The nine-stanza, 69-line poem, “What Must Be Said [ http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/gedicht-zum-konflikt-zwischen-israel-und-iran-was-gesagt-werden-muss-1.1325809 ],” appeared Wednesday on the front of the culture section of the Munich-based newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Mixing lyrical turns of phrase with discussions of the need for international supervision of both Israel’s and Iran’s nuclear programs, it bluntly called Israel a threat to world peace for its warnings that it might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. By supplying weapons to Israel, including submarines, Germany risked being complicit in “a foreseeable crime,” Mr. Grass wrote.
Several leading publications reacted to the poem by calling Mr. Grass an anti-Semite, while others dismissed it as nonsense.
Israel reacted with widespread condemnation and fury. Mr. Netanyahu issued a statement on Thursday calling Mr. Grass’s comparison of Israel and Iran “shameful,” saying that it said more about Mr. Grass than about Israel.
“It is Iran, not Israel, that is a threat to the peace and security of the world,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “It is Iran, not Israel, that threatens other states with annihilation.”
Referring to that admission, Mr. Netanyahu said it was “perhaps not surprising” that Mr. Grass “cast the one and only Jewish state as the greatest threat to world peace and to oppose giving Israel the means to defend itself.”
Germany’s strong support for Israel in its foreign policy is just one way that the country has tried to make up for the crimes of the Holocaust. But the lessons of World War II also made many Germans strongly pacifist and thus uncomfortable with the hawkish tone and threatening language emanating from Mr. Netanyahu’s government.
“He’s focusing the fears of Germans now around Israel as a danger,” Gary Smith, executive director at the American Academy in Berlin, said of Mr. Grass. “I’m afraid this could be a turning point in the way part of the German public speaks about Israel.”
Writing on the popular news Web site Spiegel Online, Jakob Augstein [ http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,826163,00.html ], the publisher of the weekly magazine Der Freitag, said that it was neither a great poem nor brilliant political analysis, but that “one should thank Grass” for starting the debate about the threat Israel poses to peace.
Others said that it was not a coincidence that Mr. Grass so often found himself at the center of controversy, but that controversy was instead his goal in the first place.
“He wrote this poem knowing from the way he wrote it that there would be condemnation,” said Frank Schirrmacher, co-publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, who was interviewing Mr. Grass when he made his revelation about the Waffen-SS membership. “He needs the condemnation to move on to the next step, which is to say that it is impossible in Germany to criticize Israel.”
Mr. Grass, the author of plays and essays as well as novels and poems, was awarded the Nobel Prize [ http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,826163,00.html ] in Literature in 1999. He admitted that he was a member of the Hitler Youth as a boy and believed at the time in the group’s aims, but long claimed that he was drafted into an antiaircraft unit, never mentioning the Waffen-SS until he was 78.
“Logic and reason are useless when a highly intelligent man, a Nobel laureate no less, does not understand that his membership in an organization that planned and carried out the wholesale genocide of millions of Jews disqualified him from criticizing the descendants of those Jews for developing a weapon of last resort that is the insurance policy against someone finishing the job his organization began,” Mr. Pfeffer wrote.
He added, “Having served in the organization that tried, with a fair amount of success, to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth he should keep his views to himself when it comes to the Jews’ doomsday weapon.”
Nicholas Kulish reported from Berlin, and Ethan Bronner from Jerusalem.
China and Iran Breaking Up? By Javad Heydarian March 8, 2012
They say that it’s only in hard times that you really see who your true friends are. What separates opportunistic partnership from genuine alliance isn’t necessarily treaties, but a willingness among both parties to hang onto their relationship when the going gets tough.
With Iran’s growing isolation over its nuclear program, China’s ties with Tehran are being put to the test as never before. As the European Union and the United States tighten the noose around Iran’s oil exports – constituting 80 percent of government .. http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/138727.pdf .. revenues – and key financial institutions, including the Iranian Central Bank, Tehran is in desperate need of Chinese assistance. On top of this, Israel appears to be laying the groundwork for military strikes in case sanctions fail to achieve the desired effect: namely, Iran abandoning its nuclear program.
This is precisely when China is most needed by Iran. However, with Washington stepping up its pressure on China to cut Iran loose, there are growing signs that Beijing’s leaders attach greater importance to Sino-American ties and the country’s own energy security.
In recent decades, Iran and China have cultivated a partnership that cuts across all critical areas. By any measure, Iran and China seem natural historical allies. After all, the two countries are among the oldest continuous civilizations, and for centuries, the Persian Empire and Imperial China served as the two pillars of power at the far ends of the Asian continent. They also formed the foundations of the ancient Silk Road, which spurred the first waves of globalization.
And they share to some degree a similar national psyche and historical consciousness. In the 19th century, at the height of the colonial period, the two powers experienced similar eras of “humiliation” at the hands of European powers. While China was forced to open its markets, Iran served as the epicenter of the so-called “Great Game” between the Czarist Russia and the British Empire.
The 20th century was payback time. The 1949 Communist Revolution in China and the 1979 Islamic-Nationalist Revolution in Iran transformed the two countries into major ideological and strategic adversaries of the West. Although both countries dallied with rapprochement with the United States, they have ultimately remained key strategic U.S. competitors. This is clearly reflected in the 2012 U.S. Defense Strategic Review, .. http://www.defense.gov/news/Defense_Strategic_Guidance.pdf .. where both Iran and China are identified as principal challenges to the United States.
Of course, the two Asian powers have a qualitatively divergent relationship with Washington. After all, Iran is not only under a barrage of crippling sanctions and military threats from America, but it lacks any direct diplomatic relationship with Washington. This is in contrast to Beijing’s deep economic interdependence and increasingly institutionalized civil-military relations with the United States. However, China’s remarkable rise and growing assertiveness in the South China Sea has played a significant role in Washington’s decision to pivot toward the Asia-Pacific.
Interestingly, China and Iran both face blowback in their respective regions: While the Arab monarchies in the Persian Gulf are consolidating an anti-Iranian front under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a number of East Asian nations support the U.S. pivot to Asia.
And the ongoing crisis in Syria offers another example of where Beijing and Tehran see their interests converging, although for different reasons. While Iran is intent on helping its sole regional ally, China is bent on preventing another Libya-style “regime change” military operation. Cognizant of their own domestic political challenges, both countries have reflexively opposed any additional precedent for a West-led breach of traditional sovereignty.
But there’s more to the relationship than converging strategic interests. China was actually a key player in reviving and developing Iran’s nuclear program in the 1990s. For instance, the nuclear facility in Isfahan is the brainchild of Chinese-Iran nuclear cooperation, while China has also played a crucial role in improving Iran’s ballistic missile and naval capabilities – the core of Iran’s non-nuclear deterrence.
But the crux of the Iran-China affair boils down to economics: Iran has the second ..http://www.eia.gov/cabs/iran/Full.html .. largest natural gas reserves and the fourth largest proven oil reserves in the world. China, meanwhile, is the world’s second largest economy and the largest hydrocarbon importer. The trade flows clearly demonstrate this inherent strategic compatibility. Iran is China’s third largest supplier of oil, while Beijing is Tehran’s most important economic partner.
Thanks to the sanctions, Iran’s relatively sophisticated economy is increasingly starved of high-tech machinery, advanced capital goods, and large-scale investments from the West. Iran also has relatively untapped hydrocarbon reserves, especially in the South Pars Complex, home to the world’s biggest natural gas field.
Rebuffed by the West, Tehran has turned to China to fulfill its growing needs. No wonder then that in recent years the Chinese have emerged as the biggest investor in Iran’s energy and transport sectors. According to some estimates, China is said to have pledged somewhere between $40 billion to $100 billion in total investments – easily dwarfing all other countries that continue to deal with Iran.
Beneath the surface, however, bilateral relations have faced some challenges.
For Tehran, there’s a growing feeling that Beijing is having some commitment issues. There’s a perception that China’s approach is not only increasingly mercantilist – trying to exploit Iran’s economic isolation – but also opportunistic.
Strategically, growing tensions over Iran’s nuclear program provide a significant logistical and strategic distraction for the United States, allowing China to focus on its Asia-Pacific strategy. In terms of economics, Beijing has used financial sanctions, which have restricted Iran’s ability to conduct dollar-denominated oil transactions, as a pretext to force Iran into barter deals. This has opened .. http://www.khabaronline.ir/news-78660.aspx .. a floodgate of cheap, subsidized, and often sub-standard Chinese products, which have increasingly displaced Iranian industries and displeased the large consumerist middle class. There are also reports of delayed payments, causing intermittent trade frictions with Tehran.
Increasingly, Iran’s oil exports to China are being paid .. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2082e954-b604-11e0-8bed-00144feabdc0.html .. for with Chinese goods. With Iran’s biggest trade partner, the E.U., poised to impose a total oil embargo in the coming months, and U.S. allies such as South Korea and Japan vowing to reduce their imports of Iranian crude, Tehran is looking to countries such as China and India to fill in the gap.
However, it appears that as China becomes even more central .. http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2011/nov/14/iran%E2%80%99s-growing-dependence-china .. to Iran’s economic viability, it is bent on securing additional concessions from Iran on the price of oil and the type of payments made. Earlier this year, when the U.S. and the E.U. tightened sanctions, China cut its imports by almost 50 percent, with no indication of future significant increases in its purchases of Iranian crude.
Crucially, Wen warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz, indicating the importance of the free flow of oil supply to his country’s energy security and national interest. Thus, China effectively tried to veto Iran’s main military option for discouraging further Western sanctions.
In terms of Iran’s nuclear program, China has shown some level of acquiescence towards Washington. China stopped its direct nuclear assistance to Tehran when it came under intense pressure from Washington in the late-1990s. In 2010, just two months after the Brazil and Turkey-brokered “nuclear swap deal,” whereby Iran agreed to ship out the lion’s share of its enriched uranium and enhance confidence-building measures with the West, China agreed to a U.N. Security Council resolution against Tehran. This was a particularly painful blow to Iran, because Tehran – as well as Brazil and Turkey – felt that the nuclear swap deal was a gesture of goodwill. For them, the sanctions were cynical and unjustified.
As the pressure on Iran grows, China’s rhetoric is also shifting, and it is increasingly calling for Iran to be more transparent and forthcoming. It remains to be seen in the coming months whether China will try to ease sanctions against Iran and help Tehran overcome its growing isolation, or become increasingly estranged from its partner.
Javad Heydarian is a Manila-based foreign affairs analyst focusing on international security and development issues. His articles have been featured or cited in Foreign Policy in Focus, Asia Times, UPI, the Transnational Institute and the Tehran Times, among other publications.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: May 17, 2012 at 1:45 PM ET
JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran.
Dan Shapiro's message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington's resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program.
Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.
"But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it's ready," he said. "The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it's ready."
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, like energy production. The U.S. and Israel suspect Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, but differences have emerged in how to persuade Tehran to curb its program.
Washington says diplomacy and economic sanctions must be given a chance to run its course, and is taking the lead in the ongoing talks between six global powers and Iran.
Israel, while saying it would prefer a diplomatic solution, has expressed skepticism about these talks and says time is running out for military action to be effective.
President Barack Obama has assured Israel that the U.S. is prepared to take military action if necessary, and it is standard procedure for armies to draw up plans for a broad range of possible scenarios. But Shapiro's comments were the most explicit sign yet that preparations have been stepped up.
In his speech, Shapiro acknowledged the clock is ticking.
"We do believe there is time. Some time, not an unlimited amount of time," Shapiro said. "But at a certain point, we may have to make a judgment that the diplomacy will not work."
The U.S. envoy spoke on Tuesday. The Associated Press obtained a recording of his remarks on Thursday.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are gearing up to for a May 23 meeting with Iran in Baghdad. Shortly after the meeting, the U.N. atomic agency is to release its latest report card on Iran's nuclear efforts.
In Tehran on Thursday, top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili warned against Western pressure at next week's talks, which are a follow-up to negotiations in Istanbul last month that all sides praised as positive.
"Cooperation is what we can talk about in Baghdad," Jalili said in comments broadcast on Iranian state TV.
"Some say time is running out for the talks," he added. "I say time for the (West's) pressure strategy is running out."
Four rounds of U.N. sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment, a process that has civilian uses but is also key to bomb-making. But recent U.S. and European measures, including an oil embargo and financial and banking sanctions, have bludgeoned Iran's economy by curtailing its ability to carry on economic transactions with the international community.
Israel says a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran would threaten the Jewish state's survival and has waged a fierce diplomatic campaign against the Iranian nuclear program for years. Israel cites Iranian calls for Israel's destruction, Iran's arsenal of missiles, and its support for anti-Israel militant groups.
Senior officials have expressed skepticism about the sanctions' effectiveness, and believe Tehran is using the talks to stall the international community as Iran moves ever closer to a nuclear bomb.
The United States has urged Israel to refrain from attacking, at least at this point. Tough new economic sanctions are to go into effect over the summer, and American officials fear an Israeli strike could set off a regional war without significantly setting back the Iranian program.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues the negotiations will fail unless Iran agrees to halt all uranium enrichment, ship its current stockpile of enriched uranium out of the country and dismantle an underground enrichment facility near the city of Qom.
Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, who until a few days ago commanded Israel's air force, said in a Jerusalem Post interview Thursday that the air force is prepared for any scenario, including striking Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israel's military chief told the Associated Press last month that other countries as well as Israel have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against Iran's nuclear sites.
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