It is abundantly clear to all, including the Iranian regime, that the West has intent to cause regime change in Iran. The new sanctions announced this week are a clear step towards that goal. It is the beginning of moves that the Iranian freedom movements have been asking the West for for some years. The West has been deaf to the advice of people with knowledge of Iran (predominantly Iranians!), and have thus been following policies of their own which have proved disastrous.
Now, maybe, the West is learning: Iranians have said for a long time that they do not want assistance in deposing their regime, only that they want the West to cease supporting the regime: The West has been appeasing and collaborating with the Mullahs despite the atrocities inflicted upon Iranian people, and the regime’s continuing preparations for aggression against the world! This is largely because there has been reluctance amongst governments internationally to put principle and lives before profit; they do not want to save lives at the expense of losing business and influence!
For many years, one group of Iranian refugees have provided the West with intelligence on the Iranian regime, including first alerting them to the nuclear energy and weapons programme. Those allies of the West are in a refugee camp in Iraq, known as Camp Ashraf.
Camp Ashraf and its inhabitants have Protected Status under Geneva conventions. Yet every single country and larger political entity on the planet is failing its obligations under the Geneva Conventions: even the UN. There is a binding international legal obligation on all countries to protect such people.
The government in Iraq is under the control of Iran and there is a signed accord between the two to eradicate Camp Ashraf and its residents in the coming weeks.
Now that we are out of Libya, which was not a threat to the West, maybe focus should urgently be applied to a far more serious problem; Iran.
The USA and Britain still have powers and obligations to enter Iraq to ensure it does not slip into becoming a security issue for the world: it has already. America has legal obligations to enter Iraq now, and to secure the safety of Camp Ashraf. Immediately thereafter, UN forces should be located at Camp Ashraf with full combative powers to protect the residents.
The world has known about the danger for two and half years: since the first murderous attack on the camp by the combined forces of Iran and Iraq.
There has been plenty of warning of the proposed massacre of the refugees, as several attacks have taken place and there is a public statement from Iran-Iraq.
It will be utter disgrace on the UN , USA, and the West if another Ashraffi dies. They are our friends and allies.
Obama has no focus and has proved to be a light-weight; he has let the mullahs pull the wool over his eyes, it was he at their behest who removed American military protection from Camp Ashraf, he has let them trample over the agreements that American soldiers signed with every one of the residents of Ashraf, he has supported Iran in trampling over the lives of American soldiers who fought to free Iraq, and insult their memory. It was he who ordered the withdrawal of USA troops from protecting camp Ashraf refugees.
Will he ever prove himself as a world class statesman? He can start now by immediately ordering American troops back to protect these refugees. In the meantime Britain must act within the UN to get troops there. Are Messrs Hague, Cameron, and Clegg up to the job?
Applying sanctions now is necessary but too late to take effect to save the inhabitants of Camp Ashraf. Blood will be on the hands of Western politicians if the international community does not immediately act to protect Camp Ashraf.
The Iranian regime knows that the destruction of the Camp and its residents spells the end of the Iranian freedom movement for years to come. And the West have despicably used these refugees in recent years as pawns in the policy of appeasement towards the mullahs in order to secure oil and technology trade.
After all the posturing on the ‘Arab Spring’ in the Middle East and support for removal of friendly governments who are making changes towards democracy, why do Clegg and Cameron and Hague want to ignore Iranians and bolster the aggressive regime with its declared intent to wreak havoc?
First published in HuffingtonPost.com.
AUTHOR
Peter Martindale is a former councillor, a writer and human rights activist.
