With the 2024 Presidential election gearing up, Republican candidates like former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have rightfully focused their foreign policy on China. The one foreign policy issue that seems to be ignored by candidates is the threat of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In the past few years, the Ayatollahs in Iran have continued to support their terrorist proxies in the Middle East, attacking American and Israeli forces, damaging Saudi and Israeli oil shipments in the Persian Gulf, expanding their influence in Latin America, and repressing peaceful Iranian protesters who want freedom from the mullahcracy and its Sharia-based laws. To uphold America’s safety, security, and foreign policy any serious Republican candidates should advocate for the following approaches toward US-Iran relations.
1. Clarify the Historical Record
When discussing past and current American-Iranian relations, one of the most pernicious narratives that always seem to creep onto the scene is the infamous 1953 coup story, which was formulated by leftist scholars.
It goes something like this.
The United States supposedly organized a coup against the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, for the purpose of maintaining western access to Iranian oil. This false narrative is taught on college campuses and repeated in Oscar-nominated films like Argo, fails to tell the story in full detail. However, the popular narrative places the blame for Iran’s dangerous theocracy at the feet of America.
Instead, Republican candidates need to go on the offense and combat this long pervasive narrative that has infected American-Iranian relations and point out that the coup was an enacted by the Iranian people. Moreover, from 1953 to 1979, Iran was one of America’s most reliant allies in the Middle East, aiding the US in its fight against Soviet influence in the Middle East and supporting Israel through economic and military cooperation. Candidates should also point out that Iranians in Iran continue to praise the deceased monarch in Iran and would give anything to live under his rule instead of the current regime that represses their freedoms.
2. Armed Revolution
Following the creation of the Islamic Republic, the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia joined together to support an armed movement led by the Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, along with former Imperial Iranian Generals to overthrow the Islamic Republic. However, after the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1983 and the assassination of Imperial Iranian Generals, everything collapsed. Today, with ongoing protests in Iran and calls for regime change, Republican candidates should take the position of vowing to create a new counter revolutionary movement against the Islamic Republic, promising to support, train and provide military weaponry to Iranians willing to fight against the regime.
By promising to work with allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel on this issue, Republican candidates can make the case to voters that this hawkish action would be a joint effort between the US and its Middle East allies against a common enemy. While such a policy would be considered rash by some, without a US-aligned Iranian military force, the current Islamic government in Iran will continue to thrive and be a significant threat to America’s interests and international security.
3. Support a Targeted Strike
If Republican candidates want to seriously tackle Iran’s nuclear program and prevent the Islamic regime from obtaining an atomic weapon, the only policy that can put this issue to rest is for the US to launch a pinpointed military strike against underground nuclear facilities throughout Iran. Given the overwhelming evidence that the regime in Tehran has publicly lied to the U.S. and the international community about its nuclear program and efforts to build up underground atomic facilities and enrich uranium, the U.S. must send a message to the mullahs in Tehran that it will not stand for its brazen nuclear aggression.
Those who say that a nuclear strike would provoke the Ayatollahs and lead to a disastrous war between Iran and the U.S. fail to realize that such an effort would unite America, Israel, and Arab allies in the region into combatting whatever Iran or its terrorist proxies do in response to a strike, given their support for such a military action. Subsequently, those who say that a military strike would rally Iranians behind the Islamic Republic fail to understand the mood of the Iranian people, which are calling on the U.S. to stand with them as they march for the regime’s downfall.
Elliot Nazar
Elliot Nazar is a Senior political science major at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with an emphasis on international relations. He is also a writing intern for the Foreign Desk headed by an award-winning investigative journalist Lisa Daftari. In his spare time, Elliot enjoys reading books and articles on American-Middle Eastern Relations, Israeli-Iran relations, and hanging out with friends.
The views expressed in this article are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Lone Conservative staff.
@@ElliotNazar
@elliot_nazar_frey
