Trump team raises rhetoric against Iran
by Dr. Majid Sadeghpour
The Hill, April 24, 2017 - Recently, Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) met with Maryam Rajavi , the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) and addressed members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in a rally in Tirana, Albania.
Senator McCain’s visit represents a turning point in the plight of the Iranian dissidents now in Albania, but more importantly, marks a significant milestone in their struggle to bring about democratic change in Iran.
Despite years of delays and several deadly attacks by mercenaries loyal to the Iranian regime, the MEK left Camp Liberty in Iraq with help from the previous occupants of the White House — perhaps the only piece of former President Obama’s Iran policy that will prove to have a lasting positive effect. As many as 3,000 lives were saved.
Despite years of delays and several deadly attacks by mercenaries loyal to the Iranian regime, the MEK left Camp Liberty in Iraq with help from the previous occupants of the White House — perhaps the only piece of former President Obama’s Iran policy that will prove to have a lasting positive effect. As many as 3,000 lives were saved.
Notably, the safe relocation of the MEK members to the Albanian capital was harshly criticized by Tehran, as was McCain’s recent visit. The Iranian Foreign Ministry described the senator’s visit as part of a “wrong policy and obscene conduct,” and as “a mistake that the U.S. government will pay for.” In reality, the Iranian government reaction demonstrates a fear that U.S. policy toward Iran may be in transition.
Senator McCain’s visit actually highlights two important steps with policy implications. First, the significant steps that President Obama’s administration and former Secretary of State John Kerry took to safeguard the Iranian resistance. Second, that the Trump administration is now taking active steps to compel the Iranian regime to play a less destructive role in the region and the world at large.
These two developments go hand-in-hand. The relocation of the residents of Camp Liberty ultimately succeeded in providing them with a stable base of activity from which they are able to continue their political fight against the Iranian theocracy. They have now joined the tens of thousands of other Iranian expatriates who remain committed activists for the cause of democracy in Iran.
Instead of the nuclear deal with Iran, President Obama’s Iran policy legacy may indeed ultimately be remembered by its efforts to ensure MEK members' safety. The nuclear agreement he eagerly spearheaded provided Tehran with numerous un-earned concessions, in exchange for anemic and ultimately reversible commitments regarding its uranium enrichment program. The deal even led to changes in the language of U.N. resolutions, effectively leaving the regime free to test nuclear-capable ballistic missiles with impunity.
These and other weak dealings have rightly been criticized as appeasement, and Obama’s successor rightly declared the nuclear agreement to be one of the worst deals ever negotiated. These facts appear to set the stage for a major shift in U.S. policy toward Iran, a shift that Senator McCain and other congressional supporters of the Iranian resistance are eager to embrace.
Indeed, the bandwagon is already rolling. After unilateral moves by President Trump, including a warning to Tehran over its missile tests and an order for the State Department to review a possible terrorist designation for Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the House and Senate have both moved to expand sanctions on Iran.
https://www.mojahedin.org/links/other/2017425_SpecilaClip_164455625.mp4
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