The protests against the Islamist regime in Iran show that the real “war on women” is being waged by the mullahs in Tehran, not American conservatives, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. According to Tobin, the abuse of women by the theocratic government’s “morality police” is bringing attention to both the brutal nature of its rule as well as the fact that American efforts to appease and enrich Iran via a new and even weaker nuclear deal is helping to perpetuate these outrages. Tobin discusses these issues in the latest episode of “Top Story.”
Appeasing the ayatollahs
In his view, the big mistake the Biden administration is making is its attempt to treat the question of human rights in Iran as separate from its efforts—currently on hold until perhaps after the midterm elections—to strike a nuclear pact with the ayatollahs. Instead of merely paying lip service to the courageous women protesting in Iran, the United States must renounce its nuclear delusions about pursuing another dangerous deal with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, he says. Tobin is joined by Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior fellow Behnam Ben-Taleblu, who explains that while the Biden administration deserves credit for supporting Iranians protesting against their government instead of ignoring them as the Obama administration did, that’s a low bar by which to judge it. What the United States needs to understand, he says, is that the size and reach of these protests show that this is about more than the compulsory wearing of hijabs for women, and speaks to the general dissatisfaction of the Iranian people.
The heart of the problem: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
At the heart of the problem is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the enormously powerful branch of the country’s armed forces which runs its international terrorism as well as much of the country’s economy, says Taleblu. Iran is now run by “the guys with the guns,” he points out, “not the guys in the turbans.”
Even if the Iranian security forces put down the current protests by brute force, it’s now clear that the divide within the country is growing. “This is an Islamist government in charge of a post-revolutionary and nationalist society. And that fundamentally cannot hold,” the analyst concludes.
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