Lebanon is facing the worst consequences of Iranian meddling and Hezbollah’s domination

One year after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the number one man in promoting the Iranian regime’s terrorist policies in the region, the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the father of Iranian nuclear activities, took place, virtually without retaliation.

Then, in the Belgian court in Antwerp, Assadollah Assadi, the diplomat terrorist of the regime in Austria, went on trial for carrying a bomb to be installed at the annual gathering of the Iranian Resistance, despite regime attempts to have him returned to Iran and open threats if the trial went ahead.

The consequences of these three strategic blows have had a profound effect on Iran and the region, greatly reducing the authority of the savage and bloodthirsty fundamentalists, and eroding the regime’s defense embankments, which it had spent years and huge amounts of assets to build.

Some of the effects of these blows are:

1. The people of the region, especially Iraq, in protest against 16 years of corruption, unemployment, bloodshed and the interventions of the Islamic Republic of Iran through armed proxy groups in Iraq, revolted in October 2019. This uprising is ongoing and expanding daily. This uprising has all but erased the sense of invincibility of the regime’s proxy armed forces in the mind of the masses.

2. Now, on the anniversary of the Iraqi uprising, after 3 days of conferences at the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, where Ayatollah Sistani, the senior Iraqi Shiite cleric, lives, four Iraqi popular militia groups (joined with Hashd Al-Shaabi) have denounced the Islamic Republic of Iran.

These four militia groups are: Lavaye Al Nessar Marjaeyat, Lavaye Ali Al-Akbar, Ferqat Al-Abbas Al-Qataliyya, and Ferqat Imam Al-Qataliyya. They had previously requested to be separated from Hashd Al-Shaabi.

3. Following a wave of pressure from Iranian-backed political parties in Iraq, such as Al-Fatah (affiliated with Hashd Al-Shaabi) and Dolat Qanoon against Saudi Arabia and Iraq rapprochement, finally the tables have turned against Iran and after 29 years a Saudi high-level delegation, led by the Saudi Minister of Commerce and Investment, Majid al-Qasbi, traveled to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday 7 December to sign several memoranda of understanding and economic agreements.

4. In Yemen, no one can tolerate the Houthis, affiliated with the Iranian regime, and in Syria, every day, IRGC commanders are killed and the mullahs do not dare announce the news.

5. In Palestine, pro-regime forces can no longer freely employ Hamas, Jihad-Islamic and Hezbollah. Fatah and Hamas have formed a coalition in solidarity.

6. Today, Lebanon is facing the worst consequences of Iranian meddling and Hezbollah’s domination. It is devastated economically and politically and is in complete international and Arab isolation. It has suffered a catastrophic fate. Most Lebanese people hate Hezbollah’s domination and the Iranian regime that funds it.

As a result, while we will not rush to judge it as the “ineffectiveness of the Iranian regime” quite yet, certainly the course of developments in the Middle East has changed. The balance of power and rules of engagement for the Iranian regime have shifted and there is no return!

Hassan Mahmoudi is a Europe-based social analyst, researcher, independent observer, and commentator of Middle Eastern and Iranian Politics. He tweets under @hassan_mahmou1. 

They do their best to spread the virus around the world to create chaos and put more pressure on the U.S.

Tehran – An Iranian activist known as Amir Aarsham on Twitter wrote a letter addressing U.S. president Donald Trump on Wednesday about how the Iranian regime is planning to export the Coronavirus, and how it’s selling international aid in the black-market by depriving its citizens. He also mentioned how the regime is pressurizing U.S. to lift the sanctions.

Following is the content of his letter.

Dear Donald Trump,

I am Iranian. I lost my grandmother to #Coronavirus & my uncle is in quarantine.

I bypassed Iran’s internet filtering to tell you that the Kleptocratic regime of #Iran purposely make it impossible for the world to help us.

We, the people of Iran are fighting an uneven battle with the deadly #Coronavirus alone.

It’s extremely disappointing that the world hasn’t realized how monstrous and evil this regime is. The corrupted Iranian officials are selling the international aid in the black market (which most of Iranians can’t afford) instead of giving them to the people.

We’re not citizens in our country, we’re hostages! Actually the psychopathic regime of Iran enjoys spreading the virus to the world. They see it as an opportunity to force the U.S. to lift the sanctions.

And to get billions of dollars to fill their pockets instead of helping the Iranian people to fight with #COVID19.

Zarif, the foreign minister of Iran, keeps tweeting about lifting the sanctions & subtlety threatening the world by says: “we either win together or lose together”.

The criminal regime that killed thousands of its own people will kill millions of yours w/o hesitation.

They do their best to spread the virus around the world to create chaos and put more pressure on the U.S.

For more than a month they lied about the #ChineseVirus in Iran, they refused to stop the flights coming from China, they didn’t quarantine the infected cities, they didn’t take any effective action, & they’re still hiding the truth.

They’re purposely infecting everybody. This is bioterrorism & they should be held accountable for the lives.

The regime of Iran is a terrorist state, not a normal regime. I ask the U.S. to increase & enforce sanctions against the criminal regime of Iran and its officials for crimes against humanity.

They’re responsible for spreading the virus in Iran & around the world.

Regards,
Amir

His post received over 4600 likes and 2200 Retweets.

Dear @realDonaldTrump,
I am Iranian. I lost my grandmother to #Coronavirus & my uncle is in quarantine. I bypassed Iran’s internet filtering to tell you that the Kleptocratic regime of #Iran purposely make it impossible for the world to help us.

1/ pic.twitter.com/w3c31lYCSG

— AmirAarsha ????? (@AmirAarsham) March 18, 2020

Iran on Wednesday reported highest number of fatalities from the coronavirus as another 147 people died, raising the country’s overall death toll to 1,135. It was nearly 15% spike in deaths, amid a total of 17,361 confirmed cases in Iran.

For all the problems, there is little sign that Iranians want another revolution, not least because a sizeable number are still fiercely supportive of the last one.

Seventy-year-old Heidar Fekri has been selling industrial equipment from his small store in a Tehran bazaar since before the revolution, but for the first time he is not sure he can survive.

He means it literally: “My shelves are empty, my warehouses are empty and soon I will have to close the doors. This has been my entire life – I won’t survive long after the doors close.”

Economic Downfall

Iran’s economy had plenty of problems even before US President Donald Trump decided in May to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose “crippling” sanctions.

But that move exacerbated a record drop in Iran’s currency, down 70 percent in the past year, and prompted an exodus of foreign firms.

Anticipation of the return of the oil embargo – due to kick in on Monday – has already plunged the country into recession and will see the economy shrink by 3.6 percent next year, says the International Monetary Fund.

For Fekri, who has been bringing in industrial pumps and drills from Europe for 47 years, the uncertainty means he has not imported anything for more than a year.

“Sales have dropped 90 percent compared with six months ago. The whole bazaar is suffering,” he told AFP.

Repayment of Mullahs’ actions

Almost all products in Iran – from medicines to aircraft spares to plastic bottles – are tied into the global supply chain, so the currency collapse and renewed isolation threaten every corner of society.

The government has been forced to provide food baskets to around half Iran’s households as inflation soars.

For the middle class, perhaps the biggest blow is psychological, as the burst of hope that accompanied the nuclear deal in 2015 – the promise of the country finally shedding its pariah status – has evaporated.

“No one knows what the Americans actually want. We did everything they wanted and it wasn’t enough. It feels like bullying,” said Sam Cordier, head of PGt Advertising, which represents foreign clients such as British Airways and Nestle in Tehran.

Washington says the sanctions are designed to curtail Iran’s “destabilising” activity in the Middle East, but many see them as an attempt to trigger a revolution.

“It’s not fair for the Americans to incite violence. If this continues, all the professional businessmen with something to share through knowledge and investment will leave,” said Cordier.

He was forced to sack six of his 30 staff and reduce salaries for the rest as, one by one, his foreign clients packed their bags.

“I was crying every 10 minutes when I told them. These are the people who are being hurt. Many young, educated people are leaving the country. There’s a massive brain-drain,” he said.

Blame Game

There is plenty of hatred towards the Trump administration, but a surprising number of Iranians pin the blame on their own government for not better protecting them.

“Yes, America is doing bad things but they are looking out for their interests. If our state had looked out for Iran’s interests, we wouldn’t have the situation we have now,” said Erfan Yusufi, 30, whose hip new coffee shop is struggling to cope with rising prices and falling demand.

Iran’s leaders face a tricky balancing act, remaining defiant in the face of US pressure, while acknowledging the economic pain felt in the country.

“All of us understand people are suffering and under pressure,” President Hassan Rouhani told parliament last weekend.

“We cannot tell our people that because of America’s pressure, we cannot do anything. This answer is not acceptable.”

He blamed foreign media for “filling people’s minds with false propaganda” about soaring prices, though Iran’s own central bank says food prices rose 46.5 percent in the year to September.

Another Revolution against Mullah regime

For all the problems, there is little sign that Iranians want another revolution, not least because a sizeable number are still fiercely supportive of the last one.

Most others are fearful of violent unrest, cowed by the security forces or uninterested in doing the bidding of a foreign power.

There is instead a sad resignation among many young people, who often refer to themselves as the “burned generation” for having been denied the chance to realise their potential.

“I’m worried about the future,” said Yusufi in his coffee shop. “Our generation starts each day not knowing what will become of us.”

Article first published on AFP – Agence France-Presse