World View of Iran

Dharma is seen in the 9^th bhāva. Mercury as the lagneśa in the ninth bhāva indicates freedom (9H) of speech (Mercury) showing a parliamentary democracy while the conjunction with Ketu (religion, spirituality, belligerence) shows the dominant theocracy. Iran combines elements of a parliamentary democracy with a religious theocracy run by the country’s clergy, wherein the Supreme Leader wields significant influence. A multicultural nation comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shi’ite Muslims, the Iranian rial is its currency, and Persian is the official language.

Iran-Iraq War (1980-88)

Coming to the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), we have seen that the opportunity that Iraq was looking for came into reality with the Islamic Revolution. With ample support from the western powers, Iraq started a long war with Iran claiming many of the border territories [Mars conjoins 3^rd lord (neighbour) Sun in Capricorn in the 8^th bhāva in rāśi chart]. Moon is māraka and conjoins bādhakeśa Jupiter, besides being the 6^th lord in navāṁśa. On 22 Sep 1980 under Moon-Sun-Mars aśṭottari daśā, the Iraqi army invaded Iran at Khuzestan, precipitating the Iran–Iraq War. Although Saddam Hussein’s forces made several early advances, by 1982 the Iranian forces successfully managed to drive the Iraqi army back into Iraq. Despite receiving large amounts of foreign financial and military aid (including chemical weapons¹), all of Saddam’s subsequent offensives were thrown back. In 1987, under Moon-Jupiter aśṭottari daśā, Iran used economic warfare (Jupiter is bādhakeśa) plans and tried to close the Persian Gulf to stop the flow of Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Saudi oil, as a way to strangle Iraq, with which it had been fighting a bloody war for almost seven years. On 15-16 Oct 1987 (Moon-Jup-Jup aśṭottari daśā), Iran hit American supertankers with Silkworm missiles only to face retaliation on October 19 when two U.S. warships shelled an Iranian oil platform in the Persian Gulf.

The war ended on 20 Aug 1988 (Moon daśā Saturn antara) with both sides having lost 1.25 million people including many children! Maharṣi Jaimini’s dictum “when Jupiter and Saturn conjoin, both the native and enemy are destroyed” is fully applicable. Ātmakāraka Sun is in Virgo (karakāṁśa) conjoined Jupiter and Saturn confirming the final result of this war with neighbour (Sun) as a stalemate with huge death toll.

Iran and World

The ninth house determines the world view of the nation and this dharma of Iran is also its world view. However the manner in which the world will react to this is also going to be determined by the 9^th bhāva. Aquarius in the ninth house invariably creates confusion and fear of all kinds and the world has always been fearful of the manner in which this Islamic revolution has progressed. Especially since the 6^th lord Ketu is also in the 9^th house, it indicates battles and enmity as a part of its destiny. Mercury conjoining Ketu shows the United States (Gemini) as the chief proponent of those who will try to contain the belligerence of Ketu and will use Mercurial means (money, finance) as the chief tool. Rāhu is the co-lord of the 9^th bhāva and in 1984 (Moon daśā Rāhu antara), the first sanctions were imposed against Iran that prohibit weapons sales and all U.S. assistance to Iran.

However, it was only with the advent of Mercury daśā that the World took a very serious view of the nuclear enrichment program for weapons development and the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA – renamed in 2006) became the chief means to coerce Iran to comply. Over the years, sanctions have taken a serious toll on Iran’s economy and people. Since 1979, the United States has led international efforts to use sanctions to influence Iran’s policies, particularly Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which Western governments fear is intended for developing the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Iran counters that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, including generating electricity and medical purposes. Nuclear talks between Iran and Western governments have almost always failed and this has only created further doubts about Iran’s intentions.

There are many loopholes and losses involved in the sanctions –

1. Unlike other US sanctions programs, foreign subsidiary companies of US companies are not restricted from doing business with Iran, even to the extent of supplying US-origin goods to Iran
2. sanctions have had the counter effect of protecting Iran in some ways, for example the 2007 imposition of U.S. sanctions against Iranian financial institutions to a high degree made Iran immune to the then emerging global recession
3. U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had approved nearly 10,000 exceptions to U.S. sanctions rules worldwide (by 2010) over the preceding decade by issuing special licenses for American companies. It defeats the purpose of having sanctions in the first place
4. sanctions created new business opportunities for Iranian companies to develop in order to fill the gap left by foreign contractors
5. European and U.S. sanctions do not affect Iran’s electricity exports, which creates a loophole for Iran’s natural gas reserves
6. According to Bloomberg News, Boeing and Exxon have said that new Iran sanctions would cost $25 billion in U.S. exports

Yet it is obvious that the sanctions have been having the desired effect of bringing the Iranians to the negotiating table – after all, we share this planet and the risk of nuclear bombs at the hands of a belligerent nation is too big a risk to overlook or take lightly.

1. Iran may lose up to $60 billion in energy investments due to global sanctions. This simply means a big financial crunch for everyone.
2. expensive basic goods and an aging and increasingly unsafe aircraft fleet – as an example, 17 planes have crashed over the past 25 years, killing approximately 1,500 people
3. Akbar E. Torbat, “overall, the sanctions’ economic effect” on Iran “has been significant, while its political effect has been minimal
4. September 2013, the International Chamber of Commerce-Iran posted an open letter by 157 Iranian economists, lawyers, and journalists complaining of the humanitarian consequences of sanctions and calling on their colleagues across the world to support the humanitarian campaign against sanctions on Iran and to persuade their governments to take steps to resolve the underlying conflict – it’s obvious that’s its hurting
5. $100 billion of Iran’s money is frozen in foreign banks because of the sanctions
6. 85,000 cancer patients require chemotherapy and radiotherapy which are now scarce. Iranians with serious illnesses have been put at imminent risk by the unintended consequences of international sanctions, which have led to dire shortages of life-saving medicines such as chemotherapy drugs for cancer and bloodclotting agents for haemophiliacs. Western governments have built waivers into the sanctions regime to ensure that essential medicines get through, but those waivers are not functioning

Keeping this in view, we need to examine the New Deal …