QATAR: SANCTIONS ON IRAN WILL NOT WORK

Sanctions on Iran won’t work: Iranian-American professor


Doha • “Sanctions against Iran won’t work”, says an Iranian-American visiting professor at Texas A and M University in Doha. In an interview with The Peninsula, Dr Houshang Masudi shared his perspective on the raging controversy over the nuclear issue between the United States and Iran, and his feelings about being both an American and an Iranian.

Senior diplomats from six nations – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – met Wednesday to discuss sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment programme. Iran has continued to ignore the UN demands to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

When asked why he thought sanctions against Iran would not work, Masudi said: “Sanctions will not hit Iran hard because Iran is used to them. Many products are made within Iran, and Iran is strong agriculturally.”

He added: “Having nuclear energy has become an issue of ‘national pride’ for the majority of the Iranian people, and therefore, they will support President Ahmedinejad.”

Masudi said the American approach of refusing to meet with Iran directly was not helpful. He added: “The United States is in a strong position both economically and technologically. What would it hurt for them to sit down and talk to the Iranians directly? Ahmedinejad is seen as a hardliner, but the best thing to do is to meet face to face. If I were the president of the United States, I would say let’s forget the past, let's sit down and talk and find a way to help each other.”

To have nuclear capability gives a nation a different status in the world arena, and many Iranians feel it is a matter of honor and their right as a nation, said Masudi. According to him, the Iranian people, as a whole, have no hatred toward Americans; they want the same things in life; a nice house, nice car and money in the bank.

Masudi moved to the United States in 1964 to pursue higher studies and to later work as a professor. In 1965 he worked with the US Peace Corps on an Iranian project. He has lived and worked in the state of Texas ever since. When asked which country feels more like home, he stated: “I have been in America 40 years, yet I still feel I belong to both cultures. I am a mixture of both.”



Pertinent Links:

1) Sanctions on Iran won’t work: Iranian-American professor