'Austria is a small world within the bigger world which challenges it," German dramatist Friedrich Hebbel once said. This quote rings true, especially today. Although it is true that the former empire is in many ways a veritable Garden of Eden - from a political, economic, ecological and cultural point of view it is one of the safest places on earth - a dark stain continues to stretch over Austria's history like an invisible shade.

It impossible to ignore the opportunism which plagues Austria's diplomatic history. In the maze of international events, Austria always manages to appear forced into a corner in order to be able to close its eyes and ears unobserved. This was the case with Austria's work on reconciliation during 1938-1945, and it is still true to this day. It would be foolish, though, to assume that this attitude is a result of a real inability to act, whether politically or economically. Austria antes up so as not to be thrown out of the world powers' poker game, but in fact it plays its hand quite skillfully and aggressively.

CONSIDER THE round of a new game that started in April 2007. Nobody thought that Austria would have been one of the two players to sign an energy deal with Iran worth 22 billion euros. Moreover, Austria won the jackpot. Representatives of Austria's OMV, which is 30 percent government owned, and the Iranian National Oil Company signed the biggest gas deal that a European company has ever concluded with Iran.

The agreement found support among all parties in the Austrian parliament - despite Iran's non-compliance with UN resolutions regarding its controversial nuclear program. Despite the Iranian regime's pronouncement that Israel, a UN member state, ought to be wiped off the map. Despite the fact that there are more children and teenagers being sentenced to death in Iran than in any other country. And despite the fact that the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly referred to the Holocaust as "the myth about the massacre of the Jews."

The war of words in the debate about the Iranian nuclear program has sharpened in tone. It is beyond question that a major offensive is going to happen eventually. "A nuclear Iran is intolerable," said Ephraim Sneh, Israel's former deputy defense minister, during his recent visit in Vienna. "If one helps the regime economically, that equals encouraging its nuclear ambitions."

AUSTRIA IS caught right in the middle. Not only has OMV signed a multibillion-euro deal with Iran, but it also is one of the major sponsors of the "Gas Export Conference," which will take place in Teheran on October 4 and 5. How can such behavior possibly be reconciled with the sense of responsibility that Austria bears for the Holocaust and for Israel's right to exist? Not at all.

Instead, Austria is looking for arguments and excuses that legitimate its actual ambitions. The fact is that Austria has become one of the leading strategic partners of the mullah-dictatorship - and not only because of the oil giant OMV. During the past six years Austrian exports to Iran have almost doubled; future exports are being secured by government guarantees.

Aside from the moral dubiousness, the bilateral relationship should also be mistrusted on an economic level. If Austrian investors cannot take ethical dimensions into account, they should at least consider the financial risk of dealing with an unstable region. Iran is a powder keg. In the near future the country will face a military strike. Anyone unimpressed by sanctions and resolutions should at least avoid investing in a tinderbox. But as Cicero once said: "There are many ways that lead to wealth, and most of them are dirty."

The writer is a freelance journalist in Austria focusing on the Middle East, particularly Iran.

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