authoritarian regime

“I would not have entertained the plan for a second if the Israelis had said they wanted to sell American weapons to the ayatollah or to his militia, which was operated separately from the Iranian army; it did not seem unreasonable that Iranian moderates who opposed the ayatollah’s authoritarian regime would ask for weapons in order to strengthen their position and enhance their credibility with Iran’s military leaders.”

Simon & Schuster: An American Life