Iran’s decision to rain missiles upon Tel Aviv last week will unleash a response that means trouble for the whole world.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on October 7, 2024.
OTTAWA—We are commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Hamas slaughter of innocent Israelis this week.
On Oct. 7 of last year, Hamas attacked young people attending a music festival and old people quietly living in their homes with a fury that seems impossible to understand.
But those of us who don’t understand why have only to take a page from the book of Iran’s supreme leader.
He can tell women what to do and what to wear, and what the penalties are for not following his advice.
If you don’t have your head covered in the right way, you can be subjected to physical attacks and imprisonment. In some cases, those attacks have led to death.
In 2022, Mahsa Amini was killed while in custody after being arrested for not properly wearing her head covering.
Penalties can also be levied for sexual relations outside of marriage, including stoning someone to death.
Likewise, if someone is not heterosexual, sexual relations with a same-sex partner is also punishable by death.
Death as punishment for homosexual relations is unique to Iran in the world, although Afghanistan is currently reviewing the application of a similar policy.
There is a reason that hundreds of ex-patriot Iranians around the world were celebrating the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Iran is the chief patron of Hezbollah, and has supported Nasrallah’s leadership for 32 years.
Ex-pats blame Nasrallah and the Iranian government for the oppression that has dampened the spirit of Iranian people for years.
A United Nations fact-finding mission concluded that the Iranian government was responsible for Amini’s death, and accused Iran of committing “crimes against humanity” as the result of a months-long security crackdown that killed more than 500 people, and detained more than 20,000.
The UN report said that Iranian security forces regularly used submachine guns and assault rifles against peaceful demonstrators, and noted a pattern of protesters being “branded” by shooting them in the eye, leading to permanent damage.
Iran’s Supreme Commander Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doesn’t see any problem with his country’s internal situation, although thousands of Iranians may think otherwise.
He has been in power since 1979, the year which marked the end of “westernizing” Iran with the departure of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
His government’s view of the Middle East is that all problems would be solved if only Israel would disappear. He blames all challenges there on the Israeli attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
Thousands of Canadian supporters of Palestine have been lobbying non-stop for an end to the war in Gaza in an effort to save thousands of lives, and end the displacement of thousands more.
There are now more than one million Lebanese who are on the move to get away from the fighting, and to find safety for their families.
Most protesters would not want to strengthen Iran’s hand, but they have been silent on surrogates in the region like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hamas carried out an unprecedented civilian slaughter on Oct. 7, 2023.
Silence doubles as support for Hamas, and one result of the Iranian attack on Israel is that Iran is no longer silently fuelling Israel’s enemies.
Instead, it is leading the charge with its stated intent to eliminate Israel’s existence.
Israel is receiving international support for the right to defend itself against the Iranian incursion.
Its ground invasion of Lebanon has already led to military casualties.
But the incursion into Gaza and the wanton deaths of thousands of civilians have raised the global ire of millions.
To date, most of the pressure has been focused on Israelis to withdraw from Gaza as the only way to secure the release of the hostages who have now been held for a full year.
But now the pressure point will be on Iran. And those in the Arab world who do not support Iran will be called to engage in the fight.
Iran’s decision to rain missiles upon Tel Aviv last week will unleash a response that means trouble for the whole world.
Already one of the outcomes is a rapid hike in the price of oil, which puts the fragile economic recovery under threat.
The hike may help producers, but will put further stress on Canadian consumers.
Meanwhile, the world is waiting with bated breath as we teeter on the edge of a world war.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
