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The Best Deal for the U.S. Isn't a New Nuclear Agreement But an Entirely New Iran
(Los Angeles Times) Alireza Nader - The Islamic Republic of Iran's march toward a nuclear weapons capability is not only a threat to U.S. national security interests but to global peace. And merely engaging the regime and hoping for its evolution is completely unrealistic. Tragically, the U.S. did not support the massive 2009 Green Movement political uprising. A time of great vulnerability for the regime, the uprising provided the U.S. with an ideal opportunity to further undermine a deeply hated regime and gain even more leverage in nuclear negotiations. Instead, millions of Iranians protesting the fraudulent reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were met with a stony silence from Washington, a decision senior officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, later said they regretted. The Islamic Republic, much like the corrupt and bankrupt former Soviet Union, is destined to fail. The fight against the Khamenei regime's tyranny is in principle the same as the fight against Soviet tyranny. The best deal for the U.S. is not a new nuclear agreement, but an entirely new Iran. The writer is founder and chief executive of New Iran, an advocacy organization in Washington.