When President of the regime Hassan Rouhani came to power in 2013, Western governments heralded it as a sign of moderation in Iran, but eight years in it is obvious that nothing has changed in Iran. Well, nothing has gotten better; many things have continued along the downward spiral they were already on, resulting in higher rates of poverty and increased oppression of women and minorities.

Yet global governments, including many in Europe, still believe that moderation is working in Iran, that they can negotiate with the regime, and that they should continue or increase trade and diplomatic ties with the regime. But the problem is that the very moderates that these politicians praise are no different to the so-called hardliners, comprising the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. They’re not even two sides of the same coin unless that coin is a trick one with ‘heads’ on both sides.

Even if you were fooled by this political theater eight years ago, it is frankly embarrassing to still be tricked. After all, in the intervening years, Iran has killed thousands of protesters, something documented by Amnesty International, was the subject of a nuclear deal designed to prevent them creating missiles and increased its regional conflict.

In 2021, it is likely that Rouhani will be replaced by someone who doesn’t even bother to hide their hardliner status, especially given the purge of moderates in early 2020. While there is no difference between the two, it may be this that causes the West to break with Iran and recognize their fascism for what it is. The West should not be worried about business deals that will likely have to end or try to convince the US to re-join the nuclear deal, which it left in 2018 because of breaches by Iran that were ignored by the other signatories but embrace this as a chance to champion human rights both in Iran and around the world.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, but the regime has made clear that when they feel emboldened by a lack of appropriate response to abuses of their citizens, they will enact abuses in other countries.

The Iranian Resistance said: “This is not a regime made up of hardliners and reformists jostling for dominance; it is an irredeemable religious dictatorship wherein both factions swear loyalty to a single ruling theocrat while working together to bamboozle foreign adversaries into turning a blind eye to his agenda in hopes of promoting domestic reforms that will never come.”