Last night I watched the movie Iranium at the Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton, Massachusetts. I have heard about the movie, but have never had a chance to see it. It is well worth seeing. I will try to highlight some of it here.
The movie begins in 1978 with Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran. He was a dictator who was attempting to turn the country into a modern pro-Western society. As unrest began, America withdrew her support of his regime, and in February 1979, the Shah was overthrown. Two weeks after the Shah fled, Ruhollah Khomeini (known as "the ayatollah") was welcomed home from exile as a hero. In November of 1979, the American Embassy in Tehran was stormed. The feeble response of the United States sent the message to the Iranian regime that America was weak and would not respond. Since that time, Iran has felt free to sponsor terrorism around the world without fear of retaliation by the United States. It should be noted that when Ronald Reagan became President of the United States, the hostages taken when the American Embassy was stormed were released. President Reagan was not seen as the same kind of weak President that Jimmy Carter had been.
The goal of Ayatollah Khomeini is a world-wide caliphate achieved by a world-wide Islamic revolution. Over the past thirty years, Iran has sponsored terrorism around the world in order to achieve that aim. The movie Iranium details many of those activities and documents the fact that Iran is engaged in extending its reach into the Western Hemisphere.
As Iran extends its reach, it is also seeking nuclear weapons. Iran was one of the countries that received nuclear technology from Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan (Abdul Qadeer Khan). The question then becomes, "What is the impact of a nuclear Iran?" That is the topic of the movie.
At this point the movie reminded me of something I had forgotten--it was the fact that at one point during its war with Iraq, Iran sent young boys running across minefields (promising them instant admittance to paradise when they were killed) to clear the path for tanks and troops. I can't wrap my head around that. That is the mentality we are dealing with.
The movie does not recommend a military attack on Iran by western countries. The hope in the movie and in the question and answer period that followed the movie was in the 'Green Revolution.' The 'Green Revolution' erupted into public violence after the 2009 elections. The people of Iran felt that the elections were fixed and that their votes did not count. It was pointed out that the regime in Iran will eventually collapse. The hope is that the collapse will take place before they have nuclear weapons. The current regime does not represent the Iranian people, but there is no guarantee that a new regime would not become a secular dictatorship as brutal as the religious dictatorship in charge now.
The thing to remember in considering Iran and its role in the world is the fact that the goal of the current regime in Iran is to set up a world-wide caliphate. The goal is world-wide Sharia law. There are areas in Europe and Britain where the Muslim population of countries is less than five percent, but there are already areas under Muslim control where the police will not go. France particularly has had a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic activity in recent years. Iran is not only a problem for Israel and other nations in the Middle East. Iran is an American problem.
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