In a Tale of Two Cities, Dickens writes, about the French Revolution,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.”
The French Revolution was a pivotal event in world history which began with the Storming of the Bastille in 1789.
Leaders of the French Revolution compare favorably with those of the leading Iranian revolutionary organization, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). It was founded in Tehran on July 1981, by Massoud Rajavi.
NCRI formed a National Solidarity Front to effect regime change. It calls for those who reject ruling theocracy and endorse separation of Mosque and State to join the Front.
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi described the Front as a reflection of yearnings of the people of Iran, regardless of ideology, belief, religion and ethnicity.
One NCRI book published in 2017 is: The Rise of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s (IRGC) Financial Empire.
The book chronicles the level of repression by Iran: IRGC opened fire on unarmed Iranians seeking their rights.
This manuscript examines some vital factors and trends, including the overwhelming and accelerating influence of the Supreme Leader and IRGC).
On Oct 2017, Treasury designated IRGC under terrorism authority and targeted it and military supporters under Counter-Proliferation Authority.
This study shows how ownership of property in the economy shifted from Iranians to a minority ruling elite — comprised of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and IRGC.
Although what has been billed as “privatization,” a significant portion of Iran’s economic institutions goes to the Supreme Leader and security, military, and economic apparatus under his auspices.
This study offers a detailed account of how a small number of IRGC affiliates and Khamenei aides — who ran the foundations’ economic activities as well as companies owned by Khamenei’s Office and armed forces — gained easy access to low-interest loans.
Most of these loans have never been paid back to banks, resulting in a financial crisis.
The book traces how money ends up funding conflict in Syria, terrorism in Iraq, war in Yemen and nuclear-missile programs.
Western companies engaged in economic and financial deals with Iran like to portray their activities as transactions with the “private sector.” However, to do business with Iran is to do business with Khamenei and IRGC.
The disastrous economic situation — unemployment, inflation, near-destruction of the manufacturing sector — are a long-term source for social discontent, casting a long shadow of uncertainty over the regime’s future.
“Uprising Shakes Iran Regime’s Foundations details the November 2019 uprising in Iran which engulfed 200 cities in all 31 provinces of Iran; over 1,500 people were killed and over 12,000 arrested. It explains why these protests are different than the 1999, 2009, and 2018 protests as this one is about regime change where the youth and the poor are revolting.”
Uprising chronicles repression used by the regime, as IRGC opened fire on unarmed demonstrators seeking their rights.
Uprising also has specific recommendations for the international community on how to deal with repression.
Implications of U.S. Policy
First, NCRI is a democratic political coalition; hence, President Biden should support NCRI.
Second, protests shake the Regime’s foundations and demonstrations are a significant step toward downfall of the Iranian regime; so protestors deserve Biden’s support.
Third, Telegram is described as a “messaging app” with a focus on speed and security. Hence, it allows demonstrators to assemble with minimal likelihood of being discovered by IRGC and Ministry of Intelligence.
Using Signal, demonstrators communicate instantly, while avoiding SMS fees, create groups so that you can chat in real time with other protestors, at once, and share places to assemble.
Element is an open-source app running on Web and Android phones. It is built around chat rooms, both public and private and provides messaging, filesharing, voice and video conferencing.
Because U.S. National Security Agency, (NSA) and the CIA have such apps, Biden should provide them to protestors.
Given the three points above, President John F. Kennedy spoke about revolutions, perhaps with the French Revolution in mind, that, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” Regarding Iran, the regime makes democratic change impossible and makes violent revolution inevitable.
In A Tale of Two Cities, the best of times became the worst of times. Technology is not the only way to avoid such an outcome in Iran: With “Maximum economic sanctions,” authorized by the president with bipartisan support in Congress, Iran would energize protestors and facilitate regime change in Iran.
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.
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