Article published in online journal 19FortyFive – a primer on the history of Iran’s fundamentalist regime that it has sought to conceal from the outside world and its own citizens. This essay argues that the clerics, after Ayatollah Khomeini’s triumphant return from exile, alienated most educated Iranians by creating a religious dictatorship, and have relied on brutal force, coercion, and propaganda to cover for their lack of legitimacy ever since. The essay recommends five policy initiatives that should garner bipartisan favor and allied support, all of which will exert leverage on the threat from Iran, irrespective of the outcome of nuclear negotiations.
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