In recent weeks, we have all been hearing all kinds of things about Iran going nuclear.  We have heard rumors of attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities by Israel or the United States, and we have heard reports of Russia supplying missile defense systems.   What we haven’t heard a lot of is what is happening inside Iran in terms of the relationship between its people and its government.

Michael Ledeen posted an article at the Wall Street Journal last week on some of the internal unrest in Iran.  Michael Ledeen, a scholar at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, is the author of “Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War Against the West” (St. Martin’s, 2009).

Mr. Ledeen points out recent communication problems within the regime.  According to the article:

“A few weeks ago, according to official and private reports, the Iranian air force shot down three drones near the southwestern city of Bushehr, where a Russian-supplied nuclear reactor has just started up. When the Revolutionary Guards inspected the debris, they expected to find proof of high-altitude spying. Instead, the Guards had to report to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that the air force had blasted Iran’s own unmanned aircraft out of the sky.”

Evidently the Iranian military had deployed the drones, but had neglected to tell the Iranian Air Force.  This sounds more like Keystone Kops than a successful dictatorship. 

There have also been a series of recent attacks against the Iranian oil industry.  A pipeline to Turkey was blown up last month, and there was an explosion in a natural gas pipeline.   There was also an explosion at a petrochemical plant used to convert natural gas to fuel for vehicles.

The Green Movement (the movement that opposes the current government) is gaining strength.  The best solution to Iran going nuclear would be for the current government to fall.  A true democracy in Iran would be a big step toward peace in the Middle East.