"So it’s OK for the Cubans to exercise imperialism over Venezuela but not for the U.S. to do it?"
Maduro Challenged The WRONG Man
. . . "What I predicted was that the ruling regimes, both Iran and Venezuela, would go by the boards, and the benefits coming to everybody in America not affiliated with the Democrat Party would be manifold.
"Iran, I noted, is going to collapse on its own, mostly because the ayatollahs are so incompetent at the basic functions of government that they’ve allowed the reservoirs which supply water to the 15 million people who live in and around Tehran to go almost completely dry. And with a pretty rough drought hitting that country, they’re now talking about moving Iran’s capital and relocating — assumedly by force? — most of the population elsewhere. (RELATED: Unmasking Iran’s Hidden Footprint in the Americas)
"This is quite possibly the single most pronounced confession of governing failure in world history. Especially in light of all the money wasted by the Iranian regime on utterly idiotic things like Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and a nuclear program that American and Israeli airstrikes reduced to ash last year. The desalination plants and water pipelines Iran desperately needs could easily have been built over the course of the past couple of decades, and everyone knows it. (RELATED: Trump’s Declawing of Iran Is Reshaping the Middle East)
"Which is why they’re in the streets in Iran again, and this time it’s serious enough that the head ayatollah in charge is apparently making travel plans…
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has a back-up plan to flee the country should his security forces fail to suppress protests or desert, according to an intelligence report shared with The Times.
Khamenei, 86, plans to escape Tehran with a close circle of up to 20 aides and family, should he see that the army and security called on to quell the unrest are deserting, defecting, or failing to follow orders.
“The ‘plan B’ is for Khamenei and his very close circle of associates and family, including his son and nominated heir apparent, Mojtaba,” an intelligence source told The Times.
Beni Sabti, who served for decades in Israeli intelligence after fleeing the regime eight years after the Islamic revolution, told The Times that Khamenei would flee to Moscow as “there is no other place for him.”
Nationwide protests triggered by economic hardships have gripped cities across Iran, including in the holy city of Qom, over the last week.
Protesters accuse anti-riot forces — made up of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Basij militia, the police and the army — of using violent means including live fire, tear gas and water cannons to suppress the demonstrations.
The forces are under the total command of Khameini, who is the supreme source of power in the Islamic republic, overruling the army, courts and media. He relies on the IRGC to enforce his bidding as a central source of power.
The escape plan will be activated should Khamenei feel his security forces are not following orders. Desertion and defection are not easily undertaken, with Khamenei protecting loyalists, controlling key appointments and their safety, according to a psychological profile of the leader done by a western intelligence agency and seen by The Times.
But the same assessment said Khamenei was “weaker, both mentally and physically” since last year’s 12-day war with Israel. He has barely been seen in public and, notably, has not been seen or heard from during the last several days of protests. For the duration of war, Khamenei holed up in a bunker, avoiding the fate of several other high-level IRGC officials and feeding his “obsession with survival.” . . . More...
Scott McKay is a contributing editor at The American Spectator and publisher of the Hayride, which offers news and commentary on Louisiana and national politics, and RVIVR.com, a national political news aggregation and opinion site. Scott is also the author of The Revivalist Manifesto: How Patriots Can Win The Next American Era, and, more recently, Racism, Revenge and Ruin: It's All Obama, available November 21.
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