With Iran: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend

Jerusalem and Tehran have gone back and forth as friends and enemies. Indeed, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." When the Shah of Iran reigned, Iran and Israel were "friends." When Ayatollahs ruled, Jerusalem and Tehran became "enemies."

Faced with demonstrations, Shah Pahlavi fled Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the Revolution, returned after 15 years of exile, to rule Iran. The secular leader, however, was Massoud Rajvai, founder of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

But, when Khomeini seized power, Rajvai became leader-in-exile, and his wife, Maryam Rajvai became president-elect of NCRI.

NCRI was delighted, when President Donald Trump declared on May 8, 2018, he would withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal; afterward, Israel and Arab Gulf States were "friends," despite differences in religion, history, and governance.

Because President Trump is friendly with both Israel and the Arab Gulf States, he was pleased they were friends: Democratic Jerusalem and autocratic Arab Gulf States aligned against a common foe — Tehran.

"Protests are the sounds of democracies at work!"

Demonstrations are tools the Iranian resistance use to undermine Iran. Although some suspect NCRI works with and for Israel to thwart Tehran, it is highly doubtful, based on research of the American Committee on Human Rights, (ACHR) which I head.

When Iranians rebelled against corrupt dictators, President Trump did not stay silent. He said, "America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom," in his State of the Union Message to Congress on January 30, 2018.

Fast forward to breaking news of the day. Per The Wall Street Journal of July 15, 2020, Iranian authorities are investigating a blaze that damaged seven ships at a southern Iranian port. Also, CNN stated during July, a fire at Natanz nuclear facility was latest in a series of unexplained incidents.

Natanz was target of Israel's Stuxnet cyber attack in 2010. That assault might have been carried out by Jerusalem and Washington. Natanz specializes in uranium enrichment activity. Indeed, Tehran restarted Natanz at an even higher level of enrichment since the nuclear deal with Iran collapsed in 2018.

Fires followed dozens of explosions across Iran's factories, military, and nuclear facilities. Iranian officials said some explosions may have been acts of sabotage but blamed weather and equipment malfunctions for others. But the Iranian resistance might have blown up the facilities, per research of ACHR.

A July 2 Natanz explosion was one of a series of mysterious blasts at Iranian strategic sites, which have been attributed to Washington, Jerusalem, and/or the Iranian resistance.

Per Reuters, Iran's foreign ministry said on July 23, foreign governments [Israel?] may have been behind cyberattacks on Iranian facilities. Iranian officials said a fire at the underground Natanz nuclear facility, during July, may have been caused by cyber sabotage.

Per NCRI, obtaining nuclear weapons is a key pillar of the regime's survival. Iran's first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, initially declared he would not pursue nuclear energy. That decision is reflected in his decision to abandon work on the nuclear program, including Bushehr nuclear power plant, already under construction by German firms at the time of the Shah, Per Radio Free Europe.

However, once the ayatollahs realized a burgeoning democratic opposition represented a serious challenge to their backward rule, they changed course and sought nuclear weapons technology, as an insurance policy against their eventual downfall.

Again, the NCRI was pleased when President Trump said, on January 12, 2018, any nuclear deal with Iran, "must ensure that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon." This position is spot on, to say the least.

Keenly aware of their inability to lead Iran and manage the surging force of a liberated population from monarchical oppression, medieval ayatollahs diverted energies of a repressed society. They fomented strife in neighboring countries, under the banner of exporting the Islamic Revolution. That strategy was a euphemism for export of terrorism to the rest of the Middle East.

The ayatollahs are developing nuclear weapons to ensure their survival.

Three pillars maintained Iran's grip on power: internal repression, export of terrorism to Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, as well as a nuclear weapons program are mainstays for the regime's survival, per the NCRI.

To counter the Islamic Republic of Iran, maximum pressure by Washington, protests by the Iranian resistance, and Israeli covert actions against Iran have the best chance of effecting regime change in Iran. In this respect, see my piece posted in Newsmax, "Trump's Strategy Keeps Maximum Pressure on Iran."

Regarding U.S. policy, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

America led by President Trump is friendly with both Israel and the Arab Gulf States. Hence, he scores a humongous policy victory against Tehran, with assistance of Jerusalem, Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Prof. Raymond Tanter (@AmericanCHR) served as a senior member on the Middle East Desk of the National Security Council staff in the Reagan-Bush administration, Personal Representative of the Secretary of Defense to international security and arms control talks in Europe, and is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan. Tanter is on the comprehensive list of conservative writers and columnists who appear in The Wall Street Journal, Townhall.com, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Human Events, The American Spectator, and now in Newsmax. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.