Hamid Azimi is the Communications Director for the Iranian American Community of Northern California. Azimi has been actively promoting Human Rights and democratic change in Iran, exposing and combating the Iranian Ayatollahs’ Islamic Fundamentalism. His writings and interviews have been covered by many California based news outlets as well as major national news agencies
It was only a few weeks back when Mr. Henry Kissinger pointed to the basic flaw in the nuclear negotiations with Iranian regime in a senate hearing. The negotiations had drifted from denying Iran status of a nuclear state to one extending the breakout period for Ayatollahs to acquire nuclear weapons to one year. He pointed to the repercussions of such a deal in the region and beyond that would transfer our world from what we know it today to one where people have to live in fear of the ultimate weapon.
But there is a more basic element to the nuclear negotiations that is bare to see. The problem with Iran going nuclear lies in the authoritarian regime ruling that county and the on the record background of the religious regime at the helm. Imagine for example that Sweden chose to develop enrichment capacity. Surely, not many would have worried as this is a democratic country with no record of being a menace to its neighbors and the international community. So the essence of the problem lies in the fact that Iran is ruled, as General Petraeus so succinctly put it, by “thugs”.
We have seen what Iranian regime has done to the Syrian people. It has virtually taken over the war with the Syrian people and dispatched its militias and Qods Force to commit gruesome atrocities in that country. The world, “led” by the United States has been watching the disaster and the annihilation of a people.
Then we have Iraq which the Iranian regime transformed from a state on its way to prosperity and democracy to one on the verge of a civil war with ISIS and Shia militias affiliated with the regime, taking turns in ripping the country apart in their rivalry for savagery unseen for some time during mankind’s history. Again, the world, “led” by the United States watched as sectarian violence, corruption, torture… brought the country to the edge. Maliki, the PM close to Iran played a key role in this malign transformation.
The threat of wiping Israel off the map is fresh in mind as we remember Ahmadinejad; we had the world community condemn such statements alright, but not much more. It is a rogue regime after all.
The list of Iranian regime’s mischief is nowhere near the end. It carries the trophy of the world state sponsor of terrorism. We, here in United States, have not forgotten the blowing up of Marine barracks in Beirut or the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia or for that matter the IEDs coming from Iran killing half the American soldiers in Iraq. The policy of appeasement would not let us even avenge the blood of Americans spilled all over the Middle East. Instead, we fell head over heels for Khatami the “moderate” president who trumpeted dialogue of civilizations and in search of the mirage of “moderates in Iran under theocratic rule” we put the only viable Iranian opposition on the FTO list. As if this was not enough to make up for all favors Iran was doing the West, we bombed the National Liberation Army (Iranian freedom-fighters) and later disarmed them in Iraq. It was difficult to wipe the smile off the face of Iranian regime’s leaders as we destroyed its arch enemies internally (the NLA) and externally (Saddam Hussein).
Domestically, this regime has imposed the most atrocious dictatorship on its own people with rampant executions, torture, imprisonment, crushing the minorities of every sort, and as a result 61 condemnations in the United Nations for violation of human rights. Poverty is so rampant that people of Iran are not poor but hungry in double digits while the mullahs and their revolutionary guards are filling their pockets. The Iranian people did rise against this tyranny in the aftermath to the 2009 fraudulent elections, but the world “led” by the Obama administration assured the dictators in Iran that we are not going to side with the Iranian people; the mirage of “making peace with Iran” still beholding us.
So now we are sitting across the table with this monster and hoping that we can control it from attaining nuclear weapons capability. We have already empowered this regime by the policy of appeasement by destroying its arch enemies and turning a blind eye to all the terrorism it has perpetrated throughout the world.
The West needs to see that we are not dealing with civilized people but with Islamic extremist fundamentalists that share none of our values and incessantly call us the Great Satan and the enemy, but we are not listening.
Here is the main question “negotiators” must ask: Can we deal with a thug, with such a trail record, and expect the deal to be carried out? As US and the West dodge the responsibility to confront this world menace, it should be remembered that the longer the can is kicked down the alley the higher price to pay when we get to the point that there is just one option on the table.
The problem is not primarily with Iran going nuke, but with the regime that rules that country. The remedy is a change of regime by empowering the people of Iran and their organized Resistance movement. This is the only path to prevent another war. Any other path is astray and places the world in great peril opening the gates of hell. If only the Obama administration could see that. The future is at stake.
