The Art of Politics

Flock of Mullahs

Iran...Iran so far away...

Once the United States's greatest mideast ally, Iran is slowly festering a revolt against the aging anti-American mullahs the public once embraced.

Iran, oil wealthy but not overly so, non-Arab, former home to the great Persian empire, is a naturally more cosmpolitan and Western-oriented nation than it has been represented since the fall of the Shah. As the younger, resentful generations move into more important sectors of government and the economy, and as the mullahs age and wither, Iran could see a change in government before the next US election in 2008.

Iran represents a different challenge for regime change. Iraq was ruled by one man - Saddam. Iran is ruled by a religious oligarchy. Tehran was remarkably progressive before the Shah fell, and the populace that didn't flee still remembers a more open, carefree society. With American forces on both borders and an increasinly restless populace that nearly universally wants a change in government, the dice are rolling in Iran... the US should be the prodder, not the prod, for such change.

Insurgence from within, not from without, will likely spell the end of the mullahs and nearly 25 years of hostility between old friends.

Posted by MEC2 at May 6, 2004 04:50 PM