Jamshid Chalangi:
In tonight’s edition of Behind the Headlines our guests Dr. Ali Nourizadeh and Dr. Mehrdad Barati will share with us their expert opinions about the ongoing disturbances in the city of Kazeroun; Iran’s currency crisis and its effect on the future of its economy; the outcome of the Iraqi elections; and the latest news of Syria.
Dr. Ali Nourizadeh:
I have a feeling that somehow the current disturbances in Iran are very similar to what happened in Syria before the people resort to an armed struggle against the regime.
In Syria it all started as a peaceful protest against a local governor but the regime heavily cracked down on the protestors and murdered many innocent civilians and in a matter of six months time it had turned into a full blown civil war.
Then the Turkish and Qatari governments stepped in and sent money and their agents on the scene, which further complicated the situation and we are now where we are, with Syria turned into rubbles.
The same is now happening in the city of Kazeroun in Iran where a simple grievance of the local people about the government’s decision to divide the province into two parts has led the local people to react to it as they are naturally sensitive about this issue. The government must have done some initial study about the issue in terms of the affect of this decision on the local farmers and the distribution of public services.
But ignoring these very basic matters, the regime has resorted to killing a local young man and turned a bureaucratic issue into a fertile ground for an uprising. This clearly shows the massive gap between the Iranian people and the regime.
Dr. Mehrdad Barati:
The country is engulfed with many crises and the regime is deliberately adding to them.
The people of Kazeroun have been hit with unemployment, water shortage and the growth of gap between the rich and the poor and it is not clear why in the midst of all the socio-economic problems the regime suddenly proposes the partitioning of a province where it cannot even mange it as a single one in terms of providing the public services.
It goes without saying that the main reason for the current anti-government protests is the general economic situation. The people of Kazeroun have apparently elected an MP to raise their grievances with the central government but this MP is busy doing other things and talking about unrelated matters.
The Iranian regime is now encircled with numerous problems and crisis and does not even know how to handle them. No one seems to be accountable towards the demands of the nation.
Dr. Ali Nourizadeh:
The regime has denied the Iranian people from many things. People cannot travel freely; they have no future; they are not allowed to choose their own life style; they are not allowed to be happy in public; and now the regime’s malign foreign policy has brought further devastating sanctions on the country that will economically affect every single citizen.
And in the midst of all these miseries one ignorant and greedy MP who is after grabbing the ownership of more land has brought a bill into the Majles and several Revolutionary Guards turned politicians support him and then we have this bloody uprising in Kazeroun.
Dr. Mehrdad Barati:
The nuclear program in Iran has been a complete loss from its inception. There is absolutely no need for higher uranium enrichment if your nuclear program is peaceful. And even the cost of producing it in the country is hundreds of times more expensive than buying it on the international markets.
The regime has spent billion of dollars on this unnecessary project and the result has been a great loss. The Europeans oppose the US approach in this matter because they do not wish to be regarded as the colonies of the US.
Dr. Ali Nourizadeh:
The regime’s tactics in facing the new US sanctions is ridiculous. They think if they sign a contract with Boeing or Total they can put pressure on the US, whereas these are multinational companies that at the end of the day have to look to the US markets for their profitable operations and they would not jeopardize their businesses for the sake of a regime that is causing havoc and wars in the Middle East.
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