Following the release of the National Security Strategy, the U.S. is putting the Iranian Regime in its crosshairs for its support of extremism in the Middle East.
The Donald Trump administration has made it increasingly clear that Iranian regime’s destructive policies will no longer be overlooked by the US and it is now putting their words into action.
Terrorism
The US has long considered Iran the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism but now that the threat posed by ISIS is waning, the West can finally deal with the ‘godfather’ of Islamic terrorism directly.
Just last week, Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, explained that the Iranian Regime has supplied ballistic weapons to the Houthis in Yemen in order to attack Saudi Arabia and destabilise the region.
She said: “We are not just focused on the nuclear programme. We’re also taking a hard look at Iran’s ballistic missile program, its arms exports, and its support for terrorists, proxy fighters and dictators.”
She explained how the Iranian Regime is essentially the facilitator of malign activities across the Arab world.
She said: “It’s hard to find a terrorist group in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints all over it.[This regime is] fanning the flames” of conflict.”
Meddling
It is well known that the Iranian Regime is constantly meddling in the affairs of neighbouring states- like Iraq, Syria, and Yemen- and using their destabilisation to its advantage.
Douglas Silliman, the US Ambassador to Iraq, said: “Iran simply does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbours.”
Iraq is now seeking to distance itself from Iran and establish stronger ties with Riyadh and Amman, but the problem is still prominent in other Middle Eastern countries, which could mean a US intervention is necessary.
There are currently over 2,000 American troops stationed in Syria to fight ISIS and US Defense Secretary James Mattis has indicated that they will remain there for the time being to deter other Iranian proxies from making tracks in the country.
Reaction
Some have accused the Trump administration of setting the stage for all-out war with Iran rather than attempting diplomatic measures but diplomatic measures aren’t working.
Human rights activist Heshmat Alavi wrote on Al Arabiya: “[The accusers’] intentions are far from preventing the US from entering a new war, but to protect Tehran from any strong measures, including international sanctions that target the regime and actually benefit the people by weakening the ruling system.”
Alavi is by no means calling for war with Iran- he cites that with the level of unprecedented infighting between Iran factions, drop in revenue for the country, and international sanctions, war will not be necessary to bring down the Regime. He advises decisive action- like crippling sanctions- to strike a death blow to the Regime.
This is also the position of the Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), who first revealed Iran’s clandestine nuclear programme.
The NCRI advises:
• Imposing wide-ranging sanctions on Iran and their Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and removing access to the global banking system
• Evicting the IRGC and its proxy militias from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Afghanistan
• Preventing the transfer of weaponry and troops from Iran to these countries
• Referring the Iranian Regime to the International Criminal Court for its human rights violations- especially the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners- and holding those responsible to account
• Imposing previous UN Security Council resolutions covering Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, banning uranium enrichment, and launching unconditional inspections into the regime’s military and non-military sites
Source » ncr-iran