McConnell Remarks On Iranian Regime’s Enduring Threats
“I suspect a great many Iranians would rather Western admirers stop lionizing a man known as the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ for executing political prisoners. They might prefer that foreign leaders not further legitimize the regime that actively represses them.”
“Last night, Iran confirmed that its president and foreign minister died in a helicopter crash. The condolences from sympathetic regimes were swift.
“The PRC declared that the Chinese people had ‘lost a good friend.’ The Kremlin mourned 'a reliable partner'. And Prime Minister Orban of Hungary – whose government has pursued deeper trade relations with Tehran in spite of Western sanctions – offered his 'thoughts and prayers'.
“Well I, too, would like to extend my condolences to the people of Iran… For their long suffering under the brutal, theocratic rule of the Islamic Republic.
“I suspect a great many Iranians would rather Western admirers stop lionizing a man known as the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ for executing political prisoners. They might prefer that foreign leaders not further legitimize the regime that actively represses all of them.
“In the meantime, conjecture about key players in the chain of succession and the relative strength of reform and hard-line elements has already begun in earnest.
“To focus on this sort of speculation is to miss something more fundamental about the regime in Tehran – something I warned the Biden Administration about when President Raisi was installed through a customary sham election three years ago:
“We should remember the President of Iran is a figurehead. The real power rests with the aptly-named Supreme Leader and the state institutions he controls.
“Supposed ‘reformers’ and ‘moderates’, along with hard-liners, have come and gone from Iran’s presidency without fundamentally changing how Tehran operates at home or abroad. Meanwhile, the regime’s revolutionary orthodoxy has endured for decades, preserved by the clerical establishment and the IRGC.
“Iran’s leaders, its diplomats, and its enablers abroad can say anything they want about the regime’s character and outlook.
“But actions speak far louder. And for years, Tehran has moved steadily in just one direction – toward more terrorist violence abroad, and more repression at home.
“And no matter who Iran’s president has been, the regime in Tehran has continued to engage in rampant proliferation of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs while making steady progress toward a nuclear weapons capability.
“So I’d also like to extend my condolences to Iran’s neighbors who still live under the constant threat of a regime that practices what it preaches: Death to Israel, death to America, war on international commerce, and chaos across the Middle East.
“The untimely death of the president of Iran does not change the underlying threats this regime poses to its own citizens, to its region, and to the free world.
“These threats continue to demand our collective attention.”
###
Related Issues: Iran, National Security
Next Previous
