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The West Must Stand with the Iranian People
(Brussels Signal-Belgium) Struan Stevenson - For decades, some argued that engagement and appeasement would moderate Tehran's behavior. They insisted there were "reformists" and "pragmatists" lurking within the clerical establishment, figures who could be trusted to steer Iran toward a more responsible path. It was always a fantasy. Time and again, those illusions were exposed. The regime exploited diplomatic openings not to reform, but to regroup. It extended its influence across the Middle East, fueling proxy wars, sponsoring terrorism, and destabilizing fragile states. All the while, it lied, obfuscated and advanced its nuclear ambitions alongside an expanding arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones. Appeasement did not change the regime. It emboldened it. Now, not only has the regime survived, it has adapted. Iran today is a country gripped by fear. Arrests are rising sharply. Surveillance is pervasive. Executions are carried out with chilling regularity. Inside the prisons, conditions are inhumane. Detainees are starved, denied medical care, and subjected to prolonged isolation. The silence from the international community has been as shocking as it is shameful. The recent executions of political prisoners and young protesters swept up during the January uprising should have provoked global outrage. Instead, they passed with barely a murmur. But repression cannot extinguish the underlying reality. Iran is a country on the brink. Beneath the surface lies a seething reservoir of anger among workers, pensioners, students and women. The demand for change is not fading. It is growing. The responsibility of the West is clear. It is to stand consistently and unequivocally with the Iranian people. The writer was a member of the European Parliament representing Scotland (1999-2014).