Iran Doubles Down on Terror and Turmoil
Copyright National Council of Resistance of Iran U.S. Representative Office, 2018.
All rights reserved. No part of this monograph may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews.
First published in 2018 by
National Council of Resistance of Iran U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US), 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20006
ISBN-10 (paperback): 1-944942-23-8
ISBN-13 (paperback): 978-1-944942-23-6
ISBN-10 (e-book): 1-944942-24-6
ISBN-13 (e-book): 978-1-944942-24-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913038 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
National Council of Resistance of Iran U.S. Representative Office.
Iran Doubles Down on Terror and Turmoil
1. Iran. 2. Ballistic Missiles. 3. Terrorism. 4. Nuclear. 5. Middle East
First Edition: November 2018
Printed in the United States of America
These materials are being distributed by the National Council of Resistance of Iran-U.S. Representative Office. Additional information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
After nearly forty years of religious dictatorship, Iran observers both inside and abroad now concede that the regime is facing unprecedented existential threats. 2018 began with the Iranian people rising up in more than 140 cities and towns, demanding the ouster of the velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule). The popular uprising against the regime has been both deepening and spreading in the ensuing months.
Mismanagement and plunder has left the countrys economy in shambles, supplying a major cause for sustained public grievances. The value of the national currency has lost 70% of its value in 2018, unemployment and inflation are rampant, and two thirds of the populace is living below the poverty line, among other major indicators. Meanwhile, the regimes isolation continues to grow regionally and internationally, a trend that is expected to continue with further sanctions and censures.
Against this backdrop, the regime lacks the necessary ideological and political capital to resolve such foundational predicaments. As threats close in, the regime in its desperation has opted to step up terrorism and warmongering. This is not only an Iranian problem, it is a major international concern as the regimes elaborate regional designs coalesce with its growing appetite for terrorism as a means for survival.
This report examines the motivation behind the regimes political and economic strategy by considering three areas: terrorism, incitement of regional conflicts, and the ballistic missile threat.
offers a synopsis of Tehrans latest terrorist schemes and attacks. Failing to quell growing popular protests against their rule, the mullahs have opted to bolster domestic suppression with blatant terrorism and intimidation, particularly against opponents. This new strategy targets the most viable political alternative, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and its leading member, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The strategy revolves around terrorism and physical annihilation of opponents. It is perceived to be so vital to the regimes longevity that its officials are willing to risk serious international diplomatic backlash and resources in Europe in a bid to deal a devastating blow to the organized opposition. For the first time in its history, a regime diplomat in Tehrans embassy in Austria has been caught red-handed directing a bombing operation on European soil. German authorities have officially accused the so-called diplomat with personally providing a bomb intended for detonation at a major opposition rally in Paris on June 30, 2018. The August 2018 foiled plot in the United States is another indication that the regime is willing to take high risks even within the United States to deliver blows to the members of the main Iranian opposition movement which has been very effective in undermining the regime inside Iran as well as exposing it abroad.
meddling in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon, including terrorist training camps run by the Qods Force, the extraterritorial arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The mullahs regime has funneled billions of dollars to finance its belligerent war agenda in the Middle East while the majority of Irans people are living in poverty. As the regimes officials have conceded, if the regime fails to inflame wars outside Irans borders, it would have to fight for survival within Irans borders. This is because external conflicts draw attention away from domestic crises.
reviews the regimes ballistic missile strategy. Tehran is setting up the necessary facilities and equipment for missiles development and launch capabilities. Moreover, it does not just fire missiles into regional countries in pursuit of war; it also exports the necessary missile technology and constructs missile factories outside Irans borders. This export of missiles to Yemen and elsewhere contravenes UN Security Council resolutions.
The final chapter offers viable solutions that can frustrate and thwart Tehrans terrorism designs and warmongering. It concludes with the urgent need for the UN Security Council to adopt a decisive policy vis--vis the regime. The Iranian people seek precisely such international support in their quest for a free, democratic, and secular republic in Iran.
Introduction
Today, after forty years of rule, the Iranian regime is encircled by domestic and international crises. These political, economic, social, regional and international crises have emerged from four decades of suppression in Iran and terrorism and warmongering abroad. The regime is on the brink of collapse, with no solution in sight other than changing the government. The regimes Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, joined by its President, Hassan Rouhani, is trying to delay the dictatorships overthrow by intensifying the suppression of the peoples uprising, stepping up terrorism and increasing warmongering, including hollow shows of force and aggravating crises like the war in Syria.
For example, in a speech at Noshahr Naval Academy on September 8, 2018, Supreme Leader Khamenei asked the armed forces to increase Irans military strength, declaring that U.S. plots in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon have failed, implicitly underscoring the regimes intervention in these countries.
Hossein Dehqan, a Khamenei advisor in military affairs and Minister of Defence in Rouhanis first cabinet, explicitly highlighted the persistence of the regimes involvement in Syria, saying in an interview with Russia Today on September 7, 2018: If the Syrian government and the Syrian people want to confront the U.S. on the
The regimes President, Hassan Rouhani, has also expressed support on multiple occasions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), their involvement in the region and missile attacks. On May 22, 2017, for example, following Tehrans presidential elections, Rouhani said: Those who have been able to stand up to terrorists have been the nation of Iraq, the nation of Syria and the nation of Lebanon. And through its diplomats and military advisors, the nation of Iran has helped and will help these two great nations and other peoples.
Khameneis official website, September 8, 2018.
Fars News Agency, September 7, 2018.
