'Cracks developing' in Iranian regime: Expert

[0:00] An organization of Iranian American Communities Advisory Board member Kazim Kazarounian is here for more. [0:06] Kazim, thank you for coming on. [0:08] Iran's military commanders joined the government and parliament in a show of unity after President Trump said they were fighting like cats and dogs. [0:15] But you say there are signs of internal friction. What do you mean by that? [0:21] Good morning. It's wonderful to be with you. [0:22] Yes, we are observing cracks developing inside the Iranian regime, but I think that it's important to understand Iran's strategy of what they call a strategy of patience, not their playbook. [0:35] They're trying or they're attempting to bleed America slowly. [0:40] Their trap is to drag United States into a long, dirty, unwinnable conflict that drains money, drains focus and political will. [0:51] They are they have their eyes on the domestic politics and probably election cycles, and they are hoping to get United States involved in an asymmetric advantage. [1:03] Now, wherever it costs Iran pennies to disrupt and build their drones or whatever, while it costs United States billions to defend it. [1:13] At the same time, you know, you talk about IRGC, IRGC is trying to adapt to a structure that is engineered to absorb hits. [1:25] Taken, you know, they can take the hit and at the same time, the rest of the system can can move on. [1:31] Taken, you know, and they are also using this war for domestic control. [1:38] They are it is a weapon for them. [1:40] They don't care about the destruction of the infrastructures. [1:44] They don't care about what is happening, the suffering that people are going through, but they are exploiting a war as a weapon of internal suppression. [1:55] The regime exploits a chaos to intensify, as they have done over the past weeks, the executions, you know, they have been executing many members of the main opposition group, MEK, at the same time that they are executing some of the people that were arrested in January uprising. [2:13] But we are observing cracks, you know, the cracks are showing there are mixed signals that are coming out of this regime, there are erratic decisions, erratic moves. [2:24] At some point, we hear that the foreign minister has resigned and at the same time we hear opposing news. [2:31] So all of these to us is at the same time, you know, that the regime is weakened by the top 50, top 60 people taken out. [2:41] And that reveals a leadership that is under significant strain. [2:47] How critical are those internal Iranian affairs to how the regime handles this conflict with the U.S.? [2:56] So what is important is that we have to realize that the real force of change comes from inside Iran. [3:03] It's not war, but organized resistance on the streets of Iran that is going to eventually bring this regime down and this regime must come down for the sake of the Iranian people, for the sake of the world. [3:17] But the change has to come from within, no foreign army can deliver freedom to the Iranian people, no foreign army without significant boots on the ground, way more than what we had, United States had in Iraq, underground to topple this regime. [3:35] So the only path forward is the resistance units that are already inside Iran. [3:42] There is, they deliver a structured and not a chaotic regime change. [3:48] And CRI, National Council of Resistance of Iran, offers a disciplined, organized alternative to this regime. [3:55] They have a platform that, a ready blueprint that has been tested for the last four decades. [4:01] Under the leadership of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, there is a clear, secular, democratic path forward. [4:09] And this is a strategy. [4:10] This is a point that the West, including United States, has a blind spot on. [4:18] It is a strategic blind spot. [4:21] It is a misplaced focus. [4:23] The policy right now is only a stock on nuclear talks, while ignoring the regime's greatest vulnerability, and that is the people of Iran and the resistance on the streets of Iran, organized resistance, the missing factor it is. [4:39] And that missing factor, I think, that has to be the most critical element of this conversation. [4:45] It is time to reframe Western's strategies on dealing with Iran. [4:52] They have to back the change. [4:54] They have to back the change that is done by the people of Iran. [4:59] And we have to broaden our focus from this endless containment of the Iranian regime that is never fully successful. [5:10] All right, Kazem Kazurunian, we appreciate your time today. [5:13] Thank you.