Jul 23, 2015
As U.S. Congress considers signing the unprecedented nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers announced earlier this month, renowned scholar and activist Noam Chomsky on Wednesday asked a less-considered question: "Why is the deal being pursued?"
The deal constrains what is referred to as "the Iranian threat," Chomsky said, "but what exactly is the threat?"
In an interview with Al Jazeera reporter Antonio Mora, Chomsky stated that Iran--which is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), an agreement that seeks to achieve global disarmament--has "lived up to" the mandates of that accord, despite allegations it has violated some of them by failing to declare its enriched uranium program.
"I don't think anyone ought to have nuclear weapons, including the United States, but that's not the issue," Chomsky said. "If Iran's alleged noncompliance with the NPT is an issue--and I add alleged--that certainly doesn't require sanctions or a treaty or any other actions."
Chomsky, who has previously described the U.S. treatment of Iran as "torture," said on Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel "freely use force and violence" throughout the Middle East--unlike Iran, which would only use nuclear power as a deterrent.
"Furthermore, the U.S. is quite open about [their use of force]," Chomsky continued.
Asked what the U.S. should do if a terrorist plot was developing in a remote area of the region, Chomsky noted that the question illustrates the egregious double-standards of American foreign policy. "We feel free to attack people anywhere and kill them who we claim might be planning to harm us in the future. If anyone else did that, we'd nuke them," he said.
Watch the interview below:
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
As U.S. Congress considers signing the unprecedented nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers announced earlier this month, renowned scholar and activist Noam Chomsky on Wednesday asked a less-considered question: "Why is the deal being pursued?"
The deal constrains what is referred to as "the Iranian threat," Chomsky said, "but what exactly is the threat?"
In an interview with Al Jazeera reporter Antonio Mora, Chomsky stated that Iran--which is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), an agreement that seeks to achieve global disarmament--has "lived up to" the mandates of that accord, despite allegations it has violated some of them by failing to declare its enriched uranium program.
"I don't think anyone ought to have nuclear weapons, including the United States, but that's not the issue," Chomsky said. "If Iran's alleged noncompliance with the NPT is an issue--and I add alleged--that certainly doesn't require sanctions or a treaty or any other actions."
Chomsky, who has previously described the U.S. treatment of Iran as "torture," said on Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel "freely use force and violence" throughout the Middle East--unlike Iran, which would only use nuclear power as a deterrent.
"Furthermore, the U.S. is quite open about [their use of force]," Chomsky continued.
Asked what the U.S. should do if a terrorist plot was developing in a remote area of the region, Chomsky noted that the question illustrates the egregious double-standards of American foreign policy. "We feel free to attack people anywhere and kill them who we claim might be planning to harm us in the future. If anyone else did that, we'd nuke them," he said.
Watch the interview below:
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
As U.S. Congress considers signing the unprecedented nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers announced earlier this month, renowned scholar and activist Noam Chomsky on Wednesday asked a less-considered question: "Why is the deal being pursued?"
The deal constrains what is referred to as "the Iranian threat," Chomsky said, "but what exactly is the threat?"
In an interview with Al Jazeera reporter Antonio Mora, Chomsky stated that Iran--which is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), an agreement that seeks to achieve global disarmament--has "lived up to" the mandates of that accord, despite allegations it has violated some of them by failing to declare its enriched uranium program.
"I don't think anyone ought to have nuclear weapons, including the United States, but that's not the issue," Chomsky said. "If Iran's alleged noncompliance with the NPT is an issue--and I add alleged--that certainly doesn't require sanctions or a treaty or any other actions."
Chomsky, who has previously described the U.S. treatment of Iran as "torture," said on Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel "freely use force and violence" throughout the Middle East--unlike Iran, which would only use nuclear power as a deterrent.
"Furthermore, the U.S. is quite open about [their use of force]," Chomsky continued.
Asked what the U.S. should do if a terrorist plot was developing in a remote area of the region, Chomsky noted that the question illustrates the egregious double-standards of American foreign policy. "We feel free to attack people anywhere and kill them who we claim might be planning to harm us in the future. If anyone else did that, we'd nuke them," he said.
Watch the interview below:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.