[Commentary Magazine] Amir Taheri - In the words of Muhammad-Mahdi Pour-Fatemi, a member of the Islamic Majlis, Iran today is passing through "the deepest crisis our nation has experienced in decades." Because of "policies that have produced nothing but grief for our nation," Pour-Fatemi has courageously said, "the Islamic Republic today is isolated." The fall in value of the Iranian currency - despite rising oil revenues - and the massive increase in the rate of unemployment over the past two years signal an economic crisis already heralded by double-digit inflation. Ahmadinejad is now desperate to provoke a mini-conflict with the U.S. to divert attention from the gathering storm inside Iran. At the same time, he is raising the "wipe-Israel-off-the-map" banner, lately all but abandoned by most Arab leaders, in the hope of winning a position of leadership for his Shiite theocracy - something otherwise unthinkable to the Sunni majority in the Islamic world. Accelerating the collapse and replacement of this aberrant tyranny, a curse to the Iranian people and to the world, will strike a blow against anti-Western and anti-democratic forces all over the globe, safeguard America's strategic interests in the Middle East and beyond, and add another radiant page to the almanac of American support for the cause of freedom.
2006-11-06 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive