EDITORIAL
BY DHIREN SHAH
Hello Readers,
The whole world is watching the war between Iran versus Israel and the USA combined. Iran had a better economy under the Shah until 1979 when Islamic clerics took over. Iran has supported many terrorist organizations. However, Iran had a war with Iraq which was under Saddam Hussein from 1980-1988. There were about one million casualties then. Since then, Iran has not been in a war since 1988.
The biggest threat from Iran was their rumored attempts to develop nuclear bombs, which the USA, Israel and a few other countries were absolutely against. Iran is a major thoroughfare between Asia and Europe. 15 to 18% world’s shipments are via the Red Sea, which goes through Iran. About 30% of the world’s container shipments are through there as well.
Iran has struggled with its economy since the USA is not importing from Iran. About $1.7 billion was delivered to Iran by President Obama is an effort to persuade them against making weapons. This was a mistake, as Iran used that money to build their arms, rather than helping the citizens of Iran.
In 1988 by the order of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran executed about 3000 to 5000 prisoners who were protesting for human rights and many of them were from the previous Shah or steadfast believers of the Shah’s rule. One report states that about 30,000 MEK members were reevaluated with mock trials and executed, even though their prison terms were finished.
Iran made a Death Commission of four members from each area of Iran, and they were making decisions on executions. There members of Iran’s death commission were 2017 presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi, 2017 Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, and current Justice Minister Alireza Avaie.
As I heard from persons who visited Iran as a tourist, the people were very nice. The bus and transportation system was nice. So, there are two sides to the story. However, for suddenly attacking Iran and declaring a war, I do not agree with President Trump. Every life matters, everywhere in the world. The citizens of Iran are innocent and some of them will be killed by the drone and missile attacks, which is ridiculous. There are both sides of the story, but war is not good.
President Trump was first elected in 2016 with the slogan “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) and in 2024 he repeated it. This war has nothing to do with America. Starting war for supporting Israel has nothing to do with his motto of MAGA.
The Supreme Court ruled against Trump on tariffs as they were not pre-approved by Congress. Trump went another way with a Universal Tariff on February 24. He used section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Tariffs will be indirectly paid by the consumers, which means we all have to pay the tariff money as the imported goods will be costlier than before. Also, due to the war, gas prices have already gone up by 11 to 12 cents in the United States of America.
Have a wonderful week. I’ll talk to you next week.
