Americans are exuberantly supporting the protests in Iran, but there’s more to the story than the simplified version of “people power” or the blatant propaganda of Iran being the “leading sponsor of terrorism.”

No, Iranians and Hezbollah aren’t blowing up Christmas markets in the West — those guys are Sunni terrorists inspired by Wahhabi teachings of Saudi Arabia, our BFF.

Iran is in the crosshairs of globalists for three main geopolitical reasons:

**1. Oil/Gas competition: A sanction-free Iran will dethrone Saudi Arabia as the #1 oil producer. The only reason that Saudis are so rich is that Iran has been virtually isolated since 1979. A resurgent Iran will also mean competition to US oil and shale (Fracking) companies who have been enjoying glorious times for the last seven years.

**2. Challenge to Israel: Israel wants weak Arab neighbors that it can kick around and steal oil/land from. Iran is strong and independent; it helped defeat Sunni jihadists in Syria; and arms Hezbollah who can punch Israel in the nose if the latter meddles in Lebanon or Iran. (All the allegations against Hezbollah in the western media — drug trafficking etc. — have to be taken with a few pinches of salt). The so-called Shiite Crescent of four strong adjacent countries gives intense heartburns to geopolitical hawks in Israel.

**3. Alliance with China/Russia: There’s a huge struggle for the control of Eurasia, and Iran is a key piece in that geopolitical chessboard. As long as Iran was isolated and weak, it didn’t matter. But now Iran is getting into all kinds of military and economic alliances with Russia & China.

Iran was saved by China during the extreme US sanctions (2012-2015) — China kept buying oil from Iran when Europe and most other customers stayed away, fearing America’s wrath. Iran also accepts Chinese Yuan as payments for oil, thus making the deal a win-win situation. However, this challenges the Petrodollar regime, which is never acceptable to the US.  China also conducts military drills with Iran.

Iran is a critical pathway for China’s Silk Road, as freight trains from China to Europe go thru Iran.

 

As for Russia, it has had a good relationship since the Iran-Iraq war of the ’80s. The Syrian war also brought Russia and Iran closer than ever before. Russia’s only military base in that region is in Syria. Thus, saving Assad is equally important to Iran and Russia, albeit for different reasons.

 

What makes the trio — Russia, China, Iran — truly scary is its ability to lure Turkey (a NATO member) and even Afghanistan (Iran’s neighbor) into the fold. China has already pulled Pakistan into its orbit, so Afghanistan is within reach now. Imagine if the US gets kicked out of Afghanistan after spending $1 trillion in 17 years. It will also be the sweetest revenge for Russia.

 

In the most pragmatic world, Iran will find a way to keep everyone happy — USA, Saudi Arabia and Israel on one side … and Syria, Lebanon, Russia & China on the other. But don’t bet your paycheck on it. This is going to be a ruthless, ugly, Machiavellian struggle for power and dominance.

 

Related Article: (on SOTT.net) Iran Protests through the Prism of Geopolitics

Author: Chris Kanthan  Check out Syria – War of Deception, my new e-book on the Syrian war, the most consequential war of recent times