What happened in Beirut is nothing but a symptom of a chronic organic disease gripping the region. A disease that broke out in Tehran with the landing of Khomeini's plane 40 years ago and from that moment onward the virulent microbes of the disease began to spread in all directions, forming a poisoned well in more than one country and threatening the security of people. It has given rise to terrorism, chaos, and dismantling of political and civil systems, power grab through the use of gangs, legitimize the doctrine of exporting the revolution of backwardness, and controlling neighboring countries through the militia entities that it had created. Therefore, if these tragedies are to end, the underlying disease must be completely eradicated, otherwise, nothing will change. In Lebanon, for example, the aid, assistance, international sympathy, and condemnation of the Beirut blast will prove to be futile as long as the Iranian Hezbollah controls and governs the country. The previous events have proven this and they were no less bad than the explosion. Is there any real intention on the part of the international community to rid the countries affected by the Iranian intervention? It does not seem so, but rather it certainly does not want to do so. The United Nations Security Council adopted a previous resolution banning the transfer of weapons to and from Iran, but despite this, Tehran continued to send weapons to the Houthi militia in Yemen in full view of the entire world and in the presence of representatives of the United Nations and its monitoring committees. The same is the situation in Iraq and Syria. As far as Lebanon is concerned, Hezbollah has turned it into a factory of destructive weapons that Iran sends abroad after storing enough for domestic use. Well, the Gulf Cooperation Council did well as it has sent a request to the Security Council recently to extend the arms embargo on Iran which is scheduled to end on Oct. 18, but even if the embargo is extended, it will not yield the desired result because Iran will continue to indulge in flagrant violations as it has done in the past. Forty long years were sufficient to prove the error of the West in dealing with the Mullah regime, whatever could be the strategy behind it. The fires that the regime ignited and the devastation it caused have become unbearable, and here it is bullying even its makers and sponsors. This reprehensible duality in which we live must stop when the international community underlines the necessity of establishing peace, stability, and development in the countries around the world but at the same time, it remains a mute spectator while the regime is unleashing terror, destruction and taking people back to the dark ages in order to achieve its legitimate ideals. – The author can be reached on Twitter: @HamoodAbutalib
