Iran: The moral imperative to confront evil – opinion
The sad irony is that the Islamic regime is completely anathema with the soul of Iran. Iranians are heirs to a rich culture that pride themselves on having over 2500 years of history.
By ROB SOBHANIranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during the cabinet meeting, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2020.(photo credit: REUTERS)
This week’s release of an anti-Israel poster by Ali Khamenei Iran’s Supreme Leader evoking the Nazi “Final Solution” should not come as a surprise because this career terrorist also organized the gruesome Rex Movie Theater fire in Abadan in 1978 murdering 420 innocent souls. This event was ruefully pinned on the late Shah and the spark that led to the 1979 Revolution.In fact, murder has been embedded into the fabric of the Islamic regime since it was first established. One of the first edicts Ayatollah Khomeini issued upon his return to Iran in 1979 was the murder of a beloved dentist Dr. Yusef Abbasian. He was forcibly thrown off a helicopter and into a swamp outside Qom and his body was never recovered. His “crime”: being a member of the Bahai Faith.In these interim forty-one years the regime’s resort to murder has continued unabated. Whether it has been the regime’s “uber terrorist” Qassem Soleimani who planned and organized the murder of Syrians opposed to the Assad regime, or paying Hezbollah to murder American servicemen in Lebanon in 1983, or Jews in Argentina in 1994; this regime thrives on murder. Sprinkled within these acts of mass murder have been select fatwas issued by both Khomeini and Khamenei to murder human rights advocates abroad such as the last prime minster of the ancient Iranian regime, Shapoor Bakhtiyar in France or Fereydoon Farokhzad, an entertainer turned child advocate living in Germany. Both were murdered using a butcher’s knife.And, of course, throughout these forty-one years whenever the Iranian people have tried to challenge the regime they have been brutally suppressed. Even when their acts of murder are not planned, such as the downing of Ukraine Airlines in January of this year by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime showed no interest in cooperating with international aviation experts. To date, the family of newlyweds Arash Pourzarabi and Pouneh Gorji who were on that fateful flight have not had any satisfactory answers.The sad irony is that the Islamic regime is completely anathema with the soul of Iran. Iranians are heirs to a rich culture that pride themselves on having over 2500 years of history. Men such as Cyrus the Great issued the first proclamation of human rights upon freeing the Jews from their Babylonian captivity. And Iran’s poets such as Saadi have written eloquently about compassion and global harmony. Sadly, the murderers holding sway in Iran today have hijacked the essence of a once proud nation.The weight of forty-one years of murder suggests that for the sake of the civilized world, the US must mobilize the free world to put an immediate and permanent end to the murderous Islamic regime. The moral imperative is clear: a regime whose foundation is based on murder should not last. The US, along with its European, Asian and Middle Eastern allies must lend their unequivocal support to the people of Iran in their quest for fundamental change.The policy choices for the free world are clear: no military invasion of or conflict with Iran, no more appeasement of the regime and finally, recognizing the failure of containment as a means to change the “behavior” of the regime. It is now time to rally around the Iranian people and help them get rid of their tormentors once and for all.The upcoming G7 summit is a good place to start this global campaign against the Islamic regime in Tehran. US President Trump should make it very clear to his G7 colleagues that this is a moment in history where they must decide whether to continue engaging a murderous regime or to side with the freedom-loving people of Iran. He should also explain to the Europeans that a free and economically transparent Iran is also in the economic interests of such companies as Total and Siemens. Most importantly, in view of its rich human capital and vast natural resources, Iran can achieve a GDP close to a $1.3 trillion in a matter of a few short years.The end of the Islamic regime will usher in a new and permanent realignment of global and regional geopolitics for many years to come. On the global stage it will mark the beginning of the end of political Islam. Furthermore, it will unleash Iran’s massive energy reserves of gas, thus enhancing Europe’s energy security. China and Russia, the two counties propping up the regime in Tehran at the expense of the Iranian people will – overnight – be without an ally. And within the region, the Arab neighbors of Iran can focus on investing in projects that have a higher return on human capital as opposed to current wasteful, albeit necessary, spending on arms. Last but not least, Israel can breathe a sigh of relief and establish normal relations with an Iran that once again will respect its 2500 years of friendship with the Jewish people.Just as the collapse of the Soviet Union cemented the reputation of Ronald Reagan as the man who vanquished the evil of communism, President Trump can go down in history as the man who defeated the evil of Khomeinism.The writer is an expert on Iran.
