IF I were an Iranian leader, I wouldn’t sleep these days. All my well-kept schemes are exposed. My worst crimes are unearthed. My allies and agents are condemned. My secret closet is searched and every bone of my victims is found. The court of law is in order. Every shred of evidence is presented. My lawyers are overwhelmed and powerless. It is a matter of days before the jury and judge to decide my fate. Most likely, I would be found guilty as charged and hanged.

All the above is public knowledge, now, but what no one is telling me, is what is my punishment. Would it be harsh or too harsh. How is the execution going to be — quick or painfully slow? One thing is too clear to be ignored—All the signs point to the present, not the future. If I could just peek through the keyhole into what is being discussed behind closed doors, maybe I could do better facing it!

That is what any Iranian leader should feel these days, and I would have felt sorry for them, except they don’t deserve any sympathy. The clergy, politicians and generals knew exactly what they were doing. They killed their own people — 30,000 of them by just one executive order, by late Ayatollah Khomeini. Then his holiness gave millions of soldiers (including children) his blessings and “keys to paradise”, and sent them to the heavily mined, killing zones, at Iraq’s borders.

The next “Ayatollah Hitler” Ali Khamaeni, continued to wage wars on his neighbors, using Arabs to kill Arabs, with help from Afghanis, Pakistanis and Iranians. His religiously enslaved armies have killed half a million Syrians, plus Yemeni, Lebanese, Iraqis, Somalis and others. To finance his conquests, he allowed his slaves to grow hashish and opium, produce drugs, trade in weapons, launder money... you name it!

And when you think it can’t get worse for Iranian people, it does! Instead of enjoying the treasures of their ultra rich land, one third of the population is under poverty line. Their oil, agriculture, industry, tourism and other sources of income are wasted on expansion wars, terror sponsorship, and foreign militias. They still live on the infrastructure the late Shahs had built for them, during the best part of last century. Since the revolution, even that was not well maintained and kept. Democracy, too, was lost.

The mullahs have enforced their theology on everything from politics to systems; economy to education; judiciary to military. The Supreme Leader is the representative of God on earth, and the deputy of the absent Imam, who escaped, as a child, into a tunnel, and stayed there for 1,000 years, waiting for the right moment to reappear. Till then, his holy deputy rules in his name. He makes no mistakes. Defying him is like defying God, all twelve imams, and the Absent One! His is the ultimate and absolute power, no emperors or kings, not even prophets had acquired.

So what is next? I believe that such mindsets would only understand pure force. No diplomacy, no negotiations, no trade would work with them. Hitler had to be bombarded to death. Khomeini had to reach the brink of total collapse to accept UN peace resolutions and end the 8-year war with Iraq. Khamaeni would need to see death with his own eyes before he could give up his caliphate and empire dreams.

What about their ballistic missiles one may ask? I would say that like North Korea, Iran does have an arsenal of ballistic missiles, capable of reaching every European capital, including Paris, London, Berlin and Rome. In fact, that is exactly why we all should join the alliance the US is building to face this danger. Madmen in Tehran are already boasting and threatening Europe with termination. Thankfully, they don’t have, yet, the nuclear capability. If we wait longer it might just be too late.

US President Donald Trump may have his share of mistakes, atop them his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Zionist state. However, regarding the Iranian danger, he is absolutely right. Former US President Barak Obama made a catastrophic miscalculation when he thought the Iranian regime may ever change from within. It was enough to read their constitution, analyze their system of government and follow their pattern of action, to see that they mean what they say and say what they mean — total domination of the Muslim world. If that was not of concern to Obama, he should have, at least, read their lips and reflected on their track record with America. Isn’t enough to understand their true self to check on their friends and allies—Daesh (the so-called IS), Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Houthis, and company?

If Obama had it all wrong, the world should not! Iran must be free for Iranians to live in peace with their neighbors, the world, and most importantly, with themselves!

— Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at kbatarfi@gmail.com. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi