Iran:Debunking opponents of blacklisting the IRGC

BY:Dr. Majid Rafizadeh

The US administration’s well-informed proposal to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “foreign terrorist organization” has been stalled. Those who fear taking a tougher position on Iran and its military, and those who are politically and financially benefiting from covertly serving Tehran’s interests in the West, are attempting to alter White House calculations and change US public opinion.
The first group has fallen for Iran’s bluffing regarding its military power and capacity to harm the national security of the US 

and regional states if Washington blacklists the IRGC. 

This group has been taken in by the concerted efforts of Iranian lobbies and other campaigns, disguised as “liberals,” in the mainstream leftist media.
These lobbies infuse fear in the public and officials by exaggerating the repercussions of taking tough positions against Iran, such as blacklisting the IRGC. Also, the predominant Western media outlets, particularly leftist ones, do not have a meticulous and nuanced grasp of foreign affairs, particularly Iranian politics. They follow a binary view of depicting the US and its allies as the ones to blame, and Iran as the 

victim.
 

This view is characterized as “educated” because it goes against orientalism. But they fail to 

understand what I would call “inverted orientalism,” which happens when two conditions are met. First, governments that are depicted as victims take advantage of the situation, suppressing their own people and doing the same beyond their borders.
Second, they master exploiting the predominant orientalist view in the West by constantly stereotyping and blaming other countries. In Iran’s case, the government has long used inverted orientalism to justify its repressive and militaristic actions, and to stereotype and blame other countries.