On September 5, Khamenei said that he blamed the Iranian currency crisis that rocked the country this summer on outside forces, but in two follow up addresses he denied any outside influence.
Now, the Regime is under a lot of pressure both domestically (from the ongoing Iranian people’s uprising) and internationally (from the US sanctions and businesses pulling out). This level of pressure is something that the mullahs’ regime has never faced before; especially given the West’s 40 years appeasement of the Iranian Regime.
The Regime doesn’t have many options or much time, especially given the upcoming midterm elections in America and the second round of US sanctions, which are both scheduled for early November.
So what is the Regime’s response to this drastic shift in policy? Well it seems that Khamenei is trying to buy time.
Of course, the chances of a major shift in US policy in favour of the Iranian mullahs is incredibly remote.
While the policy against Iran is Republican-led, it enjoys bipartisan support, so even if Democrats sweep the House and the Senate, Iran will lose out.
It’s hard to guess what exactly is going through Khamenei’s mind at this point, but he knows that his Regime is on the edge and it’s almost like he wants to delay the inevitable until after his death.
He is currently in the late stages of cancer and the potential leadership contest has caused massive infighting amongst the mullahs, ironically weakening the Regime even more.
The most common problem related to Iran and cited by many international governments is its support for terrorism.
In August, two Regime agents were arrested in the US for spying on members of Iranian main opposition the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and its partner, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). While in June, three agents and an Iranian diplomat were arrested in Europe for their role in plotting to bomb an NCRI rally.
Reza Shafiee, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI, wrote: “Many analysts believe that the Iranian regime will not weather its current predicament. Economic failures as the bedrock fueled with four decades of absolute suppression are recipes for disaster.
It is certainly true but it is missing a major component, which should be taken into the consideration and that is the role of an organized resistance. Khamenei and IRGC officials have said all along that MEK’s Resistance Units are playing a leading role in turning simple protests into major security threats for the regime.”
