OPINION:
One of the great strengths of Iran’s Khamenei regime — now hereditary with Mojtaba Khamenei appointed supreme leader in his late father’s place — was the fractious nature of its opposition.
You couldn’t even get two of the major opposition groups in the same room to talk, let alone start planning how to take on the regime. If any of the groups did start considering working together, then the regime would craftily send just the right signal or messenger to prompt renewed distrust and conflict.
At times, it seemed the opposition opposed one another more than they did the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the ruling mullahs.
British evangelist and author Leonard Ravenhill once said, “The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized during the lifetime of the opportunity.” This opportunity will pass if it is not seized now.
Unfortunately, it seems the groups that need to unite to seize this opportunity are incapable of working together.
That’s where the United States can come in with muscular diplomacy to match the military might being displayed to the world on our televisions every night.
We should convene meetings of the opposition groups. We would set the rules and require everyone to come, including Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah of Iran; the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, the most organized of the opposition; the Kurds; Azerbaijani opposition leaders; Arab leaders; and others willing to stand with the protesters and provide structure to their demands for a new government.
We must shepherd in a representative transitional government that holds elections within a year, empowered not by our boots on the ground but by theirs.
We have the position, under President Trump’s bold global leadership, along with the Israelis, to officiate this “shotgun marriage” of necessity.
Applying lessons we learned in neighboring Iraq, we do not want U.S. ground troops in Iran. They quickly become the target, and we stand to lose precious American blood that should be spent by the people whose home it is. People will fight the fiercest for their own land and freedom for their own families. Nation-building must be left to the nation itself, not outsiders who become cast as occupiers.
Iran is a proud nation with an ancient, accomplished civilization. They repulse at the notion of a foreign occupation. They need Trump-led facilitation, not foreign leadership, in their nation.
Iran is a multiethnic nation like Iraq. Around 60% of Iranians are Persian, but significant minorities of Azerbaijanis and Kurds are geographically concentrated in the northwest. This enables them to be armed and mobilized to defend their homelands as semiautonomous regions.
Once established, they can sustain it, as the Kurds of Iraq have now done for 30 years.
A new Iran also must be built on a foundation of respect for fundamental human rights. The fall of one form of oppression must not give way to another. Any transitional government must guarantee freedom of religion, freedom of speech and equal protection under the law for all Iranians. The nation’s ethnic diversity should be seen not as a threat but as a strength that enriches Iran’s society and history.
Particular care must be taken to protect religious minorities who have suffered greatly under the current regime. Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Baha’i, Sunni Muslims and other religious communities must be free to worship without fear of imprisonment, harassment or violence.
A democratic Iran that respects the dignity and rights of all its citizens will be stronger, more stable and far more resilient against the extremist forces that thrive in environments of persecution and division.
One of the big dangers now comes from extremist Islamist forces seeking to flood into Iran to prop up what is left of the Khamenei regime. When our military offensive wanes, militant Islamists will pour in from surrounding countries in the chaos, seeking revenge and working to maintain an Islamist country.
Bloodthirsty and governed by their own interpretation of the Quran, they have extreme violence as their modus operandi, as well as killing and raping those they suspect of not agreeing with their theology.
We saw the devastating effects of these groups in the genocide of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq in 2014 when the government there fell apart. If forces inside Iran are not willing and able to repel them, then this scenario will be repeated.
Kurds, Azerbaijanis and Christian converts from Islam could be hunted down and slaughtered in the thousands. Over the past 10 years in Iran, one of the fastest-growing Christian populations on the planet has emerged. These Christians are particularly vulnerable. Deemed apostates, they have already been judged worthy of death by militant extremists.
We must force the opposition to come together and provide them with arms, intelligence and training, which they can then deploy to liberate and protect their own land.
No one other than Mr. Trump had the daring and courage to take out the terrorist leadership in Iran. It wasn’t now or never; it was now or nuclear. Iran would have become a nuclear state and blackmailed the world.
That threat has been removed for now, but if Khamenei’s son is allowed to stay in power, then the nuclear threat will reemerge. We must force the opposition groups to come together to transition Iran into a different future.
• Sam Brownback is a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, a former governor of Kansas and a former U.S. senator.
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