Only weeks after Ebrahim Raisi, the last Iranian president, died in a helicopter crash, some in the international community are hailing his successor, Masoud Pezeshkian, as a reformist or moderate. The record shows he is nothing of the sort; he is unwaveringly loyal to the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Republic’s hard-line policies.
Let’s be clear why this is happening. The Islamic regime is rattled, weak and desperate. This is why they have allowed a so-called “reformer” to win the presidency. He is a fig leaf. Western democracies should not fall for this political manoeuvre. The Iranian people want democracy and freedom. We need to stand with them and increase pressure, not lessen it.
For more than four decades, the Islamic Republic in Iran has exported its radical revolution. From its hostage taking, assassination attempts and terrorist attacks, the people of Britain are no stranger to this. Last month’s listing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group by the Canadian Government is welcome. Now, Britain has an opportunity to lead in Europe.
From my meetings with elected officials across the continent, I know there is a growing recognition that we need to hold the regime to account for its crimes. Given David Lammy’s impressive leadership on this issue over many years and Labour’s clear commitment, an early move by the new Government would be a powerful message – both to the ever-weakening regime and the long-suffering Iranian people.
The evidence against the IRGC is unequivocal. It promotes terrorism at home and abroad. It funds and backs terrorist acts by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and others in the region. It supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine with drones and arms. On British soil, it is responsible for dozens of attacks, and attempted kidnappings, against journalists, dissidents and officials. It spreads an extreme Islamic ideology through a network of schools, charities and mosques in the UK.
In my own country, Iran, it has viciously suppressed, executed and tortured my brave compatriots in the Women, Life, Freedom movement.
The UK Government has previously argued they need to keep a channel open to Tehran and by listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation it will shut this dialogue off. That is simply not true as Britain maintains an active embassy in Tehran.
But, in any case, what has this dialogue achieved? Decades of appeasement and containment of the Iranian regime has just emboldened them and harmed British interests.
The regime is inching closer to a nuclear bomb when options will become much more limited. Others have said that sanctioning a branch of the military of another nation would set an irreversible diplomatic precedent that could later be used against the West by bad actors such as Russia and China. This reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the IRGC, whose very name, its founders publicly brag, does not include the word “Iran” because its mission is not Iran’s defence but the export of the Islamic Revolution around the world.
Despite its recent warmongering and bluster, we should be clear the regime is weak and divided. The people have turned against it, as we see in boycott after boycott of its sham elections. We are seeing increasing indications of defections from within the armed forces. Change is inevitable in Iran. It will be driven from within the country and it may happen sooner than you think.
There is an alternative to both appeasement and military action. A third way: backing the Iranian people’s fight for democracy. There are practical things Western democracies can do to support the Iranian people. It is time for not just maximum pressure, but a policy of maximum support. This is the same set of policies that Britain and the West used to help bring down apartheid in South Africa and communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Iranians deserve the same support.
Listing the IRGC should be just the first, but critical, step of this more concerted effort. My compatriots are fighting for an Iran not defined by terrorism and chaos but by peaceful co-operation and productive relations with the world.
Imagine a democratic secular Iran living at peace with its neighbours. Imagine a new economic powerhouse building regional prosperity and peace. This is now possible. The Iranian people are fighting to make this a reality and with your support they will achieve this in less time and at a lower cost.
Source » msn