Opinion: Couple US sanctions with Middle East expulsion of Iran

By: Shahriar Kia 

    The Iranian regime is attempting to secure a corridor through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, providing a supply route for its numerous terrorist proxies in the region.

Iran’s clandestine nuclear and ballistic missile drive, support for terrorism and domestic crackdown are all aimed at maintaining the Tehran’s fascist mullahs in power and pursue their regional policies.

This notorious objective, in direct conflict with those of the regional and global coalitions to fight terrorism and extremism, can be stopped. Eviction of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and all its proxy forces from the Middle East must complete the new US Congress sanctions. With President Donald Trump signaling his approval, this first and foremost step should be taken with hesitation following the sanctions.

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to rally major new sanctions on Iran, parallel to measures on North Korea and Russia. To impose additional sanctions on Iran’s defense sector, the House voted 419-3. Coming after three weeks of negotiations, this bill “tightens the screws on our most dangerous adversaries,” explained House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), welcomed the adoption of a bill by both chambers of the US Congress which imposes new sanctions on the Iranian regime for violating human rights and pursuing ballistic missiles.

“Since several years ago, the Iranian Resistance had urged the terrorist designation of the IRGC, as it preserves the entirety of the clerical regime and acts as its main apparatus for domestic suppression and export of terrorism and fundamentalism,” she stressed. “However, the policy of appeasing the mullahs’ religious dictatorship paved the way for the IRGC and its proxies’ rampage in the entire region.”

A look back at the pivotal role Iran played in the rise and flourishing of ISIS, parallel to sectarian conflicts in the region, will help find the right tracks for security in the region.

In 2008, a joint campaign led by the U.S. military and Iraqi Sunnis rooted al-Qaeda in Iraq, the precursor to ISIS. However, the Obama administration’s decision to pull back and deliver the country to former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, a close ally of the Iranian regime, eventually led to the unraveling of all previous achievements.

Maliki dismantled the Iraqi “Awakening Council” and gave Iran free pass to exert its full influence on Iraq’s political and military apparatus.

In tandem, the destruction and crimes committed by the IRGC and Bashar al-Assad regime against the Syrian people provided the prefect breeding ground for sectarian strife and allowed ISIS to occupy a wide swath of land straddling both countries.

The Iranian regime became the main beneficiary of the rampage caused by ISIS and subsequently used it as an excuse to expand its clout by forming and later legalizing the IRGC-equivalent Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). This entity has become notoriously renowned for its crimes against humanity, no less horrendous than those committed by ISIS.

Iran’s highest officials have time and again acknowledged funding and supporting the criminal militia forces in Iraq and Syria, expressing their vested interest in occupying neighboring countries through whatever means.

The Obama administration’s hands-off approach vis-à-vis Iran’s regional ambitions provided Tehran a far better opportunity to pursue its nefarious agendas under the pretext of fighting ISIS. Speculations raised U.S. officials on possible cooperation with Iran in the fight against terrorism only made matters worse.

Now, as ISIS is losing influence and ground, Iran is attempting to fill the gap. Letting it have its way would be a recipe for disaster, as proven in the past eight years.

Despite the threats and taunts broadcasted regularly Iran’s state media, the regime is far from capable or inclined to enter open warfare with any other state in the region or across the globe.

Tehran’s proxies are only as good as the funding and supplies the regime provides. Without IRGC support Iran’s proxies will be hard-pressed to spread their mayhem in the region.

Sanctions alone, however, will not be enough. Tehran has found ways to continue causing mischief under the toughest sanctions regime.

The threats rendered by Tehran will only end with regime change in Iran. This will initially benefit the people of Iran, being the first victims of this regime’s criminal ideology, and categorically reject its destructive foreign policy, both inside the country and abroad.

One of the greatest manifestations of the Iranian people’s desire for change was expressed at the July 1st Free Iran gathering in paris. Tens of thousands of Iranian expats as well as politicians, activists and religious figures from across the world attended the rally to express their solidarity and support for the cause of freedom and democracy in Iran.

The event had a clear message: regime change in Iran is the only viable solution for both the people of Iran and the region’s nations. There’s no need for another foreign conflict. The people of Iran and their organized resistance have the will, power and means necessary to realize this change.

Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal also addressed the massive gathering.

“So, you have coming together now a mighty coalition of forces, joining with the Resistance, and that should give us hope that we can make that [regime] change,” he stressed.

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*Shahriar Kia is an Iranian dissident and a political analyst on Iran and the Middle East. He is a member of the Iranian opposition and a graduate of North Texas University

Source:Opinion: Couple US sanctions with Middle East expulsion of Iran

US reps. slam Iran nuclear deal at Tehran regime opponents' summit

Newt Gingrich

REUTERS, July 2, 2017 - Iranian government opponents gathered outside of Paris on Saturday (July 1) for the annual “Grand Gathering of Iranians”, organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ), to condemn the country’s regime and interference in the Middle East.
Among those present were several international delegations and representatives, such as former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and John Bolton from the United States.
Iran reached a deal with the United States – under former President Barack Obama – and other major nations in 2015 to restricts Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
However, Iran is still subject to an arms embargo and other restrictions, which are not technically part of the nuclear agreement.
US President Donald Trump has criticized the deal calling it a “disaster” and the “worst deal ever negotiated and in April ordered that it be reviewed, which could take months.

 

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and John Bolton were among those present.  

Former Italian FM: It's time for Europe to align itself with the US in standing up to Iran

Giulio Terzi, June 2014 – The Grand Gathering of Iranians in Paris

By Giulio Terzi

Fox News, Jun 18, 2017 - Since the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany concluded their nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, several Iranian ballistic missile tests have been carried out. It is one of several facts that leaves no doubt about the persistence of defiant attitudes and threats to the international community coming out of the Iranian regime.
Even though such tests are plain violations of a UN Security Council resolution that accompanied implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the global media and the nations of Europe have given unfortunately little attention to the issue. Under the previous administration, the White House downplayed such activities, which are obvious violations of the spirit of the closely-guarded JCPOA. Washington’s apparent dismissiveness also set the tone for the responses of European officials.
President Donald Trump is, rightly, developing an assertive policy toward the Islamic Republic. This includes a sharper focus on illicit ballistic missile tests. When the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (, ) conducted another such test in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s inauguration, his administration responded by putting the Islamic Republic “on notice” over its destabilizing activities in the region. More recently, the White House has moved to new sanctions on the ballistic missile program. The U.S. Senate voted almost unanimously Friday to impose new sanctions on Iran (and Russia) for its missile program among other activities.
The modest limits imposed on the Iranian nuclear program will be worthless if the Islamic Republic emerges from the nuclear agreement with improved delivery systems which - being capable of reaching the whole of Europe - would constitute an immediate threat for European security and peace.
The European governments must quickly follow suit. The EU and the global media have been slow to adapt to the new geopolitical reality, and Tehran remains barely deterred from its brazenness. As a result the world paid little attention late in May when the IRGC announced that it had completed work on a third underground facility for the production of ballistic missiles.
The modest limits imposed on the Iranian nuclear program will be worthless if the Islamic Republic emerges from the nuclear agreement with improved delivery systems which - being capable of reaching the whole of Europe - would constitute an immediate threat for European security and peace. Already, Iran’s illicit tests demonstrate the capability of hitting Israel and Western assets throughout the Arab world. It is little wonder, then, that Israel, Saudi Arabia and others expressed mutual anxiety about the growth of Iranian power and influence on the occasion of President Trump’s recent visit to the region.
The EU has remained reluctant and hesitant about standing up to Iran’s destabilizing behavior and disregard for international rules. This has much to do with a false narrative and the political environment encouraged by the JCPOA. European leaders and businesses are ill-advisedly rushing – at their own risk - to gain access to Iranian oil and market. The IRGC currently controls more than half of the Iranian gross domestic product: it is nearly impossible to invest in the Islamic Republic without financing directly or indirectly the nuclear-capable missile program, as well as terrorist organizations and Iranian military interventions and “ethnic cleansing” in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars.
The multiple functions of the IRGC also call attention to the fact that Iranian missile development does not exist in isolation. It has an impact on the types of capabilities that Iran is able to share with other entities which pose significant threats on their own. It is thanks to Iranian missiles that the Houthi rebels in Yemen have been able to penetrate deep into Saudi Arabian territory and target Western vessels around the Arabian Peninsula. The Islamic Republic also has a record of arming Lebanese Hezbollah, their proxies in Iraq and Syria, and Palestinian terrorist organizations…
The White House is engaging in a more assertive policy vis-a-vis Iran.  European policymakers and public opinion must do their part. They should exert pressure on the EU and its national governments before their laxity leads to Iran taking a central role in a much larger crisis. They should look to the Iranian people and the expatriate community. They need to firmly support the forces of a truly democratic opposition, the values of freedom and human dignity those forces are striving for, and their fight against the clerical regime.

This message will be emphasized on July 1 in Paris, when the National Council of Resistance of Iran holds its Iran Freedom rally, with the participation of tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates, hundreds of high-profile figures from political, academic, and military backgrounds, and intelligence personalities from Europe, the United States, and many other countries. As on previous occasions - and even more now in an increasingly unstable Iranian environment - millions of Iranians will follow the event via satellite, taking personal risks, as a clear indication that the Iranian people support theNCRI and the measures the Council suggests. This, too, is a clear message that Europeans must recognize as a key reference in shaping their foreign policy. 

“The Iranian regime's longest-suffering victims are its own people,” President Trump said during his May visit to Saudi Arabia. “Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran, deny it funding for terrorism.” But terrorism is not the only issue. The regime’s weapons development must be severely constrained. And European nations need to get on board.