The Iranian government members favorite phrase is that they will take the course of action for the best interest of the regime,”Maslahat Regime “. They never once mention what is in the best interest of the people. What they are really concerned about is staying in power. The revolutionary guard of 120 thousand and the selected mullahs control an enormous wealth of Iran’s natural resources. Unlike North Korea, Iran is a rich country with the largest natural gas reserves in the world. Not to mention oil and its strategic position as a gateway to energy for the rest of the world.
The conservative government in Iran is losing its grip on power and the old revolutionary rhetoric is no longer justifying the systematic pillaging of the nation’s wealth at the hands of the few. For the Iranian government to sustain the message of anti-west and anti-democratic ideals, it needs to maintain the image of the revolution. Nothing can maintain such an image as well as confrontation with the west over its nuclear ambitions.
Appointing a defense minister who caused an uproar with the western powers is simply a step to get a military reaction from the west. Frankly, the leaders in Iran are not concerned with nuclear technology for producing energy, but to create a reaction. Any action by Israel could rally the Iranian public around the flag and regime once more. This could guarantee that they will continue to be the rulers of Iran for many years to come.
In the case of Israel, as a theocracy and an undemocratic society, a free and democratic Iran would pose a serious challenge to the principles of Zionism. How could the Muslims have a democratic society and the western backed Israel continues to oppress the millions of Arabs and Palestinians based on ethnic nepotism? It would simply be a shock to the state of Israel if Iranians enjoyed a truly democratic society. God forbid the Zionist movement would lose its muscle and grip of power by no longer having Palestinians as its enemy and needing to find a way to provide them with equal rights and protection.
This of course would also be against the interest of the religious right in the United States that have banked on an end of the world scenario for the past 100 years by supporting the state of Israel and shipping Jews from all corners of the world looking for a piece of bread and a better life to the occupied territories.
The conservative governments in Iran and Israel will both benefit from the next conflict in the region. They can both continue with the oppressive techniques that they use to stay in power. Conservative governments and ideologies are similar in action and oppression of freedom and democratic rights. They even reward each other at every opportunity that presents itself.
In case of Iranian government, the U.S. hostages that had been held for 444 days are set free on the day that Reagan and Bush got into office. It was the same conservative government during the Reagan years lead by Bush senior that helped Iran acquire weapons and bring drugs to the U.S. under the sanctions of Iran-Contra and Oliver North.
The Obama administration is dealing with multiple enemies at once. The conservatives and the evangelicals in this country who keep fueling settlements in the occupied territories, the conservative government in Israel that continues to benefit from land grabbing from the Palestinians in the occupied territory; and finally the mullahs and the revolutionary guard of Iran who want to continue to stay in power at any cost to the detriment of the population.
The question is how can this administration put pressure on these conservative governments and elements? What can be done stop the rise of tension and military conflict in the region?
First, stop the flow of money by the religious right for new settlement activity to Israel. If Hamas is a terrorist organization so are the folks that continue to build homes in the occupied territories. How could we allow the religious right in the United States to fund taking land from the Palestinians and not call it a terrorist act?
Second, stop funding Israel conservative military government. The EU and the U.S. stopped all aid to Hamas even though it was a democratically elected government simply because they did not condone the policy of Hamas. So why can’t this government stop funding Israel until all settlements have been turned over to Palestinians in the occupied territory and international borders and UN resolutions are respected by all parties?
Once the life style and the money is no longer provided by American tax payers they will reconsider their actions and be willing to negotiate.
Finally, Obama administration should ask for sanctions at the UN and freeze all accounts of the Iranian revolutionary guards, mullahs and restrict them and their family members from traveling abroad.
All these conservative Muslims, Jews and Christians use religion for personal enrichment. Ideologies are saved for the masses and the wealth is kept in the hands of the few men of cloth. If we cut the wings and the source of funding, they will all be forced to walk to the negotiations table.
