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Unraveling Iran  01-03-18          See Michael's latest cartoons HERE

Protests threaten to unravel the power of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in today's cartoon by Michael P. Ramirez
Let Iran’s flawed regime unravel
  • The Australian
  • 12:00AM January 4, 2018
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is being disingenuous in saying protests sweeping the country are being inflamed by “enemies of Iran” rather than the despair of people fed up after 40 years of corrupt and repressive theocratic rule. The enemies he implicitly wants to blame are as usual, of course, Israel and the perennial “Great Satan”of the ayatollahs’ nightmares, the US. The evidence, however, despite a severe clampdown on social media, indicates the Shia clerics have their own bad governance to blame. What began last Thursday as a protest against the price of eggs and the cost of living in the provincial capital of Mashhad rapidly has gained momentum in cities and towns across the country. Protesters have taken to the streets to demand not only a better deal for the poor, more jobs and an end to corruption, but also cutbacks to Iran’s costly “foreign adventurism” in the cause of Shia hegemony in Syria and Yemen, and in backing anti-Israel terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.​
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At this stage, the populist momentum is far short of what was generated in the Arab Spring. But the spontaneity and scope the movement has achieved in a week presents a major challenge for the regime in Tehran. It also requires careful, considered handling by Donald Trump.

The regime’s instincts doubtless will be to suppress the protests ruthlessly, as it did in response to demonstrations that followed the outrageous 2009 “stolen” election. To his credit President Trump, in contrast to Barack Obama’s limp-wristed approach in 2009 when he was trying to curry favour with the Tehran regime over the nuclear deal, has signalled strong support for the protest movement. He has warned of the possible reimposition of sanctions for human rights abuses: “The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their pockets … the people have little food, big inflation and no human rights.” The US was watching, he declared.

His UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, was just as forthright, saying: “We must not be silent. The people are crying out for freedom … all the freedom-loving people must stand up for their cause … the international community made the mistake of failing to do so in 2009. We must not make that mistake again.”
Mr Trump and Ms Haley are right to voice strong support for the protests. Events in recent years show the folly of Mr Obama’s do-nothing approach in 2009. The nuclear deal Mr Obama did so much to achieve has fallen far short of fulfilling the promise that it would bring prosperity to Iran’s people and lead to a liberalisation of its society. The pact lifted international sanctions and unfroze $US100 million in Iranian assets. Those now taking to the streets have seen few of the benefits; instead, it has fed into the gross corruption of the regime, especially Iran’s praetorian Revolutionary Guard, which controls virtually sectors of the economy. The funds freed up, unfortunately, have financed Iran’s subversive adventurism in support of Islamist terrorism and Shia hegemony across the Middle East.

Given the potential geopolitical significance of what is taking place, Mr Trump may be tempted to intervene more forcefully in the protests. He must be cautious. A deeply flawed regime is showing signs of unravelling. While it is important that the world expresses support for the protesters, only the Iranians themselves can resolve the deepening crisis.  read more
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