Ever since the American Embassy hostage crisis in 1979 where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days, the world have seen a consistent Islamic republic commitment to international terrorism and avowed destruction of the State of Israel, sanctioned by Iran’s fanatical ruling mullah-crazy.
Iran’s support for terrorism is rooted in the foundational tenets of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution, which espoused the need to “export” Iran’s religious revolution the world over – a priority that continues to animate the current Iranian leadership.
In its most recent report on global terrorism trends, the US State Department Country Reports on Terrorism confirmed once again that Iran remains the “most active state sponsor of terrorism.”
Iran’s financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy.
Islamist terrorism
The Qods Force, the external operations arm branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, Pasdaran) weapons, training, funding and guidance to radical movements and terrorist proxies via specialized paramilitary units throughout the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America (Venezuela and the Mexican drug cartels) serves as an attractive, low-cost substitute for direct military action against Israel, the United States and the West.
Iran have orchestrated and facilitated a series of terrorist attacks in the Middle East, among them the 1983 US Embassy and Marine Barracks bombings in Beirut, Lebanon—killing 241 American servicemen, as well as abortive coup attempts and bombings in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
The Iran linked Palestinian Islamic Jihad whose focus is the destruction of Israel and the creation of a Palestinian Islamic state has claimed responsibility for the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina which killed 29 people.
Iran was formally charged over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires when Hezbollah had been identified in a joint operation by Argentine intelligence and the FBI.
Ahmad Vahidi, former commander of the IRGC and the current Minister of Defense of Iran is wanted by Interpol for his participation in the bombing in which 85 people died.
The overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003 by the US Coalition forces and the US withdrawal from Iraq provided Iran with unexpected opportunities to project influence into the Persian Gulf.
Since the onset of the Arab Spring, Iranian officials have been quick to take credit for the anti-regime sentiment sweeping the Middle East and have depicted it as the belated product of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s successful Islamic revolution in 1979.
Iran’s nuclear program further broadened Iran’s strategic reach and ideological appeal among the Middle East’s Shiite communities as the IRGC has waged an intensifying campaign in Syria’s crumbling regime and foreign subversion in Egypt, Morocco and Yemen.
In a federal lawsuit in Manhattan, two defectors from Iran’s intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials had “foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks,” “the most deadly act of terrorism in American history.”
Imad Mugniyah, the Hezbollah leader killed in 2008, also was accused of a role in 9/11. He had been accused of planning a series of major terrorist attacks and kidnappings, including the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.
The foiled attempts last year, to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington and the attacks in Azerbaijan, Thailand, Georgia and India earlier this year- is tangible proof of Iran’s regional hegemonic ambition and escalation of terror in many countries.
Last week arrests of two Iranian agents who have admitted “plotting to attack US, Israel, Saudi and British targets”, come in the midst of a series of terror attacks inside Kenya including a Nairobi synagogue and the Israeli embassy. In 2002, thirteen people were killed in bombing of an Israeli-owned beach hotel in Mombasa.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry continues to serve as an important enabler of the Iranian regime’s international terrorist presence.
The Islamic republic’s tightened controls of the Internet, the domestic media, the infamous serial murders of dissident writers and intellectuals, including assassination of Iranian political dissidents inside and outside the country garnered Iran the dubious distinction of becoming the “world’s most active executioner.”
According to the United Nations, a fifth or more of Iran’s nearly 78 million population currently lives under the poverty line. Prostitution is similarly out of control; drug addiction is also rampant, fueled by the widespread opium trade taking place in neighboring Afghanistan; in 2005, the UN estimated Iran to have the highest rate of addiction in the world, with nearly 3% of the country’s population addicted to opiates.
At the grassroots level, Iranians do not share the depth of their regime’s commitment to the exportation of radical Islam and their pursuit of nuclear weapons program.
A recent online poll suggested, more than 60 percent of respondents posted on an official state news site indicated they were in favor of stopping uranium enrichment in return for a gradual lifting of sanctions.
Flawed sanctions regime
As the US and the European Union (EU) is beginning to enforce a much broader embargo on Iran’s oil exports meant to counter Iran’s nuclear program, the price of staple foods has increased by up to 40 % in recent months. The Iranian riyal fell to a record low against the dollar following fresh sanctions against the country’s central bank, Reuters reported.
The United States already has exempted China, Singapore, India, Turkey, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and the 27 members of the European Union from the sanctions.
Iran circumvents sanctions through a network of front companies that enable Iranian merchants to trade under false flags. Tax havens, such as Malta, Cyprus, the Bahamas, Hong Kong, the Seychelles, Singapore and the Isle of Man, profit from selling flags and company registries to businesses looking to evade the taxes and regulations of their home countries.
Interestingly, Seoul has suffered unexpected damage from the “hidden obstacle” of the EU sanctioning of reinsurance in that the Korean government merely focused on US sanctions. Therefore, most countries bar oil-carrying vessels without insurance from entering its ports.
At the moment when economic sanction is just beginning to bite, it is unlikely to prevent a belligerent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
There is no evidence whatsoever that the increased diplomatic or political pressure is having the desired effect because of decades-long US inaction and western complacency.
In large measure, Iran has meticulously dodged the sanctions due to the inconsistencies and political pandering of the White House. As a result, Iran is laughing all the way towards building a nuclear bomb that most certainly evolves into a regional war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already deciphered quite clearly what President Barack Hussein Obama re-election would mean to the future of the Jewish state. And as far as Israel is concerned, the only thing to doubt is doubt itself.
