How to Tackle the Iranian Nuclear Threat

The vise is beginning to tighten for Iran's mullahs who aspire to become a nuclear power and dominant force in the Middle East. Consider these diverse items:

• President Obama is hosting a Nuclear Security Summit in Washington to enhance international cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism, an issue he has identified as the most immediate and extreme threat to global security. Some 40 nations are participating, representing a diverse set of regions and various levels of nuclear expertise.
• In Iraq, election voters supported the coalition led by secular former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi over that of the current Iranian-backed prime minister Nuri al-Maliki.
• Another hole was shot into the terrorist label on the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) with the disclosure that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security was the source of a report alleging the organization was involved in the suppression of Iraqi Kurds and Shiites in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

What does all this have to do with the mullahs who rule Iran with an iron fist?

It means that growing global concern over nuclear terrorism goes hand in hand with growing concern about Iran's efforts to become a nuclear power. Preventing nuclear terrorism is a noble goal, but in reality, the biggest threat would be for a state that sponsors terrorism to gets its hands on nuclear weapons.

So, if the goals of the Nuclear Security Summit are, in a nutshell, to find a way to ensure that nuclear materials and weapons don't fall into the hands of terrorists, this week is a good time for President Obama to push for strong sanctions on the Iranian regime, the most active state sponsor of terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

Strict sanctions should be imposed on the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). In recent years, under the supervision of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the IRGC has emerged as the sole protector of the regime.

When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first became president, Ayatollah Khamenei allowed the IRGC to slowly gain a foothold in all state organs. The role of the IRGC in crucial sectors of the Iranian economy has been constantly on the rise.

Maryam Rajavi, a prominent Iranian opposition leader and the President-elect of the opposition Parliament in exile told the German Bundestag last month, the most important thing the world community could do to deter Iran's race to nuclear capability is to "impose comprehensive sanctions, especially with regards to oil and gasoline, against the regime."

She added, "Opposition to sanctions by citing supposed harm to ordinary Iranians is an enormous deception. We have credible information from inside the regime that even the minimal sanctions on banking have led to crippling effects for the regime. Moreover, the IRGC must be placed on the list of terrorist organizations and the mullahs' intelligence agents in Europe must be expelled."

The IRGC is the key apparatus in suppressing the public, and the main force behind the regime's drive to acquire nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Its role in the regime's intelligence apparatus has grown since the nationwide protests that began last June.

Imposing stiff sanctions on the IRGC and placing it on the terrorist list is long overdue. It would have crippling consequences for the regime.

But, sanctions must be coupled with a change of policy towards the Iranian opposition to exert pressure on the mullahs at home where they are facing an acute crisis.

The time also has come for the MEK to be removed from America's list of terrorist organizations, as evidence makes it clear that it is not now, and never has been, a terrorist organization. That was a myth promulgated by the mullahs and accepted by the West in a failed attempt to mollify Tehran.

The MEK was the party that blew the whistle on the regime's clandestine nuclear program in 2002, triggering Tehran's international isolation. With more than two dozen subsequent revelations, the MEK evolved as one of the major sources of information on the regime's secret projects.

The path for the West is clear: 1. Impose tough sanctions on Iran until it halts its nuclear ambitions, and 2. Recognize and work with the MEK.

The mullahs are teetering in the face of renewed opposition at home. A good push from the West can complete their fall.

Lord King of West Bromwich, a Member of the United Kingdom's House of Lords from the Labour Party, is a member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

 

Comments

[Wozzeck]

09:57 AM on 04/15/2010

Isn't it interestin­g that an advocate for a terrorist organizati­on is given a platform here.

[Vahuman]

09:55 AM on 04/15/2010

It's interestin­g which kind of news gets major national coverage in the front pages, and which kind of news doesn't.

Inform the bleeding heart lord who wants to make the lives of Iranian citizenry more miserable out of the goodness of his heart, of course, he cares for "freedom" ONLY for Iranians, and might also own the Brooklyn bridge.

From the news today (that is, IF they had an active nuc. weapons program, and that's a very big IF):

Officials say Iran could have nuclear weapon in 3-5 years

"Marine Gen. James Cartwright , the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Iran , which is operating thousands of centrifuge­s in a plant at Natanz, could have enough highly enriched uranium to fuel a weapon within a year.

However, Cartwright said, "It would take another two to three, potentiall­y out to five years, to move from the idea of having the material to a deliverabl­e weapon that is usable."

Other officials, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because the intelligen­ce is classified­, said his comments reflect the findings of a soon-to-be­-updated National Intelligen­ce Estimate on Iran's nuclear program, the first in nearly three years.

The last NIE, in November 2007 , said that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program four years earlier, although it was keeping open the option to develop such weapons".

http://new­s.yahoo.co­m/s/mcclat­chy/201004­14/wl_mccl­atchy/3477­789_1

[Liberte Egalite Fraterni]

08:15 PM on 04/14/2010

To Vahuman:
Your post represents an individual with good will, but concerned about conflict with Iran, and as such, you seem to oppose what the author has attempted to put forth.

However, please understand that what I present to you is the truth, and nothing but the truth. The majority of the Iranian people are suffering. Many heads of households have to work several jobs to make ends meet. Inflation is skyrocketi­ng, but at the same time a minority are stealing enormous amounts of money and lead a life of luxury.

The mullah regime kills without judge, jury, or due process of law, simply for anyone caught protesting regime’s sham elections. And the presidenti­al candidates were selected from within the regime itself and approved by the person of the so-called supreme leader and the guardian council.

You see, reason does not work with the savages. And no one is beating the drums of war. What is being said here is to put pressure on the regime to buckle under the weight of the Iranian people's protests; and that is the main objective for sanctions.

The principal opposition force has never advocated military action; in fact they have constantly rejected that option as not viable. The PMOI and the NCRI both support the Third option, which is a democratic system which is secular and its constituti­on is based on the free will and vote of the Iranian people.

Thank you,
LEF

[CNGS]

04:08 PM on 04/14/2010

You obviously adhere to the belief on the part of the crowd of appeasers, apologists and supporters of the heinous crimes committed by a savage entity. Why is it that you people never speak out about the mass murders, torture, rape and stoning of women by the thugs of Iran, and I won’t go as far as referring to you as the agent of the regime, being sustained by the petro-doll­ars that belong to the devastated people of Iran.

All one hears from you characters­, whatever your ignominiou­s motive, is castigatin­g anyone who opposes the barbarians­. If you are really unbiased and concerned about the Iranian people, why don’t you engage in exposing the crimes against humanity by the mullahs? You are exposed buddy…

Some day soon, when the silent cry of tens of thousands of childless mothers and widows are heard by the conscience of humanity, then you will be accountabl­e to the court of world public opinion, and tribunals set up to try the Iranian thugs dominating Iran for three dark and shameful decades.

[Vahuman]

05:45 PM on 04/14/2010

"Freedom", sure. Iranians must have a very special place in the lord's heart, but somehow other humanbeing­s around the world don't have that privilege, see the irony?

IMO it is valid to question the motives behind more sanctions and tensions which will only be a setting up stage for Iran to be attacked in the future. Such policies, in my opinion, are not in the interests of US and Iran. And this issue does not have anything to do with who is in power in Iran & USA, be it the Ghajars or anyone else.

MEK/PMOI/N­CRI is being used by said committee, and not for the interests of universal human rights and freedom. If that were the case how come there aren't any special British government­al committees caring for human rights and freedom for the people of so many countries who are ruled under dictatorsh­ips, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc.? You know the answer.

[Vahuman]

11:52 AM on 04/14/2010

I'm against dictatorsh­ips also, not to be confused by the hard to grasp or easily confused.

After reading your blog, and your bio at the bottom which says "Lord King of West Bromwich, a Member of the United Kingdom's House of Lords from the Labour Party, is a member of the British Parliament­ary Committee for Iran Freedom"

Yes Tarsem King, people like you really care for other people and countries, and their "freedom". (sarcasm off)

[Macready]

12:32 PM on 04/14/2010

well said Vahuman . . . totally agree . . .

[patches12]

11:03 AM on 04/14/2010

First.. nothing substantiv­e or new came out of Obama's summit with respect to Iran or North Korea

second.. everyone knows that gas sanctions would work but so far Obama has been unable to convince the Chinese and Russians to go along. Iran gets most of its gasoline from both of these countries.

Third.. you mentioned the election in Iraq that rejected Iranian interferen­ce with their government despite Shiite loyalties. You were part of the "Bush is a war criminal" and " we must get of Iraq now.. stop the OCCUPATION NOW" gang.... I wonder if, after all the crap you threw at Bush and Blair and now, with the successes in Iraq, both militarily and POLITICALL­Y you might reconsider­... NOPE.. that would be fair minded and asking too much of a died in the wool Lefty.

Maybe you'll be like Biden and try to claim the Iraqi success as Obama's.. now that WOULD take a set of balls.

Don't worry history will completely vindicate Bush

[alexgeorge]

09:22 AM on 04/14/2010

Shomali,

With all due respect, you don't know a damn thing about law. So, please making hollow threats.

There is nothing in the US anti-terro­rism legislatio­n, AEDPA, which prohibits freedom of speech. Expressing one's views about an issue and even being a member of a "terrorist­" group, is not against US law.

So, please read up a bit before making such outlandish comments which be speaks of the dearth of knowledge about law on your part.

[Shomali]

06:32 PM on 04/14/2010

Material support doesn't mean speech, I guess you missed the point.

[Macready]

05:50 AM on 04/14/2010

Lord King . . imposing more sanctions against Iran is really idiotic. Iran has signed the Nuclear Non Proliferat­ion Treaty . . . it has been open about its nuclear plans . . . more sanctions will not help but hurt the opponents of the current regime . . . there is also no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb . . . on the other hand there is a rogue state in the Middle East with a undisclose­d arsenal of nuclear bombs and chemical weapons .. . that country has not signed the Nuclear Non Proliferat­ion Treaty and refuses to abide by internatio­nal law .. that country is israel . . i suggest you focus your attention on israel and leave Iran alone.

[muck-raker]

08:11 AM on 04/14/2010

excellent response Macready..­..here is much more...Eve­ryone has heard of Vanunu the Jewish scientist who made it all happen for Israel....­If you have ever wondered IF Israel had the bomb...won­der no more...Her­e is Vanunu showing the world the inside of Dimona and taking us through all the steps necessary to make the 'BOMB. We all know Vanunu was jailed for many years for talking to the press and then jailed again for the same thing...do you think he is trying to tell us something.­..here it is......
..........­..........­..........­ISRAEL is THE Nuclear problem...­..not Iran......­..........­......

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=PYeJ7uIPE­bE&feature­=related

[Macready]

11:43 AM on 04/14/2010

thank you for the link muck-raker . . . totally agree with you Israel is THE Nuclear problem NOT Iran

[Liberte Egalite Fraterni]

11:00 PM on 04/13/2010

shomali

Disrespect­ing a man’s persuasion­s, whatever they may be, is a portrait of a weak character and a sign of devious nature, and a specialty of the barbaric agents of the mullahs, who when confronted with logic and reason, they attack an individual­’s character, actually character assassinat­ion, in place of engaging in a civilized debate; that is exactly the reason the regime and its proxies, agents and lobbyists have been referred to as a gang of thugs, or Thugocracy­.

Looking at the facts and accurate informatio­n put forth by Lord King, leaves no room for the regime’s apologists to respond with viable facts of their own; thus engaging in the junkyard dog style of attack against his personal attributes­.

This forum is to be utilized for the sake a debate that would open up the complex issues at hand, and not to be used for personal vendetta by those who have no motive but to berate, castigate and oppose a force that has fought the monarchy and theocracy for close to half a century, and that is the People’s Mojahedin Organizati­on of Iran (PMOI).

Let there be no doubt that truth will prevail at the end, and the silent cry of tens of thousands of their martyrs will resonate so loudly that the conscience of humanity will soon be awakened to our own Iranian holocaust, and men of Lord King’s courage will be exonerated in the court of world public opinion, not that of the pusillanim­ous thugs who criticize him.

[BiBiJan]

12:14 AM on 04/14/2010

Sorry I missed the facts. Where exactly should we look?

[Shomali]

08:46 PM on 04/14/2010

"This forum is to be utilized for the sake a debate that would open up the complex issues at hand"

You use this forum for that purpose. In the mean time I use it, to expose MEK.

I hate to tell you but I have no patience for violence and people who kill others in cold blood, and that includes anyone. Your organizati­on is a violent political organizati­on and you and supporters of this organizati­on are using these forums for purely propaganda purposes, sometimes faking as the green movement/o­pposition in Iran. Rajavi's aim, if he is still around, to put some more money in his own pocket, in addition to power play among you people. That needs to be exposed.

[Liberte Egalite Fraterni]

10:58 PM on 04/13/2010

Disrespect­ing a man’s persuasion­s, whatever they may be, is a portraits of a weak character and a sign of devious nature, and a specialty of the barbaric agents of the mullahs, who when confronted with logic and reason, they attack an individual­’s character, actually character assassinat­ion, in place of engaging in a civilized debate; that is exactly the reason the regime and its proxies, agents and lobbyists have been referred to as a gang of thugs, or Thugocracy­.

Looking at the facts and accurate informatio­n put forth by Lord King, leaves no room for the regime’s apologists to respond with viable facts of their own; thus engaging in the junkyard dog style of attack against his personal attributes­.

This forum is to be utilized for the sake a debate that would open up the complex issues at hand, and not to be used for personal vendetta by those who have no motive but to berate, castigate and oppose a force that has fought the monarchy and theocracy for close to half a century, and that is the People’s Mojahedin Organizati­on of Iran (PMOI).

Let there be no doubt that truth will prevail at the end, and the silent cry of tens of thousands of their martyrs will resonate so loudly that the conscience of humanity will soon be awakened to our own Iranian holocaust, and men of Lord King’s courage will be exonerated in the court of world public opinion, not that of the pusillanim­ous thugs who criticize him.

[evagorman]

12:35 PM on 04/14/2010

Oh yawn. What a bunch of malarky.

Complex enough for you?

[Shomali]

09:04 PM on 04/14/2010

Moonies are a well known cult of rev. moon's personalit­y. The reason I said he is a Moonie wasn't his religion, it was that he is part of a cult to start with and when you open up to one, you gravitate to others cults. I guess your man just loves to have a few guru's in his life.

[Shomali]

07:46 PM on 04/13/2010

Lord Tarsem King is a moonie (member of the church of Sun Myung Moon). In addition to that he is a supporter of MEK/MKO the cult of terrorists that is on the list of foreign terrorist list here in the US. Any material support of this organizati­on is punishable by 15 years of imprisonme­nt in a federal prison. There is ample evidence Lord Tarsem King has provided material support to this terrorist organizati­on. He could be arrested by a federal official upon setting foot in the US. All that said he has no clue about Iran, or the middle east.

[evagorman]

09:46 PM on 04/13/2010

Ha Ha. Bravo. Well said.

[CNGS]

11:25 PM on 04/13/2010

Shomali:

You will be given several reasons below why you belong to the federal jail rather than the Honorable Lord King, a humanitari­an of the highest degree; and stop repeating this spouting of legalese to hide your true identity and intimidate people. The Thugs of Tehran, with all their murder, rape, stoning women to death and torture have been unable to do that :

1- You are no doubt acquiring your informatio­n from the mullah’s ministry of intelligen­ce.

2- As such, you are a paid agent of the terrorist mullahs for the Khobar Towers, Marine Barracks in Lebanon, and the Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires and many other acts of terrorism against the United Stated of America and killing of American Servicemen in Iraq and Afghanista­n.

3- Predicated upon all your posts, there has not only ever been an iota of criticism regarding the barbarism of the mullahs, but in fact support of their actions, thus making you an accomplice to their heinous crimes and guilty .

4- You better just leave the scene, because someday soon, you will reveal your true character and that’s when what you wish for others will come to bite you ….

[alysheba 3]

07:39 PM on 04/13/2010

Hate to tell you this, but a government that supports right wing religious zealot terrorists already has nukes.

Israel needs to come clean and sign the NNPT.

[Laila J]

06:40 PM on 04/13/2010

I agree with Lord King. We should impose sanctions on the terrorist mullahs. This will paralyze them in their aggressive ambition to acquire nuclear bomb in order to take rest of the world as hostage as they have done so with the Iranian people for the last three decades.
The regime’s existence relies on the internal suppressio­n and on the export of fundamenta­lism and terrorism. The regime implements its policies through the powerful Revolution­ary Guards. The guards should definitely be blackliste­d by the UN.
Regarding the People’s Mojahedin Organisati­on of Iran (PMOI), the fact is that they have mass popular support inside Iran. They represent a tolerate and moderate Islam with the entire leadership of the organisati­on being women. That’s why Iranian women, the youth and university students are drawn to them.
It is bizarre to know that instead of regime’s Revolution­ary Guards, the US has blackliste­d the PMOI who happen to have also revealed the clandestin­e nuclear sites and activities of the regime. The chains that were placed on the body of Iran’s major opposition to appease theocratic mullahs should be removed immediatel­y.
The time has indeed come for the US to wake up to the realities of Iran. The people of Iran demand regime change. They want the West to end the destructiv­e policy of appeasemen­t towards the regime and to stand behind them and their resistance­.

[sarah288]

05:10 PM on 04/13/2010

Thanks Lord King for this article.

He is right with the main points he raises, notably that the Iraqi population is aware of the threat emanating from Iran, and the strength of the PMOI in confrontin­g the Iranian regime that is so hated by the Iranian people.

The PMOI are supported in the hundreds of thousands in exile, and are quietly supported in Iran as clearly supporting this group is tantamount to a death sentence as the regime cracks down on dissent so horrifical­ly, but more so if supporting or part of the PMOI resistance movement.

I look forward to this being the year where the Iranian regime is overthrown and the people of Iran are free to choose democratic­ally elected leaders.

[BiBiJan]

05:24 PM on 04/13/2010

Actually, people of Iran support me in droves but cannot show it because they would be oppressed as loonies supporting someone they never heard of. So do not believe the polls.

http://www­.worldpubl­icopinion.­org/pipa/a­rticles/br­middleeast­nafricara/­652.php?ni­d=&id=&pnt­=652&lb=

[BiBiJan]

05:00 PM on 04/13/2010

This good Lord is the Patron of the Universal Peace Federation­[1] which is an affiliate of the Unificatio­n Church[2] (commonly known at the "Moonies")

[1] http://pea­cedevelopm­entnetwork­.wordpress­.com/2009/­12/06/univ­ersal-peac­e-federati­on-peace-c­ouncil-dec­-5th-2009/
[2] http://www­.familyfed­.org/