If reformists genuinely seek change, they should welcome calls for an end to executions, torture and religious persecution. If hard-liners increase repression under the cover of international legitimacy, they should be exposed. And if pundits believe that appeasement of those espousing a hateful religious ideology will guarantee long-term security, they should understand the difference between political “realism” and wishful thinking.
An authoritarian regime without legitimacy will invariably rule through militarization. The concept of security differs in a democratic context. Consider how in the 1980s Argentina and Brazil, and then post-apartheid South Africa in the 1990s, abandoned military nuclear programs once they achieved democratic rule. A government that is answerable to its citizens has different priorities.
Iran’s current leadership thrives on “nuclear nationalism.” It equates national interests with the absolute power of a small, self-appointed religious-military ruling class rather than with the equal rights of its citizens. Even reformist President Hassan Rouhani’s proposed “civil rights charter” is limited to members of “heavenly” religions. In the theocratic ideology of the Islamic Republic, human rights are conditioned on whether the state approves of a citizen’s beliefs. This is nothing less than religious apartheid. It breeds fanaticism and violence. If there is no end to such abuses, how can the Islamic Republic be trusted?
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