Not Our Friends in Need

15 May 2010 | 21:55 Code : 7582 Middle East.

Essentially, the G15 Conference held by Iran is to defy U.S.-orchestrated diplomatic isolation. By Ali Bigdeli.

Iran, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Jamaica. These are the members of the G15—a group currently presided by Iran—who will hold a conference on Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16, 2010, in Tehran.

Under pressure from world powers, Tehran is more and more looking to other countries to join its camp –and support its peaceful nuclear program. Members of the Group of Fifteen are either members of the IAEA Board of Governors, the UN Security Council, or the UN General Assembly. It seems that similar to the Tehran Nuclear Disarmament Conference held a few weeks ago in Tehran, the G15 Summit is another effort by the Ahmadinejad administration to break out of and mitigate Iran’s current diplomatic isolation.

In fact, the Iranian government is not looking for a quick fix of its diplomatic problems; rather, it aims to show the world it can overcome isolation despite all the pressures. Frequent visits made by Ahmadinejad and his foreign minister to African, Asian and Latin American countries are merely designed to convey the same message –and to prove that the U.S. has not been successful in imposing isolation on Iran.

Nevertheless, on more than a few occasions Iran has discovered that it should not count on the likely support of such countries when it comes to making key decisions on the international scene. Many Iranian political observers were surprised when in March 2004 the Board of Governors passed a resolution against Iran’s nuclear program, signed by countries that had actually enjoyed close relations with Iran.

The same scenario will most likely be true for the G15 members; that is to say that they are not reliable supporters of Iran. Iran may try to attract them to its side through economic enticements, but these countries never tend to follow a pro-Iran foreign policy. And even if they do, the only lever most of these countries can wield is a single vote in the UN Security Council or the UN General Assembly.

India’s case may be a good example for us to consider. The rising Asian power has not even agreed to cooperate with Iran on the Peace Pipeline project, and it has abandoned negotiations. Friends in need? One needs to think twice before believing in that.

Ali Bigdeli is the professor of the Shahid Beheshti University and foreign affairs analyst.