ISIS rose on the shoulders of Iran & Bashar Assad

As the world continues to struggle in the search for a solution to defeat the rising threat of ISIS, attention has been recently drawn to an aspect of this crisis overlooked by many in the international community: the role of Iran and its allies in maintaining Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in power, and how this has provided ISIS the very opportunity it needed to grow and expand while enjoying Assad’s support.

On the doorsteps of International Human Rights Day, members of the Iranian Diaspora in the outskirts of Paris hosted a meeting on Tuesday, December 8^th with Senator Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Democratic Party nominee for vice-president, Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi and Prof. Alejo Vidal Quadras, former European Parliament Vice President taking part.

“ISIS is a real danger and must be defeated… we cannot let the war with ISIS distract us from what I believe is the even greater threat from the radical government in Tehran.  The truth is that the Islamic Republic of Iran has the same hatred of our values as ISIS believes in the same extreme religious views, and employs the same terrorist methods as ISIS,” said Senator Lieberman.

“The great divide in the Muslim world today is not as some conveniently argue between the Shiite and Sunni, as if this is a battle that has gone on for centuries. Today, the great divide is between Shiite extremist and Sunni extremists on one side, extremists like Iran, al-Qaeda and ISIS. And on the other side moderates who have a very different view of Islam, like the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).”

The National Council of Resistance of Iran is an umbrella organization representing many Iranian dissident groups abroad and based on a platform to bring about change in Iran by establishing freedom, democracy and equality for its entire people.

Mrs. Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, focused her remarks on drawing attention to Iran’s efforts, and that of its Middle East allies, to rescue Bashar Assad. This endeavor, coupled with Iran’s intensified and lethal meddling in Iraq following the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, allowed ISIS to grow and brew its horrific mentality across the Levant and Mesopotamia. Iran’s main pawn in Iraq, former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, led a horrific campaign of massacring and politically marginalizing Iraq’s Sunni minority, pushing members of this community, and Sunnis from across the globe, more and more towards the likes of ISIS.

Another unfortunate factor actually playing into the hands of ISIS is the reluctance of the West, and especially the Obama administration, in rising to the occasion. The U.S. must lead the world in a comprehensive assault against ISIS militarily, financially, ideologically and culturally.

“This calls for Western governments to adopt a policy that supports the desires of the innocent people of Syria for a speedy overthrow of Bashar Assad, provide substantial support for the Free Army of Syria in its struggle against the regime, and insist on the eviction of foreign troops, specifically the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) from Syria and Iraq,” she said.

As the U.S. State Department continues to designate Iran as the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world, there are voices that are actually arguing to bring Iran on board in the fight against ISIS. A terrorist state like Iran simply cannot be trusted to help the international community defeat a terrorist group like ISIS.

Various diplomats in Vienna are now actually discussing the scenario of keeping Bashar Assad in power in Syria in order to have Iran comply by the nuclear deal it signed with the P5+1. This is despite the fact that Assad’s hands are red with the blood of his own people, particularly the blood of Syrian Sunnis.

Senator Lieberman put it best by saying, “The most critical threat the world faces today is from radical Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, and its most important and threatening capital is not in al-Raqqa, Syria, but in Tehran, Iran… we must continue the fight to change the government of Iran.”

To defeat ISIS the international community needs the support of Sunni Arab nations and the Sunni people of Syria and Iraq. They are the boots needed on the ground to defeat ISIS. However, they detest and distrust the current government of Iran, and they hate Assad for what he has done to them. Therefore, allying with Iran in an apparent effort to defeat ISIS will make it impossible to defeat ISIS because the Sunnis needed in the campaign on the ground will not become part of it.

Senator Lieberman eloquently emphasized the best way to defeat ISIS is to form a multinational coalition led by the U.S. supported by Europe, the Arab nations, and moderate Sunnis and Shiites. An important decision by Obama administration is needed to set aside the failed “lead from behind” policy.

The Iranian democratic opposition, with the resources it enjoys inside and outside of Iran, can play an important role in the effort against ISIS, and ultimately Iran. 

Keyvan Salami tweets on @salamikeyvan