[BESA Center/Bar-Ilan University] Mordechai Kedar - Most Iranian citizens lead a free, secular lifestyle, scorn the religious leaders who tyrannize them, and survive economically in a twisted and corrupt system. The leadership imposes its regime by means of force - from executing people in the city square to lashings and other forms of physical and mental punishment - according to Shiite practice. The average Iranian citizen enjoys relative personal freedom, as long as he or she refrains from engaging in political activity. Experience in recent years has proven that negotiations have no chance of halting Iran's nuclear plan. If a unified front of Western countries forces the Iranian regime to choose between survival and nuclearization, and if the West succeeds in convincing the ayatollahs that this time the ultimatum is serious and that it will unquestionably be implemented, they will choose survival. Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence.
2007-04-04 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive