[Asharq Al-Awsat-UK] Tariq Alhomayed - The Iranian technique of dissimulation [taqqiya] reached unprecedented levels when Tehran embarked upon deceiving the international community and building a new nuclear facility on a military base in Qom. The features of this new chapter between Iran and the West were plain to see on Thursday from the reactions of the Americans, the British and the French. Their leaders took a break from the G20 summit in Pittsburgh to strongly condemn Iran's actions to the extent that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that "the level of deception and betrayal [of Iran] will shock and anger the whole international community." He added that certain countries are left with no choice "but to draw a line in the sand." This development means that it is now difficult to believe the Iranian regime, or trust its intentions whether on the international or regional level. From here we are able to understand the extent to which Iran is exercising sectarian mobilization in our region, the Arab world and the Islamic world as a whole, as it seeks to play on the religious dimension and political Shiafication. The writer is the editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.
2009-09-30 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive