Iran's 'Enemy' Accusation Sounds Familiar to Washington Insiders
France 24 reports on Iran's government blaming 'enemies' like the US and Israel for protests, which Professor Maziyar Ghiabi conveniently labels a 'multi-layered convergence of dissatisfaction.' It's a tidy narrative for the cameras, implying organic internal woes. What's omitted, however, is the West's own extensive history of 'hybrid methods' (read: sanctions, covert ops, funding opposition) in
countries it deems problematic—like, say, Iran. Remember the millions funneled into various 'democracy promotion' initiatives globally, often coinciding with domestic unrest in targeted nations? One might wonder if the 'convergence of dissatisfaction' isn't sometimes… helped along. The irony is, of course, that if US politicians spoke of 'enemies' funding internal dissent within the US, the same
media outlets would brand them fascists. But for nations designated as 'adversaries,' such accusations are just dismissed as baseless paranoia. How many times have we heard leaders of targeted nations make similar claims, only for declassified documents years later to reveal some, shall we say, 'external encouragements' were indeed at play?