Iran’s so-called moderate President Hassan Rouhani revealed his true face earlier this week by threatening international peace, refuting his Western proponents who naively hoped to prevent more conflicts through his government.
“America should know war with Iran is the mother of all wars … Anyone who understands politics a little bit would never say that he/she would prevent exports of Iran’s oil. We have many Straits. The Strait of Hormuz is just one of them”, Rouhani said during a meeting with the Iranian ambassadors to foreign states in Tehran on Sunday 22 July, according to Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) news agency.
Rouhani’s threat of war with the U.S. and closing the strategically important Strait of Hormuz come as Tehran is increasingly isolated internationally. This at a time when the theocratic regime is losing its leverage regionally and sinking further domestically by various economic and social crises inside the country.
The IRGC Commander, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, praised Rouhani’s remarks and said “we stand ready to put in action President Hassan Rouhani’s latest position that if Tehran were not able to export its crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz, no other country would be able to do so”.
Rouhani’s warning against any possible US move to stop Iran’s oil exports also received praise from the Commander of the IRGC Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani.
Indeed, the regime tried to send a threatening signal to all concerned parties with a terror attack against the rally of Iran’s democratic opposition coalition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in Paris on 30 June, which fortunately was stopped by Belgian and French authorities.
Now the International Community can see that there is no difference between the hard-liners such as the terrorist organization IRGC and Rouhani and his so-called reformist friends.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo highlighted this reality in his speech to the Iranian-American community on 22 July. ”Some believe that President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif fit that bill. The truth is they are merely polished front men for the ayatollahs’ international con artistry. Their nuclear deal didn’t make them moderates; it made them wolves in sheep’s clothing. Governments around the world worry that confronting the Islamic Republic harms the cause of moderates, but these so-called moderates within the regime are still violent Islamic revolutionaries with an anti-America, anti-West agenda”, he said.
The political charade of reformers pitted against hardliners is no longer effective for the leaders in Tehran when months of constant popular anti-regime protests across Iran push the entire theocracy closer to collapse.
However, there are some Iranians living in the West working as journalists, political commentators and pundits trying to keep alive the myth of Iranian reformers by spreading fake news against anyone who practically advocates the overthrow of the theocratic regime in Iran.
Long ago, the former Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian admitted during an interview that the intelligence ministry has sent its agents as journalists in order to pursue its goal in the West.
Before and after the NCRI rally in Paris, Iranians witnessed a series of hit-piece against the organized opposition coalition, the NCRI and its main constituents the MEK, parroted often by the mainstream media like the Guardian in the UK or the New York Times. These media including the CNN also spread fake news against President Trump’s correct policy of firmness towards the Iranian regime.
For example on 22 July, the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley retweeted a tweet from MEK’s official account. Some pro-Tehran journalists and proponents of the appeasement policy, often working in BBC Persian, attacked Haley only for her retweet highlighting the protests against the regime in Iran.
Another example is Jason Rezaian, a former Iranian prisoner and journalist, who attended the event with Secretary Pompeo on 22 July at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, on behalf of the Washington Post. In his article in the Washington Post following the speech, Mr Rezaian suggested that the “Iranian Americans must speak up – not let Pompeo speak for them” although he acknowledged that Secretary Pompeo’s “depravity of Iran’s rulers was true.”
In fact, it is ridiculous that someone who has suffered at the hands of the theocracy is actually recommending to the Iranian-American Community not to back Secretary Pompeo as he spoke in support of the Iranian people, who are protesting against the regime for freedom and a better future.
There are also some individuals who label themselves as opposition including the son of the deposed monarchy in Iran, Reza Pahlavi. He did not only not condemn the foiled terror plot against the opposition rally in Paris, but some of his supporters demanded to massacre the opposition members.
A Farsi TV known as Manoto, based in London, parroted the same line claiming in a program that if the opposition members come back to Iran, people will kill them.
These false lines can only be perceived as a justification of regime’s terrorist operations, especially against Iran’s democratic opposition coalition, NCRI, and its supporters, who offer a viable alternative to the ruling theocracy by representing a 10-point democratic platform.
These prove that there is an ongoing media campaign by the famous “Iran echo chamber” and proponents of the appeasement policy to sow discord among Iranian communities abroad and divide the united front to overthrow the theocracy.
The Iranian people are not only struggling against a brutal religious dictatorship but also must overcome a massive media campaign aimed at discredit their legitimate struggle for liberty, democracy and pursuit of happiness.
Hamid Bahrami is a former political prisoner from Iran who now resides in Glasgow, Scotland. He is a human right and political activist and works as a freelance journalist. He tweets at @HaBahram and blogs at analyzecom.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.