For many, the downing of the Ukrainian airliner shortly after taking off from Tehran tells more about the nature of the Iranian regime. But to the neutral, knowledgeable and objective observers of the “Khomeinist Revolution” since 1979, the development adds nothing new to what they already know. Those who remember the bloody feuds, mass executions, murderous explosions and Sadeq Khaklali’s bizarre trials, in addition to persecution of former revolutionaries and the gradual transformation of the revolutionary leadership into an expansionist police-state militaristic mafia, know only too well the true nature of this regime. For this regime, which venerates death, the culture of life means nothing. Freedom has no value in the face of a haughty authority that refused to be answerable. Democracy is merely a façade that is only used for PR purposes, because the real power lies somewhere else. The notion of “the state” is loose, vague and devoid of anything other than its nationalist zeal, whereby minorities can do nothing but be subservient. Indeed, inside this “state” exists a larger and more powerful “statelet”, that has commands, amasses wealth, spends fortunes, buys and sells, and opens identical “branches” abroad that are entrusted to be exclusive “agencies” for the Vilayet e Faqih” chain. Nobody argues against Iran playing a role that befits its stature. This is natural, since Iran is a country that boasts a glorious heritage, great culture and impressive arts. Furthermore. Iran’s population is around 84 million inhabitants, which is almost the same as Germany’s – Europe’s second most populous nation -, while its area is about 1.650 million sq kms. In terms of natural resources alone, Iran is the world’s fourth richest country in oil reserves and second richest in natural gas production. Having said that, Germany has managed to become a global economic, cultural and political giant despite its fragmented history, scattered and autonomous entities, and its two devastating defeats in two world wars. This means that nothing would have prevented Iran from becoming “the Germany of Middle East”, and providing the region with a rational peaceful leadership as Germany did in Europe thanks to futurist vision of Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard’s “economic miracle”, and Willy Brandt’s wise “Ostpolitik”, which enhanced peace in Europe and improved relations between East and West. Iran could have done the same, and become a pioneer of modernism and regional renaissance, had it not for its brash imperialist ambitions. Under Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, it aspired to be “the Policeman of the Gulf”, and later under the disastrous Mullahs’ suicidal insistence on exporting a grim, atavistic “revolution”, that reverses away from the future and resurrects all old grudges of bygone history. Unfortunately, however, while Germany led the project of European unity and built one the world’s greatest economies without expansionist military adventures, Iran did just the opposite, Iran pushed the Middle East into costly and damaging wars in every respect. These wars started with the Iran-Iraq War, which was fueled by Tehran’s attempts at exporting the revolution. Later after Khomeini had to begrudgingly accept a ceasefire, Tehran’s tactics changed, but not its strategy. Indeed, from then on, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) began planting its subservient militias in neighboring Arab countries, fomenting sectarianism, encouraging militarism and violence, destruction of moderation, and sequestrating and “Persianizing” Arab Shiite heritage. Initially, pushing for militarism from a standpoint of arrogance and closemindedness as a revenge against history and entente runs against the nature of true Shiism. Also contrary to the essence of Shiism are raising the banners of the wronged underdog as a means to justify hubris, and claiming the exclusive love of the Prophet’s descendants in order to marginalize their Arab identity and separating them from their background and homeland. As result, the Shiites became the first victims of Tehran’s and its IRGC’s strategy in Lebanon, then Iraq and Yemen, and eventually in Iran itself. The independent Shiite voices were suppressed, hijacked and distorted, so it was natural that one day people would rise in protest after this unnatural phenomenon consumes itself and exceeds all limits, and they did… They rose in Iran more than once, most recently in 2019, after the “Green Movement” Uprising of 2009. They also rose in Lebanon’s Shiite heartlands such as the towns of Nabatiyeh, Tyre, Baalbeck, Kfar Rumman and others. In Iraq too, the whole world has been seeing the uprisings in Karbala, Najaf and Nasseriyyah, as well as Basra, Hillah and Diwaniyyah in the predominantly Shiite southern Iraq. It is not more possible to contain the Shiite giant challenge of the IRGC’s hegemony – directly or through its henchmen – even in the very heart of Shiite strongholds. People are not afraid of thuggery and fascism anymore. Qassim Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force in the IRGC, was killed by Washington based on American considerations, noting that discussions to get rid of him had been going on for some time, but was not decided until recently. Thus, there are certain international circumstances and equations that both Iran and the victims of its regime need to read and understand properly. Soleimani was around for a long time because he was needed at an intersection of several regional projects. The moment priorities and needs changed, the decision to take him out of the equation was made. The same, actually, applies to all his henchmen inside and outside Iraq. So, the real issue here is not that the “Axis of Resistance” is exceptionally powerful and unbeatable, but because this so called “Axis”, knowingly or unknowingly, is serving certain temporary interests. A few days ago, the tragedy of the Ukrainian airliner uncovered the fatal ills of the Iranian regime, both politically and technologically. In Iran there is more than one “authority”, and more than one political rhetoric, as well as backward technology that is unable to challenge the technological capabilities of the world’s major powers. Another thing one must not overlook is that Iran’s possession of nuclear capabilities will be catastrophic, primarily, for Iran itself. Because the country that lies on highly active seismic faults, nuclear plants there are nothing short of massive time bombs that pose an existential threat to its inhabitants. So, if accidents proved to be damaging in technologically advanced countries such as the US (Three Mile Island) and Japan (Fukushima), it may be impossible to contain the damage in Iran whose “smart” missile cannot differentiate civil airliners from enemy aircraft.