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The EU Needs a Better Policy on Iran

The EU Needs a Better Policy on Iran

By Staff Writer

The US has adopted a “maximum pressure” campaign toward the Iranian Regime since pulling out of the malign nuclear deal last year, reinstating economic sanctions and encouraging diplomatic isolation.

By comparison, the European Union’s policy is largely undefined and they still seem eager to appease Iran, even if they are willing to confront the mullahs occasionally on isolated incidents.

While many hope that the EU will move more in the direction of the US, especially following recent sanctions levied against some members of the Regime, they currently follow an appeasement-at-all-costs policy because they have not yet reached a consensus about what they should be asking Iran for.

However, the key to understanding Iran is to recognise and reject Iran’s propaganda, which is there solely to present Iran as a normal country that is capable of internal moderation.

This has previously led the West to embrace so-called moderates, like President Hassan Rouhani, despite the fact that there are no moderates in the Iranian Regime. After all, would a moderate appoint Mostafa Pourmohammadi as Justice Minister, despite knowing about his role in sending thousands to the deaths in the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners? Pourmohammadi, who claimed to be “proud” of his role in the massacre, was replaced in 2017 by Alireza Avaie, another man who served on the death committees only in a different city.

This was compounded last week by the confirmation of Ebrahim Raisi, who served alongside Pourmohammadi on the Tehran death committee, as head of the judiciary. While Rouhani did not appoint Raisi because the Supreme Leader selects judiciary chiefs, this signifies that there is no real difference between Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which is what the US and the Iranian opposition have been saying.

In fact, the Iranian Resistance has been leading an uprising against the Regime, in spite of a violent crackdown that saw 50 killed and 8,000 arrested, which calls for regime change.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former vice-president of the European Parliament and current president of the Brussels-based International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ), wrote:
“There is far more consistency in these protests than there is in European policy toward Iran. Overwhelmingly, the Iranian people are calling for regime change because they know exactly what to expect from the ruling theocracy: endless repression and a constant state of animosity toward the international community. If the nations of Europe would only come to understand that there is no “moderate” alternative to this policy within the existing regime, they would surely begin to realize that their support could help the Iranian people achieve the freedom and democratic governance for which they are so willing to risk their lives.”