Behind the Headlines/May 14

Jamshid Chalangi:

In tonight’s program from our London studios we will look at escalating US-Iran crisis and find out if behind the scene hands are pushing the region into another war.

Also, why the Iranian regime has taken our country into this situation and why itstill continues to insist on its nuclear program?

The Iranian regime has been blamed for the explosions on four oil tankers in Fujaireh and the price of oil has gone up again.

Our guests to discuss these news stories tonight are political activists Hassan Shariatmadari and Heshmat Tabarzadi.

Hassan Shariatmadari:

Since its inception the Iranian regime has been following a foreign policy of war of attrition with the US and has also inflicted several human damages to its forces here and there and has always refused to come to a proper peace withWashington.

So it is only too natural that this policy would one day reach a turning point and must end one way or the other.

However, Khamenei still believes there will not be a war with US. The truth is that the US patience has reached an end and while Trump wants to avoid a war, the climate of verbal confrontation can at anytime turn into a military clash if any one of the parties resorts to a miscalculation and acts, which we have seen many cases of it in history.

It must be said that it is the naivety and foolishness of the leaders of the Iranian regime who think even if there is no war the future from now on will be the same as before for them.

Khamenei thinks if he drags on for long enough, Trump will be out of office and he can again begin defying the world and cause instability in the region. I believe these are the last remainingdays of no war and no peace situation for the regime.

Heshmat Tabarzadi:

The Iranian regime has been opposing and confronting the US over the last forty years because of the influence of the left leaning Marxism on its religious ideology.

We are not sure when exactly this animosity started but it appears that with the seizure of the US embassy itgained momentum and the regime started its slogans of “death to America” and called for the destruction of the state of Israel.

The regime has not abandoned this strategy ever since even though during the Obama era there were some limited retreats from it to compromise with his administration.

Khamenei had not even fully approved of the nuclear deal and when he did he stopped short of compromising on other issues such as the missile tests and the question of recognizing Israel’s existence.

Khamenei has repeatedly said that he will not allow another Gorbachev to emerge in Iran as he is at war with any internal reform of the regime and anything Western.

However, today is the end of his sad and destructive strategy for Iran and the Iranian people.