Fear

The Iranians have been cracking down on dissidents far more harshly than in past years. And it isn't just arrests:

But the crackdown goes beyond the justice system. Books are more closely censored these days and newspaper editors are being told how to cover issues ranging from nuclear negotiations to local crime control.

"This is completely new and there hasn't been such a thing before," said Mashaallah Shamsolvaezin, head of Iran's Association for Defense of Freedom of the Press.

The annual spring enforcement of Islamic dress codes in Tehran was stricter this year, spawning hundreds of arrests. Amnesty International says executions went from 94 in 2005 to 177 last year. Iran says none of the executions were political and many of those executed were drug traffickers caught in operations to halt opium and heroin smuggling from Afghanistan.

At least 33 women have been arrested in recent months at rallies seeking change on issues such as legalized polygamy, child custody and a marriage age of 13, said Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer for some of the women. About a third received suspended prison terms of several years.

Even the smoking of water-pipes in teashops, a beloved tradition, has been banned, officially for health reasons.

Campus poetry nights have been canceled, along with commemorations of past student uprisings. Bus drivers and other workers have been fired and arrested for union organizing, and nearly 300 teachers were arrested after demanding higher pay.

My question is whether the regime is flailing at imaginary enemies and is therefore creating more enemies, or whether the mullahs are reacting to actual efforts on our part to stoke opposition to the regime.

I'm hoping it is the latter since I am not confident that we have the time to let the former explanation play out and solve our mullah problem for us.

Which relates to this news:

Key U.S. allies are debating the idea of a nuclear compromise with Iran that would call for only a partial freeze of Tehran's uranium enrichment program — a stance that could put them at odds with Washington, officials said Friday.

Are our allies really trying to surrender to the Iranian mullahs? Or have the Europeans agreed to pretend to seek retreat on the eve of an American effort backed by Europe to overthrow the Iranian regime?

I wish we had the time to let nature takes its course and spark a popular revolt against the mullahs. And if nukes potentially in mullah hands weren't in the mix, I'd be happy to let this path play out for decades. But I have no confidence that Iran is a decade away from nuclear weapons. I'd feel much better if we could take down the mullah regime soon.

I fear the Europeans are willing to surrender. Anything short of a complete halt to enrichment will leave us in the far more difficult position of proving that any Iranian enrichment we discover is above what Iran has agreed to. If there is a complete ban, discovering any enrichment proves Iran's violation.

Or am I being naive that Europe has any type of a spine?