US Favors ‘Regime Change’ Not Diplomacy with Iran: Ex-US Senate Candidate

“They are obviously interested in ‘regime change,’ not diplomacy, with the interests of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Central Banks, Oil-Gas Consortiums, and Armament Manufacturers being paramount,” Dankof told Tasnim.

Mark Dankof is a broadcaster for The Ugly Truth Podcast. Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, the son of a United States Air Force Colonel, he graduated from Valparaiso University in 1977 and from Chicago's Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1983. In recent years, he has pursued post-graduate work in systematic theology and theological German at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Formerly the 36th District Chairman of the Republican Party in King County/Seattle and later an elected delegate to Texas State Republican Conventions in 1994 and 1996, he entered the United States Senate race in Delaware in 2000 as the nominated candidate of the Constitution Party against Democratic candidate Thomas Carper and Republican incumbent William Roth.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Tasnim: In an interview with BBC Persian on Nov. 21, the US special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, said Washington is “very pleased” with protests over a fuel price hike in Iran, adding that the maximum pressure against Iran will continue. US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also took to Twitter to express support for the protesters. Open support for rioters has just reinvigorated the Islamic Republic’s official narrative that the real goal the United States pursues through maximum pressure is not to bring Iran to the negotiating table but to cause “regime change” in the country. What do you think? What is behind this kind of US policy?

Dankof: It is clear that “regime change” in Iran is the goal of the Neo-Conservative, Zionist foreign policy of the Trump Administration. As I stated in an interview on the Republic Broadcasting Network this afternoon, and on UK EuroFolkRadio yesterday morning, the situation in Iran must be understood not only in light of what the CIA and British intelligence did in Tehran with Operation Ajax in 1953, but in contemporary terms in the 4 decades since the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979 with ongoing American and Israeli subversion in various cities and provinces of Iran, along with the current American Empire machinations in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Bolivia, Venezuela, and now Hong Kong among others. Pompeo’s recent announcement giving Israel the green light to steal the West Bank along with solidifying their theft of East Jerusalem (al-Quds) must also be added to this demonic mix and overview. Jewish settlement in Hebron (al-Khalil) alone has now tripled, as but one example of the ramifications. The American backed horrors in Gaza and Yemen amplify a very blood-soaked picture.

Tasnim: Reports by Iranian intelligence services say that the US and its allies in the region meddled to stoke recent unrest in Iran. They say clues have been found proving that they intervened to create the turmoil. Bahman Reyhani, a military commander in Kermanshah, said “the rioters belonged to anti-revolutionary groups and America’s intelligence services”. What are your thoughts on this?

Dankof: All of the published reports over time indicate that the Saudi-backed terror groups are involved in (Sistan and) Balouchestan Province terrorist operations coming across the Pakistani-Iranian border. In Khuzestan Province, where unofficial reports indicate Iran has discovered a new potential deposit of oil in southwestern Iran, both groups and the nefarious Muhajedeen-e-Khalq (MEK-MKO) are apparently involved in the ignition of violent incidents. The MEK is clearly involved in the troubles in Tehran, and in Golestan Province and Iranian Azerbaijan.

The MEK headquarters in Tirana, Albania, has been regularly entertaining leading American Neo-Conservatives and Zionists in public photo-ops. The New York Times has extensively covered the Neo-Conservative, Zionist politicians who have been on the MEK payroll, and who helped remove them from the American State Department list of Officially Designated Terrorist Organizations. The money of the MEK is traceable to Saudi Arabia, and Israeli players in this New Great Game. It is fascinating to note the absolute silence over the recent Albanian earthquake and the report of the Balkans Post and Iran Interlink that the MEK headquarters there was devastated. I’m fishing for more information on this report, and what the damage and casualties there might mean to this key asset in the American-Israeli-Saudi war on Iran.

As far as Kermanshah, (military commander) Bahman Reyhani’s initial report may later lead to more information publicly on these “anti-revolutionary” groups, in terms of specific identification of the organizations involved. Dr. Philip Giraldi has already confirmed to your agency (Tasnim) that American, Israeli, and Saudi fingerprints are all over these operations. I concur.

Tasnim: Last Wednesday, the director-general of the anti-espionage department of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said a number of elements that were seeking to collect information on the riots and transfer it to foreign countries were identified and arrested before they could carry out their mission. “These elements that had received CIA-funded training in various countries to gather information under the guise of citizen-journalists had been monitored for quite a long time,” the official said. How much do you think the CIA, Mossad and Saudi spy agency were involved in the riots? 

Dankof: As I have already indicated, I believe it to be logically indisputable that the CIA, Mossad, and Saudi are involved in funding these subversives and provocateurs, and providing legends and covers for those operationally active in these incidents. The use of “citizen-journalists” and fake NGO “human-rights” activist profiles is a regular feature of these “spontaneous” uprisings and “color revolutions.” One presumes the interrogations of those apprehended yielded all kinds of additional information and evidence for Iranian intelligence and the internal security apparatus. 

Tasnim: Iranian officials have repeatedly said that US sanctions against Tehran have dealt a blow to the prospects of talks between Washington and Tehran. It seems that Trump administration has closed the door to diplomacy. Do you share the opinion that the White House is not interested in diplomacy when it comes to Iran?

Dankof: They are obviously interested in “regime change,” not diplomacy, with the interests of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Central Banks, Oil-Gas Consortiums, and Armament Manufacturers being paramount. Trump unilaterally and illegitimately abrogated the multilateral JCPOA, P5+1 nuclear treaty being adhered to by Iran. The Treasury and State Department have instituted economic sanctions on Iran that are a literal declaration of war on Iran by other means. This has led to predictable political unrest in Iran, exacerbated by the wartime gasoline rationing designed by the Iranian government to bring national consumption of gasoline down from 110 million liters to 70 million annually. Once the economic distress led to more publicly expressed political dissatisfaction and unrest, American, Israeli, and Saudi intelligence began unleashing the MEK/MKO terrorists and subversives within the country, with an assist from the Saudi Wahhabist groups, depending on the region and location involved. It is as simple as that.

But it may get worse. The economic sanctions and deployment of terrorists and provocateurs in cities and provinces must be seen as the last stage in “regime change” endeavors short of an overt military attack on Iran.

The endgame may well be a False Flag event somewhere, falsely and deliberately attributed to Iran, that would provide the cover for such an attack. This is how evil and ruthless these people are.