(Wall Street Journal) Nazenin Ansari and Jonathan Paris - The deadline for Iran to accept a UN-brokered deal on its controversial nuclear program expired on Dec. 31, proving yet again that the policy of modifying the behavior of the Islamic Republic is not working. Meanwhile, more and more experts are concluding that it is no longer a question of whether the regime in Tehran will fall, but rather when. The stranglehold on Iran's economy wielded by elements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the state militia's attack last month on mourners at the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, revealed to the nation that the Islamic Revolution has degenerated into an illegitimate cartel backed by merciless armed militias. The question now being asked is how the Green Movement can evolve from a resistance movement into an alternative political force capable of ruling Iran. Ms. Ansari is the diplomatic editor of the London-based weekly Iranian newspaper Kayhan. Mr. Paris is a Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and Adjunct Fellow with the London-based Legatum Institute.
2010-01-14 08:26:48Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive