Op Ed: Iran Conflict

Iranians tear up a US flag during a demonstration in Tehran on January 3, 2020 following the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Major General Qasem Soleimani in a US strike on his convoy at Baghdad international airport. - Iran warned of severe revenge and said arch-enemy the United States bore responsiblity for the consequences after killing one of its top commanders, Qasem Soleimani, in a strike  outside Baghdad airport. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Iranians tear up a US flag during a demonstration in Tehran on January 3, 2020 following the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Major General Qasem Soleimani in a US strike on his convoy at Baghdad international airport. – Iran warned of “severe revenge” and said arch-enemy the United States bore responsiblity for the consequences after killing one of its top commanders, Qasem Soleimani, in a strike outside Baghdad airport. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

No one should be surprised about what is happening in Iran. Washington and Tehran’s feigning innocence is insulting to the intelligence of both the country’s citizens. I’m sure you’ve already heard all of it; Iran bombed an oil tanker, the United States is waging a war to protect oil interests, Iran supports terrorists, the United States violated the Iran Nuclear Deal. But none of this is new.

In 2005, the long process of economic warfare between Iran and the United States started. America froze assets of anyone connected to the uranium enrichment program of the then president, Ahmadinejad. Not long after that, Iran and the United States got in a naval standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, which is the small waterway in which 25% of the world’s oil goes through. The straight is 25 miles wide at its shortest, which is on Iran’s shore. In 2007 Iran promised to close the straight if Israel or America attacked them. It shouldn’t surprise you that when America started naval exercises in 2011 on the coast of Iran, Iran attempted to close the straight. Again, sanctions were placed on Iran’s oil exports, and again Iran released a statement saying if anything happened they would close the straight. It was about this time that the Iran Nuclear Deal began to be made. It wasn’t until 2015 when the need for peace resurfaced after America shot down an unresponsive oil tanker in the straight. That money that the United States froze in 2005 would be given back if Iran stopped producing nuclear missiles with the added caveat that no new sanctions would be added.

Ok, now let’s see if you get the pattern. Donald J. Trump placed sanctions on Iran despite the Iran Nuclear Deal, and then two oil tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. Ever since, military escalation has seen aggression from both sides, until recently when Donald J. Trump released his plan to sanction Iran for the incident. This isn’t unique to Trump, and we’re not moving toward World War III. Pretty soon, Trump is going to release his plan to have a sit down with the Supreme Leader of Iran, and then they’ll create a deal that gives Iran back their money and stops their nuclear development. This is a thinly veiled attempt for Trump to create the Iran Nuclear Deal 2 without Obama, which is exhausting. So no need to worry, it’s just politics. Sure, some people might die, but no one in power really cares; they’re too focused on getting cheap political points.

This isn’t fixing anything, so allow me, a high school student, to tell Washington and Tehran how to fix this whole debacle for good. Iran needs to privatize all national assets in the oil and petroleum industry, and then subsidize the petrochemical industry while at the same time normalizing its exporting price. This would stabilize the Tehran stock exchange and incentivize the Iranian government to keep the peace and stop Iran’s terrorist actions. I don’t expect the United States to not sanction Iran when they support terrorism abroad, but i would strongly suggest they don’t. But most of all, they should both leave the Strait of Hormuz the hell alone.