DAILY MAIL COMMENT: West must not appease puppet-master Iran
In his whistle-stop tour of the Middle East, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has visited ten countries in five days in a bid to prevent an escalation of the Israel/Hamas conflict.
He is urging Israel to exercise restraint in its retribution against Gaza for the massacre of 1,400 innocent civilians – all the more so after reports a hospital in the enclave was hit, killing hundreds – and he is warning its Arab neighbours not to become involved.
Iran’s top diplomat has also been on manoeuvres – but with a very different mission. Tehran, the world’s most enthusiastic sponsor of terrorism, actively wants this war to widen and intensify.
Foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has been meeting some of the region’s most blood-soaked terrorists, condoning the October 7 massacre and whipping up anti-Israel hatred.
He has held talks with Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, all funded by Iran and dedicated to the destruction of Israel. ‘Everyone’s finger is on the trigger,’ he said.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (pictured) has visited ten countries in five days in a bid to prevent an escalation of the Israel/Hamas conflict
Mr Abdollahian also visited Syria’s barbaric President Bashir al Assad in a bid to unite the Islamic world against the Jewish state.
The truth is that Iran is not merely a malign actor in the tragedy of the Middle East, it is the puppet-master, pulling terrorist strings in Gaza, Lebanon and beyond.
Before the 2020 US elections, President Biden said he was prepared to offer Tehran a path to full diplomatic relations, including a return to the nuclear deal scrapped by Donald Trump. After its warmongering and celebration of mass murder over the past few days, he must know that cannot be allowed to happen. His visit to Jerusalem today would be a perfect moment to confirm that.
Iran is an oppressive and brutal theocracy which hates the West as much as it does Israel and rejoices in mass slaughter. It should be confronted over its crimes, not appeased.
Smash China’s spying
Another country we have treated with dangerous complacency is China. For years, Britain has tiptoed around the threat it poses to our national security.
Ignoring evidence to the contrary, successive governments have sought to reap economic rewards by dealing with Beijing as a benign partner, rather than a pernicious foe.
Greed and naivety have let the communist regime infiltrate our political institutions, industries and universities, hoovering up technical secrets and human talent.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the plenary session of the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 23, 2023
The head of MI5 issues a stark wake-up call. He warns that China has doubled the number of British professionals it is targeting on websites such as LinkedIn.
The aim is to manipulate employees of companies in vital fields, such as artificial intelligence, to divulge sensitive information which will give it an alarming edge.
The UK has taken steps to restrict Chinese involvement in our critical infrastructure and leading tech firms.
But our leaders must remain vigilant. It is incumbent on business executives, politicians and university academics not to fall for Beijing’s blandishments.
China is an aggressive dictatorship on an expansionist mission to become the world’s No1 superpower. We must not help them achieve that ambition.
Zero common sense
Politicians have been shamefully reluctant to be transparent about the true cost of reaching net zero by 2050.
But new figures suggest the total bill could top a staggering £1trillion in heat pumps, decarbonising energy infrastructure and the conversion to electric cars.
Much of the burden will fall on families ill-equipped to pay such an eye-watering price in an absurdly short time scale.
If the green revolution is to succeed it must have public support. That will not be given without full transparency – and an assurance people will not be impoverished.
The report said red tape must be slashed so approval can be given more quickly to developments such as solar and wind farms
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