The Iranian Regime is facing uncertain times.
First off, Donald Trump is filling his cabinet with Iran hawks, like Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, ahead of the US’s likely withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (aka the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)) in May.
Europe is supposed to be working on fixes to the nuclear deal to halt Trump’s withdrawal, which would cause the deal to collapse, but Iran seems unlikely to agree to these amendments, given how they reacted to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile program and regional aggression.
The US’s Financial Action Task Force has also placed a June ultimatum on Iran for changing its banking system and ending its financial ties to terrorist groups or Iran will remain on the blacklist – something that deters potential investors. This increases the chance that the JCPOA will be revoked and cause more financial problems.
All in all, it’s clear that the US is ending its appeasement of the Iranian Regime and will convince other nations to do the same.
Good. The Regime seemed to think that the JCPOA would let them do whatever they wanted (i.e. deploy militias into Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, attack the Iranian people) without any blowback from the international community.
Now, the rest of the world is responding with criticism. This led Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials to threaten the West with ballistic missiles; something not in keeping with the spirit of the nuclear deal.
In addition, the Iranian people – hurt badly by the economic problems – are calling for regime change with renewed vigour. The protest that swept the country in late December hasn’t died down and with the Regime intending to ban the Telegram messaging app that activists are using to communicate, it seems likely things will boil over again very soon.
Human rights activist Heshmat Alavi wrote on Al Arabiya: “While international isolation creates mounting quandaries for Iran, domestic unrest has forever been Tehran’s ultimate concern. To add insult to injury, Iran’s ongoing protests and uprising is under the navigation of the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). This coalition has for four decades been the main target of the Iranian regime’s onslaught.”
The Regime has reacted violently, killing 50 protesters and imprisoning over 8,000. If the US and the West truly want to tackle the Iranian Regime, they should support the Iranian people’s uprising through sanctions against the Regime and offer a political alliance with the PMOI/MEK.
Source » ncr-iran