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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/794384.html
Our Allies, the Iranian People
[Ha'aretz] Yossi Melman - Former Israeli ambassador to Iran Uri Lubrani, currently an advisor to the defense minister, says the second Lebanon war really drove him crazy. "Suddenly everyone was surprised at the depth of Iran's penetration of Lebanon. People started to talk in terms of 'Iran's northern command is right on the Israeli border.'" "For years, at every opportunity we warned that there was an Iranian danger. That it was greater and more profound than any other danger facing Israel. Even more than the Palestinian issue. We said that it should be handled first. Not only in Lebanon, but in Tehran as well. Because from Tehran they send out tentacles to Berlin, to Saudi Arabia, to Argentina." "We have a big and important ally in Iran: the Iranian people....The question is what is necessary to make them take to the streets instead of succumbing to submissiveness and depression." "I believe that there's a popular basis for a change in Iran. The Iranians do not want to be a nation that has religion forced upon it....The Iranians have access to radio and television. They see what's going on in the world. There's a community of four million Iranian exiles and emigrants. There are family ties. Those who live abroad constitute an object for imitation and envy." "There is a great deal of wealth there as a result of the royalties from oil and the increase in oil prices. On the other hand there is astonishing poverty. The economic situation of most of the nation is very bad. There is tremendous unemployment. There is inflation of over 20 percent. I feel that conditions are ripe for carrying out a regime change." "The United States has thus far spent $100 billion on Iraq; with a small fraction of this sum, the aim can be achieved."