By: Shahriar Kia
2017-08-25 14:17:43
The objective of Ruhollah Khomeini,
founder of the religious dictatorship under the pretext of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, in establishing the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on May 5th, 1979, was
to form a military force completely loyal to the mullahs’ Velayat-e faqih
system.
This entity, set to be equipped with modern and heavy weaponry,
would be tasked to protect the ruling institution.
This is exactly why the IRGC is this regime’s Achilles Heel and
weak point. If comprehensive and immediate sanctions truly disarm the regime of
this lever and expel the IRGC from the Middle East, the pillar protecting
Iran’s religious dictatorship in the face of popular uprisings and
international crises will crumble.
As the Ayatollahs began to establish their rule, the IRGC was
tasked to oppress and eliminate dissidents, pursue Tehran’s warmongering and
export terrorism. The IRGC has played a very active role in the execution of
over 120,000 political prisoners during the past four decades.
The IRGC was behind the crackdown campaigns of Iran’s 1999 and
2009 uprisings, and the oppression of Iran’s religious and ethnic minorities,
including the Kurds, Iranian Arabs in Ahvaz and Baluchistan.
A decade later, the IRGC was also placed in charge of the
regime’s nuclear projects, ballistic missile drive, and the country’s economy.
To this end, the IRGC has become this dictatorship’s political,
strategic and economic guardian.
Despite all this, warmongering and exporting terrorism is of the
utmost importance for Tehran and the IRGC has monopolized such a role.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, relying on the IRGC, is on
the verge of establishing a fundamentalist empire stretching from Tehran to
Beirut and the Mediterranean, continuing to extend to Yemen and the Red Sea.
This empire is the necessity in safeguarding the religious
dictatorship ruling Iran, which is utterly loathed by Iran’s people.
IRGC in the Middle East
The IRGC is missioned to fuel sectarians and exporting terrorism
across the region.
However, these measures are not a sign of Iran’s upper hand and
stability. It is quite the opposite, resonating from Tehran’s weakness and
terrified of its rule being toppled.
If Iran actually enjoyed stability and power there would never
be any need to resort to terrorism.
Exporting terrorism and instigating sectarian wars, considering
the heavy political price on the international stage and isolations, would
never be in Tehran’s interest if it enjoyed stability at home.
Meddling in other countries is aimed at cloaking the crises that
currently endanger the mullahs’ entire existence.
“If the IRGC had not fought the wars in Syria and Iraq, we would
now have been fighting in Isfahan, Kermanshah, and Khorasan,” Iranian Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei is known to have said.
He recently took one step further and added, “If the IRGC were
not present in the region who knows Tehran’s and streets nearby would be in
whose hands.”
If this designation and comprehensive sanctions were imposed
against the IRGC prior to this, and not delayed due to the West’s appeasement
policy, we would not be witness to such humanitarian catastrophes, so many
innocent lives lost in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and the harsh oppression of the
Iranian people.
Necessity of regime change in Iran
During the past three decades, the Iranian regime has profited
immensely from the West’s appeasement policy, especially when faced with the
2009 uprising that, according to the regime’s own senior officials, shackled
the very pillars of their rule. However, the Iranian people were abandoned by
the West.
Despite all these concessions and engagement with the mullahs,
despite all the neglect in the face of their terrorism and crimes, Tehran was
not only never contained, but left to further its savagery.
During the past few months based an initiative launched by
regional states, seen very vividly in the historic Riyadh conference back in
May, and the new US government vis-à-vis Iran has brought to life new hopes.
Following the adoption of a new Congress sanctions bill – signed
into law by President Donald Trump – targeting the IRGC and designating this
entity as a global terrorist, all the articles of this initiative must be
implemented immediately and without any loopholes.
The IRGC should subsequently be evicted from Syria, Iraq, Yemen,
and Lebanon.
Such actions will significantly weaken the IRGC. Only in such a
scenario can Iran’s destructive meddling in the region be confronted, and
Middle East peace and security guaranteed.
NCRI President Maryam Rajavi in a speech last month at the
annual Iranian opposition convention in Paris emphasized on a very important
matter.
“From the outset, the regime was at war with the people of Iran.
All the other wars waged against foreign countries have been designed to cover
up this main conflict.
But these wars are not an indication of the regime’s strength.
They are an indication of the fact that no government in the region has ever
attempted to prevent the regime’s belligerence,” she said.
For regime change in Iran, there is no need for war or military
intervention by a foreign state. The international community needs only to end
its appeasement, economic deals, and concessions to Tehran, which is literally
maintaining this dictatorship in power.
The Iranian people and their organized opposition are fully
capable of realizing this change.
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