Peace, not war

In the world we live in, with conflict tearing nations and communities apart, evidence that dialogue, compromise and good sense can lead to peace and reconciliation is always welcome. It offers us hope and a target to move towards when it comes to settling other feuds as well, and there are today far too many of these in a deeply divided globe. An important example of what could be achieved through discussion and steadfast effort came on April 2 from Lausanne in Switzerland, where Iran and the global powers that country has for so long been at odds with agreed on a historically crucial deal, under which Tehran would hold back its contentious nuclear programme in return for a lifting of sanctions that have hurt Iran badly in economic terms.

Essentially, the deal reached after multiple rounds of talks, and were keenly watched from capitals everywhere, involves Iran curtailing technology that can lead to nuclear weapon production. The potential of Iran developing nuclear weapons has been a source of immense concern to the West, leading to situations over the past decade when attacks on Iran seemed likely. We are glad to see this terrifying possibility set aside, for the time being at least, through diplomatic efforts. More exacting details of the agreement are to be worked out in a further round of talks at the end of June, but the giant step taken has been immediately welcomed by much of the world, including the US, which of course stands at the centre of the hostile terms with Iran. The Obama Administration did well to resist domestic pressures in the form of a severe backlash from Republicans, as well as harsh criticism from Israel. This development is extremely significant for our region in particular, which is a troubled one. Iran’s return from a long isolation could go towards helping sort out a lot of matters politically; for Pakistan, too, there is significance given that global sanctions against Iran have prevented it from obtaining much-needed gas from that country. But most important of all is the fact that we see well-intended discussions leading to positive results. All parties involved need to be applauded for this and for showing us that conflict can indeed be resolved through dialogue. We need more such discussions.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2015.

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