Iran made headlines worldwide this week. “Accord reached with Iran to halt nuclear program,”read the New York Times. “Iran seals nuclear deal with west in return for sanctions relief,’the Guardian wrote. Some policy analysts view the Geneva deal, the compact between five world powers and Iran, as the most significant diplomatic breakthrough of the decade. As a result, the risk of Iran creating nuclear weapons seems lower for now. In St. Kitts and Nevis, Iran is making headlines for a different reason: As a result of the actions of the government of this country, an Iranian entered Canada with a St. Kitts-Nevis diplomatic passport in July. St. Kitts-Nevis passports have not been available for nationals from Iran or Afghanistan since July 29, 2013. But what about the nationals of other countries that pose security risks in the eyes of the international community? According to the U.S. Department of State, Iran, Sudan and Syria are among the ‘state sponsors of terrorism.”And that’s just one standard for measuring international security threats. As the global community works to de-escalate conflict, the government of St. Kitts-Nevis meddles in foreign affairs for material gain. It seems arbitrary to ban Iranian nationals from acquiring our passports when a Sudanese war lord could live among us or travel to our allies for just 250,000 U.S. dollars. But the government of St. Kitts and Nevis authorizes the wealthy of the world to go where they please. One could argue that passport sales are a great way to stimulate the economy of this country. But what happens to the economy if something goes wrong? What if Mr. Moghadam had committed an act of terrorism while on his “diplomatic voyage”? Tourism in St. Kitts and Nevis would be over. And this country could find itself blacklisted by governments all over the world. What, then, would the Citizenship by Investment Program be worth? What would the passports of the men and women who were born and raised here be worth? How much more difficult would it be for our students to study abroad? Passport sales are a short-term game. The trouble they have already created — and their potential to do more harm — prove as much. When the government sells our passports, it sells our reputation as a nation. It sells the Nevisian and Kittitian identity. When it makes a mistake, it effectively sullies the identities of the people it has been elected to protect. It flouts democracy and accountability. And what’s more, it undermines the efforts of the global community. As countries come together to work toward peaceful relationships, St. Kitts-Nevis could be sponsoring state-sponsored terrorism. The federal government and the board of the Sugar Industry Diversification Fund act like children casting a wager on a sport they don’t understand, but they should be held accountable as the adults they are. If the day comes that the sale of St. Kitts Nevis passports leads to an act of international terrorism, the officials who allowed for that passport should be treated as war criminals. And they probably will be.
