Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Glenn, with the Crescent and Cross Solidarity Movement, in Idaho, about the latest speech by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei who reaffirmed Irans stance that no country should have nuclear weapons. The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.Press TV:Iran has time and again reiterated that its opposed to making nuclear weapons and the IAEA has also found no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. So, why is it the country is still being threatened over its nuclear program?
Glenn:This is an excuse that Israel and the United States use in order to keep sanctions on Iran, in order to keep pressure on Iran in the hopes that this is going to lead to so much public discontentment that you would see situations such as an overthrow of the present regime, which of course is exactly what Israel and America want.
But I think that the real issue here in addition to keeping pressure on the Iranian regime is that the West and particularly Israel, they cannot afford to have a country such as Iran - a Middle Eastern country, an Islamic country - being technologically independent of the West meaning that it can produce its own industrialized goods.
Now, certainly nuclear technology ranks up there at the very top in terms of what an industrialized nation is capable of doing. If you can make nuclear energy, you can make all sorts of things - you can make cars, you can make television, you can make food, you can make clothes.
So, Israel and America, what they are concerned about is that Iran is going to become a supplier for finished goods for the countries in the Middle East. You see, the way they prefer it is that all of these Middle Eastern countries be dependent upon Western money and Western finished goods and particularly military goods and technology.
I think all of this is a ruse in many respects - obviously keeping pressure on the regime, keeping sanctions on the regime - but also making sure that Iran cannot compete with the West in terms of industrialized finished goods that can be used to supply the Middle East with the things that they need.
Press TV:In your opinion, how much has Iran developed in the past years?
Glenn:I think it is amazing and I think its what keeps people such as Benjamin Netanyahu awake at night - The fact that Iran makes her own weapons, it doesnt have to import any technology; shes making satellites; shes been able to down American drones and to take the drones apart and to figure out what makes them tick.
You see, the image in the Western mind is that the average Middle Easterner, the average Muslim, they are too backwards to take care of themselves. And this is the way the US and Israel need to keep that image going - that the Muslims cant take of themselves; that its only because of Western technology and Western enlightenment that the Muslims are able to function on a quote, civilized level.
So, Iran doing what she has done, coming up with the technology, not just its satellite, not just its military technology, not just its nuclear technology, but in the fields of medicine and all of these other things, this shatters the image of the mindset that is so important to the West in order to keep the present paradigm existing with the West on top of the Middle East dictating terms.
Press TV:Do you think with the new Iranian administration in office the US and its allies would be more willing to put an end to their pressures and illegal sanctions on Iran or will nothing change?
Glenn:Well, I think there is at least possibility for this change. Certainly weve seen certain moves in that direction, but I think that in general the West tends to be a very elitist, a very snobbish system and I think they are always going to look down their noses at those in the Middle East.
And as I said we also have to keep in mind that the West is looking at this in a very geo-strategic way, which is that they cannot afford to have Iran to become the nuclear center of the middle East and to have all of these other Middle Eastern countries orbiting Iran in what would be a very harmonious political orbit.
So, in this respect, I think the United States is going to make certain noises to make it appear as if she is willing to deal fairly with Iran, but at the end of the day I think the old rules are simply going to dictate the terms.
By Press TV
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