A former general of the Marines has said that the US would no longer play softball with the Iranian Regime.
General James Conway said that the US’s decision to blacklist the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was the right thing to do and told Iran that the US would no longer appease the Regime.
He said: “it is a signal from our new administration that we are no longer playing softball with the Iranian regime. The game now is hardball. And I have lots of hope that it will have far reaching effects in terms of the economic aspect. It is not truly sanctions but it is a sanction-like activity, when you look at all the activities of the IRGC in trade and banking and similar activities.”
He also hoped that European and US allies would follow in the US’s footsteps and blacklist the IRGC too, noting that he saw positive signs on that front.
Conway was attending an international conference in Paris which addressed the Iranian Regime’s regional meddling, expansionism, and their missile programmes, when he gave this interview to Al Arabiya.
This conference was attended by dignitaries from North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Maryam Rajavi, the President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and keynote speaker at the event assessed that the international community was beginning to wake up to the malign activities of the Iranian regime both domestically and internationally.
She said: “The international community has finally acknowledged the dangers and threats posed by the IRGC albeit long overdue. These statements are a positive step forward but not sufficient to confront the increasing damages caused by this destructive force and the heavy price the nations in the region have paid because of western governments’ appeasement of the regime over so many years.”
In her speech, she explained that the IRGC was the primary suppressive force keeping the Iranian Regime in power in spite of extreme opposition from the Iranian people and objection from the other countries of the Middle East that the Regime destabilise.
She said: “If the mullahs’ religious tyranny was not so detested within the country, it would not have needed the IRGC, the Qods Force, and a dozen mercenary groups in the region. And if the regime was not so unstable, it would not have needed to engage in destructive wars in the region. The regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and IRGC commanders have reiterated time and again that if they don’t fight in Syria and Iraq, they would have to fight in Tehran, Hamedan and Isfahan.
She continued: “Despite massive repression, they are terrified of the ultimate showdown with the Iranian people. They fear the Iranian people’s resolve for change, embodied in their organized resistance.”
Conway praised the Iranian Resistance as “an ally to the US and the West” after first meeting them when he served in Iraq.
He also addressed the rising dissent within Iran that he hoped would bring Regime change.
He said: “Enthusiasm and momentum for change by the Iranian people seems to be in good direction. I really think Iranians were close to bring about regime change in 2009 and they probably learned a few lessons from that. What will happen in the next year or two, I don’t know. I hope it happens and if it happens, I hope it happens before the nuclear deal with Iran (that was signed in 2015) reaches to its close.”
The other speakers at the event included former Foreign Minister of Canada, Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, former Assistant US Secretary of State, Rama Yade, former French Minister for Human Rights and George Sabra, President of the Syrian National Council among others.
Source » ncr-iran