I would like to provide a disclaimer that this is in no way a research article but a piece laying down my thought against the backdrop of the ongoing crisis in West Asia and its repercussions on India. After a long time, reading the news prompted me to pen this blog.
The current state of affairs in West Asia is the prolongation of the
imperialist war against the Arab countries, particularly Iran. The
American-Israeli attacks on Iran represent an escalation of the crisis plaguing
the present world order. As usual, the United States with its attack dog in
West Asia has begun another war or intervention to preserve its hegemony. It is
nothing new in geopolitics and this has always been that way since the
overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh of Iran in 1953 to replace the democracy with a
regime of the Iranian Shah through a covert CIA operation, and in fact, the
precedent has been set from last year’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities
by Israel for 12 days. And quite usually, Israel has claimed it engaged in
pre-emptive attacks and America claimed Iranian people needed to be ‘freed’
from an oppressive regime. The most shocking incident following the recent
attacks is the assassination of the Ayatollah, the second Supreme Leader of the
Islamic Revolution since 1979.
For
decades, Iran and its non-state proxies have kept American and Israeli hegemony
at bay. After Israel’s continuous invasion of and depredations in Lebanon, its
genocidal campaign in Gaza, the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad government by
the HTS led by a former jihadist cutting off crucial Iranian support to the
Axis of Resistance, Iran’s octopus tentacles seem to have been severed. The
assassination has been met with Iran’s 88-member Assembly of Experts choosing
the son of the Ayatollah to be the next Supreme Leader for which it seems the
US is not satisfied. Not only are the attacks a blatant violation of Iranian
sovereignty and territorial integrity, it comes along with serious
consequences. Iran has the right to choose its own political system. As the ICJ
in Nicaragua v. US laid down in relation to the principle of
non-intervention and the doctrine of sovereignty, sovereignty also meant a
nation-state’s right to choose its own political, economic, social or cultural
system.
Clearly,
the US and Israel do not respect that whatsoever the case. They invade Iran
with a similar pretext when Bush invaded Iraq allegedly for its possession of
WMDs: here, the possession of nuclear weapons, and it is indigestible that they
invade a sovereign nation based on suspicion when negotiations were ongoing and
Iran was even willing to give up its claims to enrich uranium. As Trump said in
his State of the Union address, the US wants Iran to tell the words, ‘We will
never have a nuclear weapon.’ That requirement is fulfilled, then where is the
reason to go to war? In fact, in 2007, the US intelligence’s National
Intelligence Estimate concluded, ‘We judge with high confidence that in fall
2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons programme.’ IAEA Director Rafael Grossi
in 2025 definitively told Al Jazeera, ‘We did not find in Iran elements to
indicate that there is an active, systematic plan to build a nuclear weapon.’
This so-called Operation Epic Fury costs the US 1 billion dollars a day when
their social sector is in tatters.
The
implications of this war are not limited to West Asia alone. It extends to
other regions as well. I condemn strongly those who sit at home thinking
geopolitics do not affect us. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz on March
2nd. Four vessels were attacked in the strait where 20% of total oil consumed
by the world passes through. Oil prices have soared to 100 dollars a barrel,
the highest since the Russia-Ukraine conflict started.
Now,
out of all things going on in the world worrying us, this took my attention
particularly because of India’s weak response. India had been a vocal
anti-colonial and resistant nation against the West, but now, its stature has
been demeaned for it has to acquire permission from the US to buy Russian oil.
The US wishes India to buy oil from Venezuela (another grave violation of
international law by the US, attacking a sovereign country and kidnapping its
leader) when it is expensive. It was shocking to see the repetition of the
bootlicking behaviour of our leadership as oil and LPG prices soar. The impact
is widespread: the farthest geopolitical impact I have observed in my life as
far as I understand it on India, as restaurants close, my family is deliberating
on travel prices to visit me, and my hostel amends the food chart. Despite
disagreements over tariffs and purchase of Russian oil, India has not recorded
even its condemnations of the grave breaches of a nation-state’s sovereignty.
Yes, India reacted to the impact of the crisis on Indians in the Gulf but when
the Ayatollah was assassinated and an Iranian vessel was sunk by a US submarine
on Indian shores in the high seas, India did not seem to react. Despite having
good relations with the Arab countries, India seems to be heavily shifting in
favour of the Zionist regime under US pressure. Also, when 54% of our oil
imports come from the West Asian countries, this is a serious development. When
we enjoy good rapport with Russia, why does India require any permission from
the US, which is attempting to impose its neocolonial dictates on us? As I
said, this is nothing but a repetition of the bootlicking behaviour. It’s
highly necessary India does not bat an eye for any instruction from the Western
neocolonial power. Our foreign policy needs to prioritize the sovereignty of
all nation-states and aim to protect our energy security in the face of the
disgraceful situation the Indian economy is currently in.
References:
US
grants waiver to allow India to buy Russian oil amid Iran war | Oil | The
Guardian
Iran
War and Oil Prices: Why the Conflict Is Shaking Global Energy - Frontline
The
Iran war intensifies India’s strategic challenge - The Hindu
Strategic blunder: On the
U.S., the Iran war - The Hindu
Oil
and Iran-U.S. war: Key takeaways in graphics - The Hindu