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| Israel-USA: Iran in the Crosshair |
Iran, in the latest of a series of incidents on its western and south-eastern borders, said it had
disbanded a Pakistan-based cell of ant-Shiite militants in a clash this week on the Iranian side of the border.
The clash, shrouded in mystery like similar past incidents in the
ethnic Baloch province of Sistan and Baluchistan and Kurdish areas in
the West, occurred amid mounting speculation that the Trump
administration, backed by Saudi Arabia and Israel, is striving for
regime change in Tehran.
Iran and Jaish-al-Adl (the Army of Justice), a splinter group that
traces its roots to Saudi-backed anti-Shiite groups in Iran, issued
contradictory statements about the incident. Iran said three militants
and two of its Revolutionary Guards were killed in the incident.
Jaish-al-Adl claimed it had killed 11 Guards while suffering no losses.
US and Israeli officials insist that their anti-Iranian moves aim to
increase domestic pressure on Iran to change its policies at a time that
the country is witnessing multiple protests related to
economic policies and
water shortages rather than at regime change
US and Israeli officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
and Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, have resorted to social media to
support the protests.
At the same time, debate within the Trump administration pits
proponents of regime change like national security advisor John Bolton,
backed by Mr. Netanyahu, against those that believe that domestic
pressure is pushing the Iranian regime to the brink and simply needs a
degree of encouragement.
In a series of
tweets,
Mr. Pompeo supported Iranian protesters and charged that “Iran’s
corrupt regime is wasting the country’s resources on Assad, Hezbollah,
Hamas & Houthis, while Iranians struggle.”
Mr. Pompeo’s comments were echoed in one of
several video clips by Mr. Netanyahu,
celebrating the brilliance of Iranians and their achievements in
technology. “So why is Iran so poor? Why is unemployment so rampant? The
answer is in two words: the regime. Iran’s dictators plunder the
country’s wealth… The Iranian people are the ones that suffer,” Mr.
Netanyahu said.
The messages appeared to be the result of a
joint US-Israeli working plan drafted late last year to counter Iran with covert as well as diplomatic actions.
A participant before joining the Trump administration,
Mr. Bolton this year stayed away from an annual gathering in Paris of
the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, a controversial Iranian opposition group that
since being dropped from US, Canadian and European terrorism lists has
garnered significant support in Western political, military and security
circles.
There is widespread doubt that the Mujahedeen, that advocates the
armed overthrow of the Iranian regime, commands popular support in Iran
That did not stop President
Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, and former House of Representatives speaker and Trump ally, Newt Gingrich
from attending alongside former US officials, former Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper and European politicians. The US State
Department said the Americans were not representing the administration.
Read more: The battle for Iran: Policy or regime change?
