Trump Should Get Tough On Iran Regime
NCRI – Many have welcomed the appointment of former Ambassador John Bolton to the position of National Security Advisor as a sign that the US will finally get tough on the Iranian Regime.
This shift from the disastrous appeasement policy that has plagued Presidents from Reagan to Clinton to Obama to a strong stance against the mullahs is something that most Iran analysts agree is a step in the right direction.
Donald Trump promised this change on the campaign trail, but has been somewhat restricted by his cabinet since he entered the White House. His administration still got tough on Iran, by putting them “on notice” over their destabilising activities in the Middle East, imposing non-nuclear sanctions on Iran, and supporting the Iranian people’s demands for regime change.
This has achieved success in some ways, like stopping the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from harassing American ships in the Persian Gulf, but it still didn’t go far enough.
The nationwide anti-regime protests in Iran may have been the turning point for Trump. As the Iranian people called out their criticism of the Regime as a whole – highlighting that there is no difference between “reformists” and “hardliners” – Trump took notice and this is likely why he’s stocking his cabinet with Iran hawks.
Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan, the incoming Executive Director of the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore, wrote on The Daily Caller: “Bolton’s entry into the administration signals [to] Tehran that there will be serious consequences for the regime’s malign activities – whether against U.S. interests, regional adversaries, or internal dissidents.”
As is evident from the end of the IRGC’s harassment of US ships, Iran’s bluster about what it will do if the US pulls out of the nuclear deal is largely bluff, so Trump should get tough on Iran with Bolton’s help.
This strategic toughness will allow the Iranian people to overthrow the brutal regime and bring peace to the Middle East. There’s even a democratic, organised parliament-in-waiting, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) ready to take over for a short time and organise democratic elections. Thus, there is no need for a US military intervention or government.
Professor Sheehan wrote: “If it is any assurance to Bolton’s partisan – and sometimes ill-informed – critics, his longstanding embrace of policies that actively support the Iranian people in their campaign for freedom from tyranny is likely to diminish, not increase, the spectre of war with the Islamic Republic.”