Iran, US do a 'war on terror' somersault
asia times / sreeram chaulia
01-Aug-2009

The fierce raid this week by Iraqi military and police units on Camp Ashraf...was a game changer in Iran's quest to control the banned organization. The timing of the intense two-day siege of the camp...is clearly linked to the progressive transfer of security operations from American to Iraqi troops....Given Iran's past track record of viciously hunting down MEK operatives, the chances of repatriated militants being pardoned are razor-thin. The worst nightmare for the MEK is of total American abandonment that would lead to it being thrown like lambs before the Iranian state's hungry wolves. The MEK's setbacks in Iraq are not the only gains for Iran of late. On its eastern border with Pakistan, ...the stern punishments and round-ups in Sistan province are making it harder for Jundullah to maintain credible striking capability against the Iranian state. A weak government with an improving external security environment is an oddity that portends more internal bickering in times to come. If the hand of the security establishment is buoyed by the gains against the MEK and Jundullah, and if there is simultaneous downsizing of the power of the clerical class inside the country, Iran's theocracy may be morphing into a military dictatorship in all but name. 

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