Expectations are high because Democrats in the US are traditionally considered to be the founding fathers of the global hierarchy system after WWII which is manifested in the establishment of the United Nations Organization for several decades. Once the last bullet was fired in Berlin, and the world's then powers decided to put an end on any violent solution for their disagreements, people in the globe cascaded down into a sort of fall of pure joy as they believed for now and in the future, the "war" is over.
They couldn't be more wrong…
Not only the endless wars didn't end, but also the very country that brought up the initiative of not resorting to force as a means for imposing wills never stopped taking advantage of this tool. It didn't take long for the new international community to realize what the US has tricked it into! The US now had a double-barreled gun with two distinct triggers. Indeed, the US could now embark a war, then justify it under the Charter of UN: fire and forget.
This has been the American attitude towards international interactions for decades, a dark fact lurking in the countries' past. Many countries have been the victim of this policy. As of right now, the US is militarily present in (you read: have occupied) many countries in different continents, without finding itself in the position of explaining the cause. Well, who pays for this giant money-sucking machinery called "UN" after all?
Today, more than seven decades after the UN was born, a wide range of countries have fallen deep into a pit of troubles for an even wider range of reasons, and a seems-to-be-eternal side of these problems is the UN. The interests promoted by this international organization go hand in hand with those of the US and are perfectly in line with the complex purposes of the country for the future of the globe. So is the story of Iran.
To many observers, the US may seem the arch-enemy of Iran which always has the military option ready in the pocket. But this is not all the story, especially if a Democrat takes the office in the White House. Regardless of the propaganda circling around the military plans of the US for a hypothetical war against Iran (which reached its height during the last weeks of Trump's presidency), the US has always had a better weapon to encounter Iran; the second barrel of its gun, a little softer, but even deadlier: the UN.
Indeed, the UN has been the real arch-enemy of Iran over the last four decades. The US acknowledges well how it's turning to a shadow of its former self (remember what happened in the US Capitol just a few days ago), but the international bureaucracy it established years ago still works. With a Democrat in the Oval Office, things get even more complicated, as Democrats know much better how to work things out, using only regulations which seem quite rational at the first glance.
Iran has suffered the economic damages of sanctions designed by the US and confirmed directly or indirectly by the UN for years and years. There are actual casualties among Iranians which you can trace their loss back to those sanctions. Search the internet about the shortage of certain medicines in Iran because of the US sanctions and silence of the UN during the hard times. These economic damages, these losses, are no less than that of an actual war with guns and shells.
The point is it would be much fairer if a Republican had the guts to wage a war against Iran since Iran has enough power to retaliate. But the war a Democrat starts through back channels and corridors of the UN, leaves even deeper wounds.
For the people of the world, the establishment of the UN after years of war and millions of lost lives was like a piece of relaxing music for a kid after parents stop fighting. A promising warm song which brings about hope for a brighter future. Unfortunately, the music was not everlasting, but the fight was.
For the international community, life is a gun with occasional music.
First published in Tehran Times