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Commentary
by U.S. Alliance for Democratic Iran
Countering Tehran: The Right Way
Ideologically and politically, expansion of
freedom and democracy is the only strategic
answer to the increasingly existential menace of
Islamic fundamentalism. Thus, a meaningful and
effective campaign to neutralize this threat
must hinge on the broadening of secular
democracies and siding with indigenous
anti-fundamentalist, democratic forces who are
working toward such a goal.
Since 1979, Iran under ayatollahs’ rule has
emerged as the epicenter of Islamic
fundamentalism and it is where this menace must
first be defeated. Iran's democracy
movement is bent on accomplishing such a goal by
working to oust the clerical rule.
The totalitarian and theocratic nature of the
Iranian regime, which thrives on suppression,
deceit, demagoguery, and export of terror,
renders it incapable of change or reform. To
survive, it must quash the desire for freedom
and instill terror. It must export its ideology
beyond its borders through terrorism. It must
possess nuclear weapon capability to fulfill its
regional ambitions through balance of fear. It
must do so to conceal its intrinsic inability to
resolve crisis at home which are exacerbated
after nearly three decades of inept and
tyrannical rule of ayatollahs.
Under such slogans as "liberating Jerusalem via
Karbala," the mullahs have worked to export
“Islamic Revolution” throughout the region and
Iraq. Iran's mullahs, who wrote the book on how
to hijack and derail Iranians’ long-denied
aspirations for popular governance, have put
their know-how into practice in Iraq to create
an offshoot theocracy. To this end, they have
mounted an increasingly sophisticated and
multi-faceted campaign in Iraq where they are
now the de-facto occupiers and where the ruling
majority block, the United Iraqi Alliance, is
essentially a pawn to advance Tehran’s nefarious
agenda in Iraq.
Despite its repeated failure of negotiations
with the ayatollahs, engagement diehards and
Tehran’s apologists continue to speak of the
need to strike a bargain with Tehran.
Engagement, and all of its aliases such as
“grand bargain” and “direct dialogue,” have done
the most damage to cause of democracy in Iran
and security in the region by empowering the
terror-spawning and nuclear-crazy tyranny of
ayatollahs.
Iran’s nuclear threat and its sponsorship of
terror could be halted only when regime of
ayatollahs is gone, not by an outside military
intervention or a foreign war, but by Iranians
and their democracy movement tapping into its
own tremendous potential capabilities while
enjoying the diplomatic and political support of
the outside world.
Washington’s blacklisting of Iranian opposition
groups has hampered Iran’s democracy movement
and has limited its ability to reach out to
Iran's democratic opposition groups. The U.S.
can help its own cause by removing Iran’s main
opposition group, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK),
from the list of foreign terrorist groups. They
are by far the most organized and effective
Iranian opposition and their network inside Iran
have consistently provided crucial and
life-saving information about Tehran’s secret
nuclear program and terror network in Iraq.
There are
sufficient strategic, political and legal
grounds to revoke MEK’s terror designation. For
long, there has been much support in the U.S.
Congress for this de-listing. It would also be
welcomed by millions of Iranians and Iraqis
seeking a future devoid of ayatollahs’ Islamic
fundamentalism and its offshoots.
Never before in the history of US-Iran
relations, have democracy in Iran and the
security interests of the United States been so
intertwined. We can achieve the former and
safeguard the latter by ensuring that Iranians
succeed in replacing the tyranny in Iran with a
democratic, secular state. (USADI)
USADI
Commentary reflects the viewpoints of the US Alliance
for Democratic Iran in respect to issues and events
which directly or indirectly impact the US policy toward
Iran |