While neither the U.S. nor the EU is in a position to bring down the Islamic Republic, argues Yalda Zarbakhch, neither ought to be providing financial or diplomatic incentives to a government that supports terrorism around the world and is currently in the midst of a ruthless crackdown on its own people. Yet, as Zarbakhch notes, Western reactions to the ongoing protests have been decidedly mixed:

With Iran in the midst of a unique feminist revolution, . . . how is it possible that the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, remained silent for five weeks? It wasn’t until October 31 that he condemned, in a tweet, the “disproportionate violence of the security forces” against demonstrators in Iran. And why is the West still hoping for a resumption of the Iran nuclear agreement, signed in 2015 and abandoned in 2018? This is a slap in the face of all Iranian women and men who are currently putting their lives on the line.

In the liberal West, of all places, there is a widespread fear of regime change. I keep hearing warnings that a revolution in Iran would result in instability throughout the region—that it could spark a civil war and turn the country into a second Syria. I wonder what these warnings are based on. The region is already far from stable, and the Islamic Republic and its Revolutionary Guard, supported by Hizballah, play a significant part in that, as well. . . .

Apart from the machinery of power that is centered on the Revolutionary Guard and Basij militias—who would give everything for their religious ideology and their leader, Ayatollah Khamenei—the vast majority of the population is united in the struggle against the Islamic Republic. This has seldom been as apparent as in the past six weeks: people of all ethnicities and minorities, Kurds, Baluchis, women and men, old and young, Muslims, people of other faiths, atheists: all are protesting together across the entire country—with and without hijabs.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.