Stripped of any embellishment, the truth is that the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran is a victory only for the Iranian people. For 47 years, Iranians have endured oppression, murder, and torture. Whenever the opportunity arose, they revolted against the regime that ruled them by controlling their livelihoods. The Iranian regime followed in the footsteps of Nero who enjoyed watching Rome burn.
Over the past five decades, Iran has been on a knife-edge due to the contradictions between a large segment of the population and a sadistic regime that reveled in torturing its people, launching attacks and committing terrorist acts against its neighbors. This situation will not last long. The day after the final agreement is signed between the United States and Iran, the Iranian people will begin holding the regime accountable. The regime will resort to its usual stalling tactics to avoid popular retribution and postpone the gallows in the squares of Tehran, Mashhad, Qom, and all Iranian cities.
However, procrastination will not save the regime from its inevitable fate. Destiny is inescapable. Neither the Revolutionary Guard nor the Basij will be able to continue suppressing hungry Iranian people who will no longer be deceived by nonsensical slogans. Iran today stands on the threshold of a new era marked by significant popular discontent. Deep wounds have been inflicted on the people by international and regional isolation, which has crippled the economy. The recent war has shattered what little trust neighboring countries still had in Iran. The Gulf states have never treated Iran as a normal state capable of coexistence. Expansionist ambitions have been deeply ingrained in the minds of Iran’s leaders for centuries.
As a result, engagement with Iran has always been conducted with a high degree of caution. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have generally maintained relations with their Iranian neighbor across the Arabian Gulf with careful and measured cordiality. Despite all this, there is still a possibility for cautious coexistence with the Iranian people and establishment of normal relations on an equal footing, but only after the demise of the current regime, which has burdened the people of the region with terrorism and had closed every avenue for communication.
The Iranian regime has even attacked the neighbors who were mediating between it and the United States, Europe, and the world to end its isolation. The control exerted by some adolescent officials within the Iranian regime over the military capabilities eliminated any possibility of communication with them. Whoever is familiar with Iran’s history since 1979 is aware to what extent the Iranians have been patient. They have risen against the regime ten times. The so-called “Green Movement” of 2009 came very close to toppling the regime, but brutal and bloody repression saved it. However, this situation changed dramatically after the January uprising.
Furthermore, the results of the recent war have left the Iranian regime weakened and vulnerable, meaning that a return to the past is impossible, especially given the people’s feeling that they have nothing left to lose. The people will rise up in pursuit of a dignified life and freedom. The mosaic nature of Iranian society is not as cohesive as some might think. Each ethnic group has its own aspirations. The ambitions of the Azeris differ from those of the Kurds, Lurs, Baloch, Arabs, and Turkmen. These groups will not remain silent about the injustice they have suffered under a minority regime that has systematically killed and tortured them. The day following the final agreement signing will mark the beginning of liberation from the Iranian regime or the new Nero.
