Iran.. Less capital, more profit

We are talking here about investment principles for three projects: one is Iranian, based on: “less capital, more profit,” the other is Israeli, based on: “paying the price,” and between them is an American combination, based on: “everyone wins,” and here “everyone” means the three projects.

The Iranian is a clever merchant, accustomed to investing “less capital with greater profit.” He is accustomed to investing with the money and blood of others, and on their land, without exposing his own capital to risk, and without conducting speculation operations on his land. This is the principle that has guaranteed him abundant profit with less capital, and sometimes he achieves his profits with the capital of others.

Iran takes Iraqi oil, through its militias there, and sends the stolen oil to its militias in Yemen and Syria. Its militias in Yemen guarantee its ability to blackmail Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, and its militias in Syria guarantee its control there. It is free political cash in the merchant’s pocket, not to mention the cash it takes from Iraq, whose oil and gas it takes, free of charge, to sell electricity to Iraqis at high prices.

On top of this, there are huge financial returns resulting from the trade of his militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen in weapons and drugs, a trade that extends from Latin America to the Middle East, Eastern Europe and elsewhere, according to international reports, where the proceeds of that trade are recycled in complex money laundering operations that the regime in Tehran employs in the form of “political and financial checks.”

Tehran sends Shiite militias, Afghan and Pakistani, in addition to Iraqi militias and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to Syria, to ensure control over Syria, and to carry out the largest demographic disruption operations during the current century, and spends on them from Iraqi money, from Hezbollah’s investments in Latin America and elsewhere, and from Lebanese money that was stolen from their deposits in Lebanese banks, and thus it ensures all these gains with the least amount of capital, or no capital at all.

With the least amount of investment, Tehran secured control over four Arab capitals, according to statements by MP Mohammad Reza Kazani and a number of regime officials. It was a game that was taking place with international approval of the role played by Tehran and its militias, within reasonable limits, in which all parties win, and within which the Iranian principle: “less capital, more profit” coexists with the American principle: “everyone wins.” These are the two principles that have worked during the past decades, within investment projects implemented on land whose owners do not have a similar project.

With the Iranian principle of greater profit with less investment, or greater profit with less capital, the bleeding of Arab money, Arab blood, and Arab land continues, and the confusion of Arab thought increases, values and concepts are mixed, civil peace collapses, the social fabric is torn, and there is division between: Sunnis and Shiites, resistance and moderation, Muslim and hypocrite, and other stereotypes that have been promoted, in order to imprison broad Arab sectors within them.

But will the Iranian principle of “less capital, more profit” continue with the dangerous transformations currently taking place in the region? Will the Tehran regime continue to accumulate political, military and geostrategic profits at the expense of its neighbors?

The answer to this question depends on the extent of readiness at the regional and international levels for the continuation of the Iranian role. As for the region, the matter relates to the extent of the formation of an Arab project that fills the void, which unfortunately does not appear to be the case, at least in the short term. Since this is the case at the regional level, the continuation of the Iranian role becomes linked only to the international position on it. This position is determined on the basis of the extent of Iran’s commitment to the limits drawn for its role in the region, and the extent of Western and American satisfaction with this role, as events indicate an American and European desire, not to mention Chinese and Russian desires, for the continuation of this role. All that is required - in the West - is to re-adapt this role to Western interests in the region, or let us say re-adapt the Iranian principle: “less capital, more profit” to the American principle: “everyone wins.”

Iran sometimes forgets this rule and believes that the boundaries drawn for its role are flexible, while the Western other believes that Tehran should not exceed what was drawn for it, and when it exceeds, some messages are sent to it, here or there, as a simple reminder that reaffirms to Tehran the necessity of respecting the maps of influence and respecting the principle of “everyone wins,” which sometimes contradicts the Iranian thinking about “less capital, more profit.”

With the developments of the Israeli war on Gaza, it seems that Israel, in particular, wants to reconsider the Iranian principle of gaining a lot with a small investment, which was acceptable to Israel and the West in the past, but today it may no longer suit Israel, although it still suits the United States, which may have had a somewhat different vision than Israel’s, especially the Democratic administration, regarding dealing with the regime in Tehran, or with the limits of interests and balances.

In conclusion: Everything we see today of Israeli-Iranian skirmishes can be understood in light of Iran’s attempts to adhere to its golden rule: “less capital, more profit” versus Israel’s attempts to activate the principle of “paying the price” in order to influence the Iranian way of making money. Between the two principles, the United States is trying to continue its principle of “everyone wins” so that the three countries can continue to reap the benefits, at the expense of the Arabs, who will not participate in reaping the benefits, as long as they do not have their own project.

*Quoted from Al-Quds Al-Arabi