The article by Martin Kettle claims that regime change in Iran is almost impossible. In line with the Guardian’s obsessive disparagement of Israel, he seems to think that Israel must continue to suffer under threats from the Ayatollahs, even though that regime has been virtually obliterated by Israel. An outcome which, no doubt, Kettle would have thought to be impossible a few days ago. It’s time for the world to understand that for Israel, the difficult is occurring constantly, the virtually impossible may take a little longer.
In fact, regime change in Iran is not only possible, but imperative. In most cases regime change is difficult because opposition to even the most hated and incompetent regime is fractured, there are often many groups that want to replace the regime, but none is acceptable to the other groups. In Iran, a country with a large number of ethnic minorities, the problem is even more acute than in most places
However there is a solution which could be engineered by the US with Israel’s help. The son of the previous Shah could be the rallying point about which the various groups could coalesce. The Shah was not popular. Which is how the current regime came to power, the populace at the time said that nothing could be worse than the Shah; how wrong they were. However, I do not think that it would be likely for the Iranian people to agree to return to rule by a monarch, but they would probably welcome a temporary arrangement in which the Shah would be responsible for running the country until a new democratic constitution was developed.
Clearly, both the US and Israel would have to be closely involved in working with the temporary regime and would both advise the Shah and help to rebuild the country. Once free from the shackles imposed by sanctions on the rogue regime, and with the ample resources of oil income being used for the benefit of the country, instead of being squandered on violence, the standard of living of the Iranian people would rise sharply. Regime change would be of immense benefit to the world at large and especially to the long suffering Iranian people.
stephenscohen.com 