By Heshmat Alavi
Thanks to years
of Western appeasement in the face of Iran’s belligerence across the Middle
East, evidence of Tehran’s dangerous footprints are now visible in several countries
across the region, including even Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
The Trump
administration, however, has made it quite vivid its adoption of a firm
approach. This stance, signaled in the historic May conference in Riyadh, is
long overdue and
should be enhanced by Washington supporting the Iranian people’s desire for
regime change.
A history of
devastation
Iran has a long
record of hostility against neighboring countries and US interests in the
Middle East. The 1983 bombings targeting the US Embassy and barracks in Beirut,
the Khobar Towers attack in 1996, all climaxed in the support Iran provided for
Shiite proxies and
the Sunni Taliban in their campaign against US-led coalition forces in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
In parallel
form, the Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas, two known terrorist groups, have for
over 30 years enjoyed contributions from Tehran to fuel sectarianism throughout the
Middle East and carry out terrorist attacks.
The Obama
administration handed Iraq over to Iran in a silver plate through a strategic
mistake of prematurely pulling out all US troops. This paved the path for Iran
to further export its
“revolution” through a convenient medium of extremist proxies.
The West can
literally be accused of standing aside and watching Iran’s aggressive policy.
This has rendered a slate of countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, Syria and
Yemen feel threatened and/or left utterly devastated from Iran’s meddling on
their soil.
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| Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani (top-R) attends President Hassan Rouhani’s swearing-in ceremony in Tehran, on August 5, 2017. (AFP) |
Troubling
activities
Of late, Iran
has been reported to send further weapons and narcotics to Yemen’s Houthis.
These drugs are sold to provide income for Iran’s supported militias on the
ground in the flashpoint country south of Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s archenemy in
the region.
Members of
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) are present in Yemen also to instruct and
guide the Houthis in assembling weapons smuggled into the country by Tehran.
“For the last six months the Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps (IRGC) has begun using waters further up the Gulf between Kuwait and Iran as it
looks for new ways to beat an embargo on arms shipments to fellow Shi'ites in
the Houthi movement,” Reuters cited Western and Iranian sources.
“Using this new route, Iranian ships transfer equipment
to smaller vessels at
the top of the Gulf, where they face less scrutiny. The transshipments take
place in Kuwaiti waters and in nearby international shipping lanes, the sources
said.”
The Iranians
are also taking provocative measures against the US Navy in the same region recently,
viewed by analysts as actions to learn the limits of US President Donald Trump.
On July 26th an armed Iranian patrol boat closed within less than 150 meters of
the USS Thunderbolt, yielding back only in response to warning shots fired by a US Navy ship.
Such
developments are reasons why Trump contacted his French counterpart Emmanuel
Macron “to explore how to increase cooperation in addressing the ongoing crises
in Syria and Iraq and countering Iranian malign influence,” according to a White House readout
Positive steps
forward
Despite the
utterly wrong decision of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini visiting
Tehran for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration, the Trump
administration is sending push-back signals and making Iran learn its aggressions will not go
without cost.
This is a
necessary and welcomed shift in Washington’s foreign policy.
President Trump
has signed into law a strong bipartisan Congressional initiative imposing
strict sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea. The IRGC is now considered a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist group. Considering the Guards’ control
over at least 40
percent of Iran’s entire economy, this raises the stakes for companies
considering doing business with Tehran.
It would be
wise to reconsider investing in Iran’s $400 billion economy and ponder placing
one’s bets in other regional countries, or say, the United States’ $19 trillion establishment.
And in news
that most certainly raised eyebrows in Tehran, Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr
visited Saudi Arabia recently and called for the controversial Iran-backed
Popular Mobilization Units in his country to be dissolved now that the Islamic State has been
defeated..
 |
Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, speaks in the official endorsement ceremony of
President Hassan Rouhani, right, in Tehran, on Aug. 3, 2017. (AP)
The nuclear
deal
|
High hopes were placed in the nuclear
deal sealed between the P5+1 and Iran, which Obama hoped to leave behind as his
foreign policy legacy.
Two years down
this road it has become vivid that Iran’s behavior has not changed, to say the
least. In fact, Tehran’s support for Hezbollah and other extremist entities have escalated. Iran’s role in
the Middle East, namely Syria, Iraq and Yemen have been horrifically
destructive.
The Trump
administration can lead the international community in instituting the first
real and effective
initiative against the Iranian regime.
Any trade with
Tehran should hinge on:
- the regime halting all executions and human rights
violations,
- withdrawing their forces from Syria and Iraq, and severing any ties and
support for terrorist groups,
- completely stopping missile activities, especially ballistic missile
production and tests,
- ending all nuclear initiatives and providing true “anytime, anywhere”
access to all suspected sites, including military facilities.
Moreover and
parallel to recent
sanctions, which must be executed immediately and without any loopholes, the
Iranian people’s organized opposition, resembled in the National Council of
Resistance of Iran, should be recognized. This will pave the path
for regime
change by this coalition
without war or military intervention.
Failure in this regard is tantamount to aiding
Tehran’s regime
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