
Putting
aside Wikileaks and its damaging consequences as well as the suspicious
ability of a “nobody” to gain access to volumes of heavily guarded
classified documents in a short period of time and live to tell about it,
the leaked documents about Arab thought regarding the regime in Tehran is
quite enlightening.
Obviously, Arab leaders find the Islamic Republic of Iran a threat, because
it is a Shiite theocracy with a deep pocketbook committed to completing the
Islamic domination of the world by forcefully subduing not only non-Muslims
but Sunni Muslims (majority of Arabs).
Therefore, the recent Wikileaks documents stating majority of Arab leaders
believe the mullahs in Tehran are dangerous was not news for those
knowledgeable of the region. It is also highly possible that the Wikileaks
had the blessing of certain officials
hoping to green-light an attack on Iran by winning support
from a global population under economic duress. Deception,
misinformation, disinformation, and lying for national interests are ancient
methods made modern and more effective by the digital revolution. Wikileaks’
revelations in that regard are not new, but have succeeded in embarrassing
the U.S. government.
There was news via Wikileaks on the Arab people’s view of the Islamic
Republic and the national Iranian uprising that began in June 2009. It goes
without saying that Arab countries suffer from complete lack of human civil
rights in every realm imaginable. The Arab world has an average 55 percent
literacy rate — a situation quite attractive to its tyrannical leaders.
After all, lack of education and push for fundamentalism are the only way to
imprison and control people.
According to the recent Wikileaks documents, the 2009 Iranian national
uprising dominated the Arab media. The Arab viewership spiked as the street
protests in Iran escalated after its bogus presidential election. The Arab
population is highly engrossed “in watching the drama in Iran unfold.” This
is a phenomenal since originally the majority of Arabs viewed the Islamic
Republic leaders with admiration as opposed to their own corrupt governments
assuming as they did that the rhetoric from Tehran was genuine.
The leaked documents reveal that after witnessing “the forceful reaction by
the Iranian people” in rejecting the regime in Tehran, the Arab communities
appear to have awakened to the realities of the theocracy in Tehran. The
Iranian national revolution against the regime has shattered the false image
that the Arab people had of the Islamic Republic. Despite their unwavering
lack of support for Western policies in the region, the view of ordinary
Arabs in the streets now is to question the motivation of the clerics in
Tehran and their gross crackdown of Iranian opposition and civilians.
Although the Arab leaders fear the Islamic Republic and urge the West to
attack Iran not only to subdue its threatening global Shiite plan, but to
encroach on Iranian national interests (for example, their illegal push for
changing the ancient name of the Persian Gulf to Arabian Gulf), they are
silent about other concerns. Obviously they are also afraid of implications
for their countries if the theocracy in Tehran were toppled by the Iranian
people!
The people in the region understand that internal corruption and the lack of
human civil rights stem from religious bullying supported by their inept and
self-serving leaders, who benefit financially from oppressing the masses.
Arab terrorist organizations such as Al Qaida fueled by Arab regimes have
spread the same fears, injuries, and disgust among the Arab people as the
clerics in Tehran have with the Iranian people. If the Iranian people can
overcome the clerical regime in Tehran, then perhaps the Arab people can
stand up to their unwanted governments as well.
The Arab people are intensely watching the events in Iran unfold, not
because they are amused, but because somewhere deep in the human
subconscious lies the need for freedom of thought and choice. The Arab
people are watching Iranians closely, because the day is coming for them to
stand up as the Iranian people have to gain their human civil rights from
their own despotic and corrupt governments.
Real and positive change in the region must occur from
within those communities and not from the outside. Hence, interest
and emotions are shown by the Arab people towards the Iranian national
struggle, but not for Western policies in the region.
The Arab governments are no friend to the Western world, because they do not
foster the same mentality or culture among their people. Iranians, on the
other hand, have a history of tolerance and pursuit of happiness that goes
back to their Aryan Zoroastrian philosophy. Prior to the Islamic Revolution
of 1979, Iranians had achieved great political strides in terms of
secularism and equality. The fear of the Arab regimes is two-fold: They do
not want a powerful Shiite Iranian state in the region, and they do not want
the Iranian people to topple this unwanted theocracy and inspire the Arab
populations in the process!
According to former Iranian diplomat and president of Azadegan Foundation
Dr. Assad Homayoun,
“it would be the height of folly for Arab and Israeli
leaders to advocate attack on Iran. It would be calamitous and will catapult
the entire region to chaos, bringing harm not only to Iran, the Persian Gulf
states, and Israel, but U.S. vital interests too. The least effect would
possibly be the rise of oil prices from $300 to $400/barrel. The only
solution is the Iranian people, who have shown since 2009 that they are
ready, willing, and able to topple the unwanted clerical regime. But they
need the support of the international community to electrify them.”
Whatever the unknown motivation or support for Wikileaks may be, its
revelations can potentially be helpful to the Arab and Iranian peoples. The
regimes may be antagonists, but the peoples may share common desires. The
revelations of Wikleaks should also push the American people to support U.S.
policymakers, who understand the long-term gains in backing the national
revolution of the Iranian people. The benefits of a secular, democratic Iran
realized at the hands of the people will have a tsunami effect across the
Middle East and Central Asia. It will change the course of history and human
civilization as we know it today.
Sheda Vasseghi is a member of the
Board of Azadegan Foundation and persepolis3d.com. She is a regular contributor
on Iran’s affairs.
This Article published in the
Free Press this is a courtesy copy to the
original article.