Opinion

“America’s enemies long have tried to undermine our credibility, assert that we can’t be trusted, that we’ll abandon our friends in times of need. This now is the stated policy of the President. And no one can say for certain what is driving a fundamental betrayal of our ideals.”

– Dan Rather (@DanRather)

by Alan Simons

There’s a well-known saying about leaders of countries who live in a state of fear either through being squeezed economically or the fear of being attacked from outside their borders. Simply put, it’s said these maligned leaders don’t retreat, they attack whomever they fear. In essence, it has a two-fold effect.

One is to show their own population they had better not revolt against their leaders, or else they will be persecuted or slaughtered and the second is by attacking its outside adversaries. Combined, these two measures have a deranged gargantuan appeal to Iran’s Supreme Leader, their theocratic government and the military.

Nowhere is this clearer than today in Iran where their economy is under siege.

A report published in June 2019 by the World Bank on the world’s economic growth predicts a worse situation and ranking for Iran’s economy and GDP. According to the report, after Nicaragua, Iran has the worst GDP growth in the world and lands at the bottom of the charts. The World Bank predicts that Iran’s economic growth will be at minus 5.4 per cent. This estimation is even worse than what this credible international institution had predicted a few months ago. The report concludes that the negative impact of U.S economic sanctions on Iran’s economy and specifically its oil export is the main reason for this decline. Iran’s inflation rate of 52 per cent and the heavy drop in the value of its currency have been counted among the biggest challenges that Iran’s economic growth is facing. The International Monetary Fund’s prediction is even worse than the World Bank’s; IMF has predicted a minus 6 per cent economic growth for Iran.

In addition a few days ago it was reported, “China’s state oil company pulled out of a $5 billion deal to develop a portion of Iran’s massive offshore natural gas field.”

This week, three reports coming out of Iran stated:

-A group of employed and retired teachers protested in front of the Ministry of Education in Tehran on the International Teacher’s Day. According to social media reports, the protesters were chanting “Shout against all this injustice” and “astronomical wages, the cause of this misery.” The protesters also carried signs that read: “The right to form independent associations, assemblies, strikes, and freedom of speech without becoming a security issue” and “stop privatizing schools.” According to state-owned ILNA, the teachers said: “Our main demands are the improvement of quality of life for working and retired teachers, paying what they are owed, healthcare improvement, and stopping the privatization.”

The Coordination Council of teachers’ associations in Iran issued a statement criticizing the current educational policies. “We remind those who name this year as the year of ‘young teachers’ that if today according to the minister of education, we have a deficit of 108,000 teachers, that is due to wrong policies of the ministry of education and neglecting teachers’ job security and quality of life,” the statement reads. The statement continues: “Contractors hire young teachers for the lowest wages and sometimes without any contract or insurance. What kind of education can such teachers provide?” In recent years, the Islamic Republic’s Judiciary has repeatedly persecuted and incarcerated teachers for protesting. In the most recent case, Hamid Reza Rahmati was sentenced to 3 years in prison, 74 public lashes, and 20 million Iranian rials.

-The workers of AzarAb Company in Arak went on strike and protests for the second day in a row on Monday. According to the reports, the protests were interrupted by the police. The AzarAb Company workers say they have not received their paychecks and benefits for two months. . . State-owned Fars News has reported that “about 100” workers are protesting and “the police are also present in the location.”

-The Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Company workers’ syndicate announced that at least 14 workers have been arrested by the security forces a few hours ago. The syndicate emphasized that the 11 of the arrested workers were on the way to meet with the members of parliament, and condemned the arrests as an act “unbelievably obscene, ugly, and anti-labour.” Last week, at least 40 workers of Haft-Tappeh were summoned to the security police in Shush. The workers of Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Company started their protests in the autumn of last year after several months of not receiving their paychecks. Since then, the workers have been repeatedly persecuted, arrested, and even tortured in order to give false confessions.

These three news items may not make international news, but they are significant and relate directly to the economy of Iran and the persecution of anyone brave enough to make even the slightest complaint against the state.

As to the need to attack its enemies, we only have to look at two existing examples. One is the recent drone attack on the world’s largest oil processor and an oil field in Saudi Arabia just days after John Bolton resigned/fired from his position as Trump’s national security advisor. Coincidental? Bolton was feared and justifiably so by the Iranian mullahs and his departure was received with elation and as something to take advantage of by making Trump look weak. They succeeded in doing just that!

The second was another direct response to Trump’s pathetic weakness. To quote:

Iran threatens to ‘destroy’ Israel after the second-in-command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, declared that “The Islamic Republic of Iran can destroy Israel in three days in a way that they will not find enough graves to bury their dead.”
This threat comes days after the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, declared that “The Islamic Republic of Iran will keep its military advisers, revolutionary forces and its weapons in Syria” as a preparation for a war against the Jewish state with the declared goal of killing all Jews in the region.

What is disconcerting and I write with some sarcasm, in the latter report these two Iranian pumped-up military fanatics acknowledged Iran must have designed special missiles that can distinguish between Israeli ethnic and religious groups including Jews, the Bedouin, Ahmadiyya, Copts, Druze, Arameans, Assyrians, Samaritans, Armenians, Circassians, Bahá’is and so forth. Jews make up for 74.2 per cent of Israel’s population. The remaining 26.8 per cent include 17.8 per cent Muslims, the vast majority are Sunni.

But there again, Iran’s Guardian Council and military cohorts have shown no respect in Iran for free expression and peaceful assembly, for women’s rights, for their treatment of their religious minorities, or for people with disabilities. So what do they care about who they kill as long as the majority are Jews?

For Trump, caught in a quagmire of personal legal issues and the threat of impeachment, has done nothing to change Iran’s assessment of the situation. They believe, at this time, Trump doesn’t have the balls to attack them militarily. Therefore, Iran will continue to go on the offensive, vocally and physically by attacking America’s foreign interests, friends and individuals and particularly to make Trump look like a pitiable, feeble individual.

Until Trump, or whoever may succeed him, make the Iranians fear and I mean “Fear” they will be attacked, we will have to stomach the saga of Iran playing this never-ending game to their advantage.

Well, that’s how I see it!

Alan Simons is the Founder and Publisher of jewishinfoNews.

(Photo Credits: Freedom Messenger and other unknown sources.)

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