The entire world erred in its attempts to contain the Iranian regime over the past decades. The United States, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, mistakenly believed it could benefit from engagement with this regime and that certain sanctions could mitigate the damage it caused. Europe erred in thinking that European companies' business interests in Iran would translate into electoral gains for political parties.
China, Russia, and India miscalculated when they assumed they were supporting a regime that could serve as a buffer zone preventing American influence from reaching both shores of the Gulf. In the Gulf states, we too believed that the risks posed by the Iranian regime could be contained, that it could be assisted, and that its expansionist project could somehow be overlooked. The outcome, however, has been the opposite for everyone.
The result of remaining silent about the Iranian regime was that it extended its reach to the Mediterranean Sea through a corridor of influence stretching from Tehran through Baghdad to Tartus and the Port of Beirut in the north. It also reached the Red Sea through Hodeidah in southern Yemen.
Rather than confronting this regime decades ago, when its threat had not yet extended to these strategic locations, the world delayed action. As a consequence, the regime eventually tightened its grip on two of the world's most important maritime passages, restricting the flow of energy and obstructing the movement of food and medicine.
Countries are now compelled to ensure the safety of their vessels transiting the Red Sea. This is the price of postponing difficult decisions. The cost has multiplied and will continue to grow as long as the world hesitates to secure these vital sea lanes and put an end to the actions of this outlaw group.
In reality, there is no alternative.
The world is now facing an economic crisis. Global supply chains have become vulnerable to the actions of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Houthis, who have tightened their hold on two of the most critical waterways through which more than one-fifth of international trade passes.
The IRGC no longer appears concerned with the welfare, safety, or rights of the Iranian people, nor does it adhere to even the most basic international norms. Instead, it engages in the cold-blooded repression of its own citizens. Its response to an Amnesty International report documenting the deaths of 56 children during the most recent uprising was to dismiss the incidents as isolated acts.
It described the deaths of 377 protesters as unintended mistakes and denied responsibility for the 750 fatalities documented by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran by name, figures that do not even represent the total number of victims. Furthermore, according to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights, the regime executed 901 people between January and July of this year.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights organization, explained to Agence France Presse the purpose behind these executions, stating that “all death sentences, regardless of the charges, serve a clear domestic objective: to spread fear and prevent the outbreak of new protests.”
He added: “We are deeply concerned about the escalation of this trend in the coming months.”
Naturally, these figures cover only the most recent months and do not include the victims killed, displaced, or injured by the regime and its affiliated groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and the Gulf states, nor do they account for those harmed since the regime first consolidated power. If all of these were included, the total would number in the many thousands.
Therefore, it can be argued that all nations must work to put an end to this ongoing chaos, whose effects now extend to the entire world and pose a serious threat to the global economy.
