US eyes peaceful ‘regime change’ in Iran
Following anti-government street protests in Tehran, George W. Bush’s administration is being pressed by Republican politicians to adopt a more aggressive ‘regime change’ policy on Iran.
Iran, along with neighbour Iraq and reclusive communist state North Korea, sits uncomfortably on Bush’s ‘axis of evil.’
Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme continues to unnerve the US regime and politicians believe peaceful regime change is possible and desirable in Iran.
George W. Bush on Sunday voiced his support for the Tehran protesters who want to see an end to the Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s authoritarian regime.
President Bush is considering the implementation of the Iran Democracy Act.
US foreign policy, with $50m set aside to support opposition groups, would ‘support an internationally monitored referendum in Iran by which the Iranian people can peacefully change the system of government in Iran.’
Richard Perle, a close aide to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the build-up to the Iraq war, said there was ‘a good chance’ for non-violent regime change.
Mr. Perle, in an interview on Tuesday called on European countries to support the US in working ‘to replace the dictatorial regime in Iran with the help of the opposition inside the country.’
But direct military action was not an option the US was contemplating, at present, he said.
‘I don’t think anyone is thinking about military action against Iran, or for that matter against Syria,” Mr. Perle told Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper.
‘We have no military master plan for the Middle East. We use military force only when all peaceful means have been exhausted. That was the case in Iraq.
‘There is a good chance in Iran for peaceful regime change.’
