Don’t be fooled by Iran’s new president, extremist policy is the same - opinion

Precisely now, when the Iranian people have expressed their desire for change by electing the so-called “reformist” Masoud Pazkhian as president over the more extreme conservative candidate, Said Jalili, extra caution must be exercised. 

Pazkhian’s election is not the reflection of a change in Iran’s extremist policy, and supreme leader Ali Khamenei is still setting the agenda. 

The election of Iran’s new president to replace Ebrahim Raisi – killed in a helicopter crash in May – ostensibly positions him as willing to reach a compromise in his approach to the West and attempts to convey messages about his readiness to renew Iran’s nuclear agreement with the United States. 

The big question, however, is whether the US will fall into the honey trap set by the Islamic Republic’s new president. 

The upcoming US presidential elections, slated for November, will have a decisive effect on its attitude toward Iran. 

Against the background of the failed assassination attempt on presidential candidate Donald Trump last week, it is unlikely that Joe Biden will be reelected as president; but if he does win the elections, he will likely try to reach a compromise with Iran on the nuclear issue. 

What Trump might do is still an unknown factor. 

In a March interview with Fox News, he claimed that Israel must end the fighting in Gaza and said that “Iran could have been included in the Abraham Accords.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has called upon world leaders to stand up against Iran with strength and determination. 

The international community must demand the cessation of support for the terrorist organizations operated by Tehran.

In Iran, the president might be new, but the chants are old.

Pazkhian has spoken with Ismail Haniya, the head of Hamas’s political wing, assuring him of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for the Palestinian people “until the liberation of Jerusalem.” 

At the beginning of the month, Pazkhian also clarified his support for terrorism to Hezbollah Secretary-General Nasrallah.

Iran continues to be a threat to Israel 

According to correspondence recently published in the Iranian media, Pazkhian wrote: “The Islamic Republic has always supported the resistance of the peoples of the region against the illegitimate Zionist regime,” adding that “resistance movements” in the Middle East (that is, terrorist organizations) will not allow Israel’s “criminal policy” towards the Palestinians to continue. 

Iran’s new president has also issued a statement emphasizing his country’s friendship with China and Russia, praising the Eastern powers, and attacking the West. 

“The United States must understand that Iran will not respond to pressure,” he said in a statement published in the daily Tehran Times and titled “My message to the new world.”  

“Russia is a valued strategic ally and a neighbor of Iran, and my administration will remain committed to expanding and increasing cooperation between the countries,” he wrote, adding: “We look forward to more extensive cooperation with Beijing as we move towards a new world order.” 

PESHKHIAN BLAMES the US and Europe for causing “hundreds of billions of dollars in damage” to Iran’s economy, as well as inflicting “tremendous suffering, death, and destruction on the Iranian people.”  Meanwhile, the supply of submarines and missiles that Iran transfers to Russia destroys entire cities in Ukraine and threatens Europe as well. 

The Iranian terrorist regime is the common enemy of Israel and the global community. 

In conversations with family members still in Iran, expatriates report that the majority of Iranians despise the regime and are seeking reform. 

However, without an uprising, nothing will change. 

The international community is aware of the gravity of Iran’s threats to destroy Israel and of attempts to reach understandings to stop it from arming itself with nuclear weapons. 

Iran now has the ability to produce a nuclear bomb within just a few weeks.

Last month, a report in the Washington Post claimed that Iran was significantly expanding its nuclear activities at the Purdue and Natanz underground sites. 

The article said that the Iranians were installing additional centrifuges in Purdue that could triple the amount of uranium being enriched and result in Iran’s ability to produce a sufficient quantity every month. 

It is believed that the significant expansion currently taking place at Iran’s most protected nuclear facility may give Tehran new options to quickly assemble a nuclear force. 

Threats by US President Joe Biden and other heads of state make no impression on the ayatollahs. 

Israel is aware of the Iranian danger, as is the president of the United States. Staying quiet is no longer an option, nor can we put this genie back into the bottle. 

THE ACTION required, without delay, is the application of a military solution to the nuclear threshold state and the destruction of its capabilities. 

We were aware of the threat of Hezbollah but had become addicted to the false quiet, while on the Lebanese side the enemy continued to build tunnels and equip itself with, according to estimates, some 150,000 missiles aimed at every point of Israel’s territory. 

There is still a chance, albeit a slim one, of reaching an agreement to move Hezbollah beyond the Litani  River, in accordance with UN Resolution 1701. 

Nevertheless, the risk of the conflict expanding to a regional war is considerably greater. Clearly, such an arrangement, if reached, would be temporary.

The question is not whether there will be a war with Hezbollah, but when. 

The answer lies primarily in how the next US president will opt to act against Iran and its affiliates after the elections.

The writer is CEO of Radios 100 FM, honorary consul of Nauru, vice dean of the consular staff, and vice president of the Ambassadors Club of Israel.