The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile attack on Israel on April 13-14, 2024, has escalated tensions in the Middle East and will possibly lead to a regional war.
The result of this attack was to achieve at least two objectives: (1) to respond to the criticism of Iran’s supporters regarding the IRGC's inaction and to promote the Islamic Republic’s position as a champion of fundamentalists and (2) to suppress internal opposition inside Iran under the guise of a wartime emergency.
Immediately after the missile attacks on Israel, the Islamic Republic launched domestic attacks against Iranian women who refused to wear the mandatory hijab; this crackdown is a clear indication of the real objectives of the missile attack.
In addition, the celebration of pro-Hamas groups in America and Europe following the missile attacks, with slogans of death to America, shows the success of the Islamic Republic in positioning itself as the champion of antisemitism. Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic has made the destruction of Israel its central mantra, considering the deep hatred that Islamic fundamentalists have for Jews.
The Islamic Republic has established and financed a network of Islamic zealots who are prepared for jihad against the infidels. This network serves to prevent foreign attacks on Iran while suppressing domestic opposition.
The ruling ayatollahs of Iran know very well that they lack popular support at home. Over time, their existence has relied on the support of outside proxy forces beyond Iran's borders, from Central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Iran's regional expansion
Financed by Iran’s large oil and gas revenues, the Islamic Republic has established well-organized proxy forces in several radical Islamic countries, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Realizing the reluctance of Western powers to take action that endangers their respective interests, the IRGC has used these proxy forces to expand the range of Iran’s influence even further. Through them, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly threatened commercial ships in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and even American military bases in the region.
For the past 45 years, an Iranian renaissance has evolved into the most secular democracy with one of the most Westernized people in the region. The Islamic Republic cannot govern this population unless the country is in a permanent state of war, and those in power have shown by words and deeds that they are masters of creating international conflicts at the cost of the Iranian people and other democratic countries.
Achieving peace in the Middle East, eliminating the threat to Israel's existence, and curbing the global wave of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism requires a coalition of the willing. Removing the Islamic Republic, ideally by the Iranian people, would be the best option.
Over the past 45 years, Western powers have pursued failed policies of appeasement aimed at changing the behavior of the Islamic Republic. The time has come for Western democracies to stand in solidarity with the people of Iran and adopt policies aimed at ending the existence of the Islamic Republic in occupied Iran.
It is the responsible act of the world to hear the voices of innocent, decent, and peace-loving people in Iran and help them put an end to the reign of ayatollahs.
The New Iran strongly condemns the Islamic Republic’s missile attack on Israel and invites Western democracies and Iran’s regional neighbors to form an active coalition to lend moral and material support to the Iranian people to end the evil existence of the Islamic Republic.
Enough is enough! Either we are with the terrorist regime of Iran or with the peace-loving and secular people of Iran. These are the two fundamental choices before the world!
Dr. Iman Foroutan is chairman of the Board of Trustees and executive director of The New Iran.