and their colonies in Iran. A great deal of the stolen money is in Canada. The Canadian government is fully aware of the nature of them and is keeping a blind eye on the event. Presently, Canada is known among Iranians as the haven for Iranian thieves.
The American Government, to my knowledge, is the only government that is misusing and abusing the money of the Iranian people in dispersing it among its nationals with no actual merits. I shall bring two cases for illustrating the problems:
Deborah Peterson, the sister of a victim of the 1983 attack on the US Marines barracks in Beirut, filed charges against Iranian interests for the demise of her brother and other victims. Initially, the judge entered a default judgment against Iran for $2,658,944,877 in damage. Once it became clear the Central Bank of Iran had an interest in a Citibank bank account, they were happy to proceed with their claims. Because of multiple legal problems, finally, Congress acted on behalf of the Americans and created the law, which effectively made it impossible for Iran to seek any ways out. The law is known as the “Iran Threat reduction and the Syria Humanitarian Act”. It passed both houses of Congress, and President Obama signed it into law. The Central Bank of Iran took the conflict to the Supreme Court. However, the Court voted in favor of the Congress in a 7 to 2. The dissenting’s were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Mr. Roberts, in his summary, mentioned that the activities undertaken by Congress were unconstitutional. As much as I could find out, the total award was about 3.8 billion dollars. What a productive business.
The second incident is the case of Robert Levinson. He disappeared after entering Kish Island in the Persian Gulf in 2007. After that, there is no definite knowledge of his whereabouts and what became of him. His sister complained that he was killed in Iran and asked for remuneration. However, the Iranian government denied any involvement in the matter. Levinson worked in drug enforcement agency from 1970 to 1976. After that, he was a member of the F.B.I. from 1976-to 1988. Then, in March 2007, Levinson entered Kish Island at the Persian Gulf. At that time, he was working for C.I.A.
The C.I.A. came to terms with his family by paying 2.5 million dollars and avoiding the public court debate. Then, in October 2020, a Federal Court awarded the family 1.4 billion dollars from selling Iranian assets in the U.S. What a great business with such superb income.
Can Iranians sue the United States and the colonizing countries for the damages they caused them? Can an Iranian bring the U.S. to Court for the 1953 coup d’état in the country by Mr. Eisenhower? Can an Iranian sue the U.S. and Mr. Carter for bringing Khomeini and causing the destruction of hundreds of thousands of people’s life. Can I or other Iranian get the U.S. to Court for furnishing Saddam with chemical gas causing the painful death of scores of the Iranians during the Iraq-Iran War?
Of course, no. Iranians cannot take the U.S. government to Court! Such methods are not open to the nationals of small countries. These types of incidents remind me of the French philosopher, writer, and poet, Jean de la Fontaine in his unforgettable fable of “Le Loup et L’Angneau”, The Wolf and the Lamb. His famous sentence rings in my ears : “La Raison du Plus Fort est Toujours la Meilleur:” The reasoning of he who is the strongest is always the best of the reasons.”
I hope that now, you can see why I am much concerned about the freezing of the assets of small nations by the big and powerful. Does it matter to Putin what the West is doing? I don’t believe that it bothers him very much. Putin wants to revive the boundaries of Russia to the that of Soviet time.
Just yesterday, the BBC reported Mr. Boris Johnson’s statement in the Telegraph, that West made a terrible mistake on the Russians’ attack on Crimea. This was also reflected in the newspapers, such as the Daily Mirror. Congratulations, Mr. Prime Minister, after fourteen years, you reached a conclusion that people like me have been saying for decades!! NOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
If the West is serious reaching their goals by sanctioning and freezing assets, why don’t they go for the jugular? Why don’t they ask for the dismissal of Russia from the United Nations and all its subsidiaries? Why don’t they close their embassies in Russia and send the Russian emissaries back to Moscow? Maybe, in such circumstances, Putin will think twice before attacking another nation!
[1] – E. Eubank; Summit at Tehran, 1985, 235
[2] – H. Guilak; Fire Beneath the Ashes, 2011, p.283.
Guils of Guilan 