Looming war clouds

Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Kahamenei had promised to avenge the death of General Qasem Solemamani who was killed in US drone strike in Baghdad on Friday. As expected, Iran launched missile attack on two military bases in Iraq wherein American troops were housed. Currently some 5000 US troops are stationed in military bases there.  A few days ago Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mehdi has asked for pull out of US forces from his country. Iran state television said that 80 US military personnel have been killed in the attack. Pentagon spokesman Jhonthan Hoffman confirmed the Iranian missile strikes on al-Asad base in Anbar province and another one in the Kurdish capital Erbil. However, he did not divulge anything about human and material losses.  He dropped a hint about the likely US response. Likewise, President Donald Trump said in a tweet that assessment is being made about the casualties and extent of damage.

In the aftermath of US unilateral action, world leaders were emphasizing restraint. French President Emmanuel Macron, in telephone conversation with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani had urged for avoiding any retaliation that could worsen regional tension.  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for defusing the rising tension and restarting dialogue. In a policy statement in the parliament Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quershi had called for patience. Now he has asked the UN Security Council and international community to act swiftly for reducing tension in the region. He cautioned both US and Iran to avoid further escalation of hostilities.

The destruction of military strength of Islamic countries and making Israel the policeman in the Middle East is one major component of US led New World Order which is now declining as Russia has reasserted itself in world affairs and China is emerging as the major economic power. On June 7 1981 Israeli Air Force bombed and destroyed a nuclear reactor 15 kilometer Southeast of Baghdad. In 1991, in a unipolar world President Saddam Hussain was lured to attack Kuwait to find an excuse for using military might against Iraq and destroy its armed forces and economy. Later in 2003, a bogey of weapons of mass destruction with Iraq was raised to pave the way for its invasion by US led alliance forces.  Former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan had described that war illegal. Then Libyan civil war was ignited and Syrian civil war was stage-managed. In 2018, President Donald Trump pulled out his country of Iran’s nuclear deal which was also signed by other world powers including Russia, China, France the UK and Germany. It was a first step of raising tension with Iran.

In the Syrian conflict, Iran, Turkey and Russia have formed a tacit alliance to counter the aggressive US policy in the Middle East. The US-Iran rising tension can be a harbinger of war in the region against which the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has already cautioned. But the international community seems to be docile to persuade the US to deescalate the situation. The reason may be that US had on a number of occasions committed aggression against Islamic countries either by obtaining UNSC authorization or unilaterally. At this point of time the division in the rank of OIC is wider if Kualampur summit of four Muslim countries is any guide. In the past the organisation had failed to provide an effective platform for diplomacy to save its member countries from foreign aggression, be it invasion of Iraq or Afghanistan or the prevailing civil war in Syria and US-Iran tension.