Reality takes root in Iran, critics argue

WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- The suppression of dissent in Iran and the passive stance taken by Western leaders has spoiled any chance of reconciling with the Tehran regime, critics argue.

Street protests turned violent in the wake of the disputed June 12 election that saw Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claiming an overwhelming victory.

Washington has issued repeated claims that, despite the violence, the matter is largely an internal affair.

Writing for the Atlantic Council, Rafael Bardaji, the founder of the Strategic Studies Group in Madrid, said the West's blase attitude over the Iranian repression has spoiled any chance of reform.

"The repressive instruments of the Islamic regime and the passivity of the West towards the Ayatollahs' excesses have unfortunately crushed any hope of change once again," he writes.

The suppression of any viable opposition in Iran, and a lack of international condemnation, has strengthened the conservative radicals in Tehran, Bardaji argues.

That lack of condemnation has manifested itself in tacit approval of the clerical regime in Iran, while Tehran has clearly lost the support of its people.

"If there was any hope to start a new relation with the Iran of the Ayatollahs, that hope is gone now and it is time to face the crude reality instead," he cautions.