Since pulling out of former President Barack Obama’s Iranian Nuke Deal May 8, Iran has threatened to ramp up its uranium enrichment program unless the European Union, Russia and China continue to back the July 15, 2015 agreement. Iran vehemently denies working on nuclear weapons, despite growing concerns of Western nuclear experts that weaponizing uranium supplies enough fissile material for nuclear bombs. Backing out of the Nuke Deal allows President Donald Trump to re-impose strict economic sanctions, something that stopped after Obama signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. After three days of nationwide protests, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.S. was trying topple his mullah regime, started when his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei toppled the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Feb. 11, 1979.
Once a close ally under of the United States, the Ayatollah’s radical Islamic regime broke off diplomatic relations after Iranian militants sacked the U.S. embassy Nov. 4, 1979, holding 52 Americans 444 days, until 12 Noon, Jan. 20, 1989, the day President Ronald Reagan took office. Iran’s brutally repressive mullah regime has suppressed pro-democracy protests periodically, only to end in a violent crackdown. “They bring to bear economic pressure to separate the nation from the system . . . but six U.S. presidents before him [Trump] tried this and hand to give up,” said Khamenei, blaming the latest protests on renewed U.S. sanctions. Khamenei finds a scapegoat for his imposition of strict Shiite Law, beating, arresting, jailing and prosecuting teenagers for listening to Western music, wearing lipstick or high-heel shoes—to name a few of the indignities.
Life under the two Shahs since 1925, Reza Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Pahlavit, spanned over 55 years, offering Iran a pro-Western monarchy, where education and cosmopolitan society ruled the culture until Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei imposed strict Shiite law. Untold numbers of pro-Shah families, prospering for generations, sought refuge in the U.S. and Europe, draining Iran of its best scientific and business minds. Whatever protests exist today in Iran, they have nothing to do with the U.S. imposing new economic sanctions. Today’s protests mirror Iranians’ yearning for a less repressive way of life. “Various scenarios of threats to the Iranian economy by the U.S. government were examined and appropriate measure were taken to prepare for any probable U.S. sanctions and to prevent their negative impact,” said Iran’s semi-official IRNA news agency.
If the Trump administration places restrictions on U.S. or foreign companies doing business in Iran, it’s going to make things more difficult for the Ayatollah. Busy fighting proxy wars in Syria and Yemen, the Iranian regime hasn’t shown much restraint when it comes to its aggressive foreign policy. When Trump meets in Helsinki July 16 with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he’ll discuss how to deal with Iran’s mischief on the world stage. Putn’s worked closely with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia to beat back a Saudi-funded insurgency started March 15, 2011. Iran’s worried that new U.S. sanctions will prevent selling petroleum into world markets. Fereydoun Hassanvand, head of parliament’s energy committee, tried to strategize how to continue selling oil into world markets with new sanctions in place. Khamenei wants to blame the U.S. for domestic unrest.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday his country would not follow U.S. sanctions restricting oil sales with Iran. “Due to the possibility of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the committee will study the competence of buyers and how to obtain process from the sale of oil, safe sale alternatives which are consistent with international law and do not lead of corruption and profiteering,” said Hassanvand. Iran’s currency has been hammered since Trump pulled out May 8 of the Iranian Nuke Deal. Iran refused to renegotiate terms of the Iranian Nuke Deal, leaving Trump no option but to bail out of the deal. Whether or not Iran ramps up uranium enrichment, the U.S. has only economic leverage at this point to force Iran into compliance with international norms. Meeting with Putin July 16, Iran will no doubt be on the agenda, especially its proxy war against Saudi Arabia.
Khamenei blames the U.S. for practically everything that goes wrong with life under his brutal mullah rule. Pointing fingers at Saudi Arabia for persecuting his Shiite regime, Khamenei covers up his proxy war in Yemen, backing Houthi rebels to attack the Saudi regime. Iran’s ballistic missiles routinely wind up on Saudi soil, fired by Yemen’s anti-Saudi Houthi rebels. “If America was able to act against Iran, it would not need to form coalitions with notorious and reactionary state in the region and ask their help in fomenting unrest and instability,” said Khamenei, stating exactly the opposite of what really goes on. Iran foments the “unrest and instability” backing rebel groups in Syria and the al-Assad regime, supplying arms-and-cash to Yemne’s Houthi rebels to attack Riyadh with Iranian-made ballistic missiles. When the Aytatollah points fingers, it might as well be at himself.
