Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2019
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer, Director

Mayhem In The Middle East

There are big developments taking place in Iraq and Lebanon. Massive protests against corruption have erupted in both countries, threatening Tehran's grip on the region.

In Iraq, the Iranian consulate in Karbala was attacked. The Iraqi flag was posted on the compound's walls. In Baghdad, hundreds of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets. Billboards featuring Iranian leaders have been destroyed.

In southern Iraq, a Shiite militia leader (backed by Iran) was pulled from an ambulance and killed in the street. More than 250 Iraqis have been killed in clashes with police and security forces in the past month.

In Lebanon, the prime minister has been forced to resign, and there are growing protests against Hezbollah.

Instability in the Middle East is rarely a good thing. But in this case, I find it encouraging that the people of Iraq and Lebanon are rising up against their Iranian occupiers.

There are historical tensions between Arabs and Persians, and Iran's influence in the Middle East is anything but benign. The ayatollah's regime has earned its designation as the world's leading state-sponsor of terrorism. Everywhere Tehran extends its tentacles, death and destruction follow.

Iran is an existential threat to Israel. The ayatollah and top Iranian generals have repeatedly vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

But Iran is also a threat to other Arab states, as its actions in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon demonstrate. Iran is the source of chaos and instability in the Middle East, not Israel.

More Sanctions

While the Iranian regime was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1979 hostage crisis, the Trump Administration was busy imposing more sanctions on the tyrants of Tehran.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced sanctions yesterday against the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff and nine representatives of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, including his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei. Secretary Mnuchin declared:

"Today the Treasury Department is targeting the unelected officials who surround Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and implement his destabilizing policies.

"These individuals are linked to a wide range of malign behaviors by the regime, including bombings of the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in 1994, as well as torture, extrajudicial killings, and repression of civilians. This action further constricts the Supreme Leader's ability to execute his agenda of terror and oppression."