The Masochistic Regime

Posted by: Ion | March 23rd, 2007 · 10:56 AM

(photo: documentography)

It’s often been said that the gravest concern about the Iranian theocracy’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is that it is “martyrdom regime.” That is, one which would not respond reasonably to traditional deterrence models, because it would likely perceive its own total national annihilation by Western nuclear retaliation, to represent a great moral victory. While this is certainly true and has long been acknowledged, it has become appropriate today to finally recognize that Iran will not respond to economic and diplomatic sanctions sensibly, because it is also a masochistic regime.

Much like the grueling ritual self-flagellation performed by Shia to commemorate the death of Hussain during Muharram, pain instigated on the Iranian nation by its own actions is often perceived as a vindication of its piety and devotion to a righteous mission. Today’s news of the Iranian seizure of 15 British sailors ahead of a crucial vote in the Security Council on further sanctions against the country, could scarcely be more revealing.

Allahpundit at HotAir for instance, betrays the conventional fallacy that such an action by Iran couldn’t possibly intentional:

Iran can’t have meant to do this, not with Ahmadinejad set to address the Security Council tomorrow about the nuclear program and not to the British, who’ve been adamant in opposing any military action on Iran.
(HotAir)

While this statement would be entirely plausible if applied to virtually any other state, with Iran, that’s not at all certain. Over time, Iran has demonstrated that when threatened, it will pursue policies which are expressly designed to inflict as much possible harm on itself as possible. Indeed, when in conflict with the infidel, it almost always seeks to maximize its political and economic damage, because it perceives this pain as the purification of the national soul.

This is precisely what Ahmadinejad means when he says the international community “cannot hurt” Iran. Clearly the West can incur enormous damage on Iran if it wishes. But if the recipient of that damage welcomes it as an affirmation of faith, then how can it ever be genuinely injured? This is merely the counterintuitive rationale of the suicide bomber on a less lethal scale: If I want to die, you cannot murder me.

It’s entirely possible therefore, that Iran deliberately abducted the British sailors in order to maximize the chances that it will receive an unfavorable vote at the Security Council this weekend (something that was already almost certain).

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1 comment to “The Masochistic Regime”

postpolitical » Playing Chess With A Madman, March 24th, 2007 at 9:22 pm:

• […] As the Iranian hostage crisis continues to worsen, Tony Blair has convened his emergency COBRA cabinet and several things have come to light. First as we predicted yesterday, it’s now fully clear that the Iranian act of seizing 15 British naval personnel was entirely deliberate, with sources saying that Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself personally ordered his Revolutionary Guards to perform the abduction. […]

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