Iran’s Regime Inches Toward Nuclear Weapons
Iran’s regime is once again at the center of a dangerous escalation of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. A recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found traces of uranium particles that had been enriched to 83.7%, just shy of 90%, regarded as weapons-grade. This is while Tehran has constantly claimed that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. At the same time, it denies IAEA inspectors vital access to its nuclear facilities, to which it agreed in the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The alarming findings in Iran’s nuclear facilities have raised alarms among western politicians. In a recent statement, EU representatives expressed concern about “the presence of HEU particles containing up to 83.7” and said that the EU’s concerns “are exacerbated by the fact that Iran has modified the configuration of the centrifuges able to quickly produce highly enriched materials at levels considerably over 60%, without any credible civilian justification. This further undermines Iran’s argument that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.”
As tension built and politicians and experts warned about the dangers of Iran’s nuclear activities, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi made a trip to Tehran, during which Iranian officials assured him that they would adhere to their nuclear commitments. They also committed to restoring all access to UN inspectors including cameras used by the IAEA for surveillance of Iran’s nuclear sites. The meeting came ahead of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting.
However, in the past, the regime has made similar commitments only to backtrack and resume its provocative activities shortly after meeting with IAEA officials.
According to the JCPOA, Tehran had to cap its uranium enrichment at 3.67%. However, since 2021, Tehran has increased enrichment to 60%, inching its way toward weapons-grade uranium. It is also experimenting with advanced centrifuges, which will further accelerate its nuclear weapons capabilities. And the JCPOA did not prevent it from developing ballistic missiles that will allow it to launch nuclear warheads against its targets. According to many experts, the regime is a short jump away from obtaining enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb.
Multiple rounds of negotiations in Vienna and other venues to bring the regime back within compliance with the JCPOA. The West has tried many initiatives to prevent the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear bombs. They all have two things in common: First, they have all failed to put a stop to the regime’s nuclear ambitions. And second, they were all based on appeasing the regime and providing it with concessions in hopes that the ruling mullahs would become good actors.
But time and again, the regime has proven that it will not negotiate in full faith. And even when it signs agreements, it exploits loopholes to continue making progress toward nuclear arms.
Now, with the regime being dangerously close to obtaining nuclear weapons, Western states must make tough decisions. Will they continue to try half-measures hoping that the regime will decide to finally act in good faith? Or will they finally embrace the reality that this regime will not back down from its nuclear ambitions and other nefarious activities without a strong political will and decisive actions to bring it to heel?
US Congress Expresses Support for Iranian People’s Quest for a Democratic, Secular Republic
Several bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives have presented a resolution (H. RES. 100) supporting the Iranian people in their desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Republic of Iran while condemning the Iranian government for violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism.
The resolution notes that beginning in 2017, the Iranian regime suppressed protests with the repressive force that resulted in at least 25 deaths and 4,000 arrests. It also acknowledges the November 2019 protests that spread to at least 100 cities throughout Iran, resulting in the deaths of about 1,500 people in less than two weeks, and thousands more were detained.
The current protests ignited in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was arrested by the morality police enforcing Iran’s mandatory dress code laws. The protests, which are being led by women and youth, demand social freedom and political change. The protests reflect the more than four decades of organized resistance against the Iranian dictatorship, led most recently by women who have endured torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and death.
The resolution highlights that in several months of continuing protests in hundreds of cities throughout Iran, the regime’s security forces have killed hundreds and arrested tens of thousands of protesters, with some at risk of execution.
The Department of State’s 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cites that Iran’s “government and its agents reportedly committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, most common executions for crimes not meeting the international legal standard of ‘most serious crimes’ or for crimes committed by juvenile offenders, as well as executions after trials without due process.”
The resolution urges the Administration to work with United States partners and allies to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime and establish a mechanism by which the United Nations Security Council can monitor such violations.
It also notes that the United Nations Human Rights Council established a fact-finding mission to conduct an independent investigation into the ongoing deadly violence related to the protests in Iran that began on September 16, 2022, and that the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution to expel Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the remainder of its 4-year term ending in 2026.
The resolution also condemns the Iranian regime for arbitrarily and brutally suppressing ethnic and religious minorities, including Iranian Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, and even Sunni Muslims, and depriving them of their basic human rights, and in many cases executing them. The Iranian people have been deprived of their fundamental freedoms and are rejecting monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny, as evident in their protest slogans.
In conclusion, the resolution expresses support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Republic of Iran, while condemning the Iranian government for violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism. It calls on the international community to work to bring accountability to the Iranian government and provide support to the Iranian people in their quest for human rights and democratic governance.
Key characteristics of the H. RES. 100
- Resolution 100 in the US Congress sponsored by a bipartisan House majority. The names of the signatories are listed on the official website of the US Congress.
- 225 representatives of the American people supported the request of the Iranian people for a democratic republic.
- Support for Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan for the future of Iran.
- Among the signatories, the names of some members of the leadership of both parties, the heads of 11 out of 20 committees, the heads of 60 sub-committees, and the 28 members of foreign committees are noticeable.
- The support of the majority of the US House of Representatives for a resolution in the first 50 days of 118th Congress, 1st Session is unprecedented.
Wave Of Poisoning Attacks Against Schools Leave Hundreds Sick
Iran has been shaken for three months by serial poisoning attacks against all-girls schools, which has left more than 1,000 children ill. While official media has reported the news since mid-December, the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has remained mostly silent. On Monday, he finally made his first remark on the issue, saying, “If the poisoning of the students is proven, its perpetrators must be punished.”
Khamenei also called for “seriously pursuing” this issue. Parallel to this, government entities have expressed their inability to identify the perpetrators of these gas attacks on schools in the past few months and have repeatedly said that they have not found “clear leads”. At the same time, there are ample signs and evidence that the regime’s agents organize the attacks.
The growing wave of attacks
The gas attacks on all-girls schools in Iran started in mid-December from Qom and gradually spread to different cities. It has also included the university dormitories of female students and some boys’ conservatories.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, on March 5, The vice-chancellor of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences announced “the increase in the number of students who have been poisoned today in Khuzestan province to 700. Five hundred have been discharged, and 200 others are still cared for.”
On March 4 and 5, more than 33 cities in more than 17 provinces of Iran witnessed poisoning attacks against students. In some towns, hospital emergency rooms were overwhelmed with sick students.
The United Nations Human Rights Office in Geneva expressed concern over the publication of these reports on Friday, March 3, and called for a transparent investigation.
At the same time, reports and pictures published on social networks during the past few days show security forces and authorities beating parents who had gathered at schools to protest the attacks. But protest rallies against the regime are expanding in many cities, where parents, students, and concerned citizens are outraged by the regime’s role in the attacks.
“Public Hysteria”
Some government-linked media and officials have called the chain poisoning “mass hysteria” and have tried to downplay the situation. In an article on Monday, Kayhan newspaper republished parts of the reports from Tasnim and Fars news agencies linked to the IRGC, which claim that Iranian students were not poisoned but suffered from “public hysteria”.
According to Keyhan, “by heavily promoting news about poisoning attacks, the media and some social networks have created a sense of public fear or hysteria. Such news has caused some students to experience anxiety and psychological distress, which could lead to physical symptoms that mimic poisoning, even from usual everyday causes.”
As per a state-run television report, a school was reportedly closed due to the disruptive behavior of students who feigned illness from poisoning.
Yousef Nouri, the Minister of Education, claimed on March 5, “Now you see that they have worked on the issue in foreign media that this problem is due to social and psychological issues.”
Regime president Ebrahim Raisi considered these attacks on students a “conspiracy of the enemy”, and other officials attributed it to “external factors”.
At the same time, Kayhan newspaper, affiliated with Ali Khamenei’s office, called for “summons and interrogation” of the commentators about these serial poisonings.
An orchestrated act
But Shahriar Heydari, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Majlis, admitted on Monday, March 6, that the poisoning attacks are “a completely organized act.”
“Its factors and elements are internal. Even if its origin is outside the border, which has yet to be proven, its executive capacity is domestic,” Heydari said.
On March 6, the Didban-e Iran website quoted Massoud Pezeshkian, a member of the Healthcare Commission of the Majlis, as saying, “How can the security system, which investigates, follows up and arrests in the shortest possible time if a problem occurs, not see this case?… The failure of the country’s security system to deal with the perpetrators is questionable and unacceptable.”
There are several reasons to believe the regime itself is behind the attacks.
First, it claims that its security and surveillance apparatus is capable of finding crime suspects with very high accuracy. During the nationwide protests in September 2022, the regime quickly provided security camera footage and other evidence to incriminate citizens and convict them of crimes. But since the poison attacks began, the administration has failed to produce evidence of the crime despite its heavy surveillance hardware nationwide.
Second, students and schoolgirls have been a thorn in the regime’s side since the protests began. While it deployed state security forces and Basij units to universities to suppress students, it could not do the same to high schools and elementary schools. And schoolchildren have continued to hold anti-regime protest rallies in the past months, chanting slogans against the regime and calling for overthrowing the mullahs’ rule. The poison attacks could thus give the government a tool to suppress the children and force parents to keep their children at home.
And finally, the scale of the attacks and their widespread nature and consistency could not be caused by rogue elements or terrorist groups. It needs orchestration and organization of a scale that could go unnoticed by security forces only if they were directly involved.
The poison attacks only indicate a desperate regime struggling against the continuous wave of protests calling for change.
Iranian Security Forces Beat Baluch Doctor To Death
On Thursday, February 23, activists in Sistan and Baluchestan provinces reported the news of the death of Dr. Ebrahim Rigi, 24, in Zahedan. Rigi was a physician who had been arrested during nationwide protests and had been recently released. Regime authorities announced his death as a result of “assault.” But according to activists, on the day of his death, he was arrested by the police for resuming his political activities and beaten to death at a police station.
Ebrahim Rigi was among the physicians who helped treat the injured after “Zahedan’s Bloody Friday”. On September 30, 2022, security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters who had rallied after the Friday prayers. At least a hundred people, including several children, were killed on this day. A few days later, on October 13, the police arrested Rigi at the Social Security Hospital in Zahedan.
According to Mr. Rigi’s relatives, he was charged with “Enmity against God, corruption on earth, and leading protests.” He was released on bail in December.
According to the local website report of Sistan and Baluchestan, on Thursday, Mr. Rigi was arrested again on the evening of Wednesday, February 22. Just one hour later, forensic officers came to the police station, examined the body and observed that his clothes were torn, and declared the cause of death to be assault.
Activists say he was arrested again because he published an Instagram post in which he said that death and execution are no longer important to him.
According to the same source, “On February 22, around 4:30 PM, two agents arrested Ebrahim from the area of Karimpur Street and took him to the 12th police station in Bethat area. Ebrahim’s phone was switched off from the moment of his arrest and he was beaten. He died at the police station. The judge of the special homicide branch… and the judge on duty and the medical examiner confirmed that Ebrahim died as a result of a beating that took place inside the 12th police station.”
Ali Rahimi, deputy commander of the police force of Sistan and Baluchistan province, claimed, “This person was in a bad condition in the back seat of the car, and the police immediately intervened by seeing the inside of the car, they found an unconscious person in the car, and immediately informed the emergency services. After examining this person, named Ebrahim Rigi, the emergency staff at the scene announced that he had been dead for more than an hour.”
“Last night, some people with a car went to the door of the police station in 12th district of Zahedan and announced that they had arrested a person on 23 Karimpour street, identified as Ebrahim Rigi for whom the arrest warrant had already been issued by the judicial authority They brought him to the police,” Rahimi added.
In his last Instagram post, Dr. Ebrahim Rigi said:
“No Iranian or Baluch will forget September 30. The incident was as wide as the broken hearts of the bereaved mothers as wide as the broken hearts of the families of Khodnour, Mahsa Amini, and other victims. We all had many dreams in this land, and we might say to ourselves that we have died somewhere else, and this is our hell. Maybe so… I did not know that helping the wounded and criticizing the killing of our brothers and sisters is also a sin. In this land, however, I have complained to God against all those who have been involved in oppressing me. But my dears, know this, even my death, even my execution, was no longer important to me. Because I have died many times in this country, they made many suggestions for my departure from this land. They sent me messages from all over the world, but I will not leave my city and Makki.”
A handwriting by Ebrahim Rigi that seems to be from the time he was in Zahedan prison:
“You scare us from beheading, if we were afraid of, we wouldn’t dance in the lovers’ circle.”
2) The authorities tried to pressure Ebrahim Rigi’s family to bury him without an autopsy & gave them contradictory information about the circumstances of his death to evade responsibility, including by blaming his death on a heart attack.
— Amnesty Iran (@AmnestyIran) February 24, 2023
World Powers Should Hear The Voice Of Iranians, Not Dictators And Their Remnants
Iran’s nationwide uprising continues despite its ups and down. The clerical system’s demise no longer seems a dream but a reachable goal. More than anyone else, the Ayatollahs in Tehran take this threat seriously, therefore trying to detract the uprising from its main course.
Ruhollah Khomeini and his network of clerics and religious fanatics hijacked Iran’s 1979 anti-monarchic revolution while giving many promises to a population yearning for democracy and freedom. Without any real solution, mullahs soon realized that Iran’s vibrant society and the growing democratic opposition were serious challenges to their backward rule. So, the regime began its killing spree. Although Tehran has not shied away from any crimes against humanity to control society, it has also tried to outflank the democratic opposition through demonization and fabricated “alternatives.”
Khomeini controlled Iran’s society with an Iron fist and managed the regime’s infightings by using his religious hegemony. Once he died, the new Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and the entire system needed a method to control society and cope with the international community by trying to imply that after Khomeini’s death, the path of reformism has opened. For decades, Tehran used the so-called “reformist” faction to deceive Western powers, and Iranian society, to chase the myth of moderation.
Sadly, world powers fell for the smiles of President Mohammad Khatami and accepted Tehran’s terms, including the terrorist designation of its main opposition, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK). This unjust designation was later revoked after a long legal battle by the Iranian opposition. Yet, the regime used the MEK’s blacklisting to justify its terrorist activities and crimes against dissidents inside Iran and abroad.
Despite witnessing how their appeasement policy allowed Tehran to later advance its nuclear program under the so-called hardliner president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Western powers continued their wrong approach by entering a series of negotiations with the mullahs. Those negotiations finally resulted in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal that western democracies desperately still try to revive despite Tehran’s provocative actions.
For the Iranian people and the regime, the mirage of moderation faded during the major Iran uprising in 2018, when people chanted, “Reformists, hardliners, the game is over.” Since then, Tehran’s new tactic is to promote Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah.
On June 26, 2018, the state-run Jomhuri-e Eslami newspaper acknowledged how the regime’s agents “have become bold enough to chant ‘Bless the soul of Reza Shah’ [Reza Pahlavi’s grandfather] while being escorted by the security forces. These [agents] are the same participating in the Friday Prayers and other state-staged rallies.”
Reza Pahlavi later acknowledged his bilateral contact with the terrorist Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and its paramilitary Basij forces. He has explicitly said he “counts” on them to gain power in Iran. While the IRGC forces keep brutalizing and killing Iranians, Pahlavi and his entourage speak of civil disobedience instead of echoing the Iranian people’s demand from the world community to recognize their right to self-defense.
Yet, Reza Pahlavi and some other so-called “opposition figures,” including Masih Alinejad, lose no time to slander the MEK. This is another characteristic Reza Pahlavi, Alinejad, and their entire ilk share with Iran’s ruling theocracy. What else should be expected from a man who is in bilateral contact with the IRGC and a woman whose political affiliation remains in limbo?
Masoumeh Alinejad Qomi-Kolai, known by her stage name Masih Alinejad, was a reporter for several “reformist” state-run outlets. She rose to fame when members of parliament ousted her from the Majlis (parliament) in 2005 when she revealed the number of bonuses the MPs had received. Videos of her praising Khatami and other regime officials are still present. Alinejad left Iran in 2009 and, ever since, has tried to show herself as an activist who keeps adjusting her position to the situation. She first started by limiting Iranian women’s demand for the abolishment of the mandatory veil. She consistently insisted on the need to negotiate with the regime and campaigned to encourage Iranians to vote in the regime’s sham elections. Now she had become a fierce activist for regime change when the mullahs’ downfall emerged on the horizon. Despite her deafening cries of “democracy, women’s rights, and secularism,” Alinejad has allied with Reza Pahlavi, who advocates for the return of the deposed monarchy and limits his views of women’s rights to “being the father of three girls.”
Reza Pahlavi and his entourage are indeed slowing down the process of the revolution in the making in Iran by trying to imply that Iranians should either choose between the current regime or the return of the Pahlavi dictatorship or that if the people’s demands are limited to some basic needs. Their “us or chaos” scenario, coupled with their anti-MEK rhetoric, only spreads the message of despair among risen Iranians and detracts the uprising from its main course, also allowing world powers to continue appeasing Tehran.
For their part, Iranian people have rejected this scenario by chanting slogans such as “Death to the oppressor, be it Shah or the [Supreme] Leader.” The ball is now in the court of western democracies. They should hear the real voice of Iranians, who want a pluralistic and secular republic.
The Rial Continues To Sink, Hits Record 500,000 Marks Against The Dollar
The US dollar increased in price by more than 11 percent in February and grew to more than 500,000 rials. Experts and traders say that the increase in the price of “gold coins” and gold is also a function of the “strange and scary” upward trend of the dollar price.
According to Iranian media, the dollar price consistently increased throughout February. Despite the Central Bank’s efforts to stabilize the currency price, in February, the US dollar price increased by more than 11 percent and reached more than 500,000 rials.
Currency traders have said this model of devaluation is unprecedented and now inflation trends are guiding the market.
According to a Tejarat News report, the package of new EU sanctions against Iran’s regime has disturbed the market and put traders in a buying position.
On Monday, February 20, the European Union added the remaining Iranian banks to its sanctions list. According to some traders, this news may cause the continuation of the rise of gold coins and currencies.
Market analysts believe that during the 40 days since Mohammad Reza Farzin became the head of the Central Bank, the bank has tried hard to keep the price at the bottom of the 40,000-rial range. Analysts say the dollar cost has risen regardless of the rhetoric therapy and does not follow force and orders.
While the regime will continue to claim that the continued depreciation of the rial is caused by foreign powers and sanctions, government-owned and -backed institutions will continue to benefit from the fluctuations in the price of the rial. As the gatekeeper for currency exchange, the regime benefits from the instability of prices. Meanwhile, the people of Iran, who have been suffering from the deteriorating economic conditions caused by the regime’s policies, will feel the brunt of the effects caused by the further devaluation of the rial. Higher prices and inflation will directly impact the lives of millions of people. And given that the regime is benefiting from increased imports at the cost of deteriorating domestic production, the price of many staples and essential goods is directly affected by the price of the dollar.
Gold coins will soon reach the 300-million-rial range
The gold, coins and currency markets are very turbulent these days, so prices hiked on the first day after the holidays marking the anniversary of the 1979 revolution. This jump in prices and rising volatility occurs while, according to the head of the Tehran Jewelry Union, the increase in demand did not play a role in it.
The price of coins reached 290 million rials on February 19, and the dollar cost influenced the coin market’s fluctuation.
Hojjat Shafaei, head of the gold and jewelry producers’ union, complains about the minting of various coins by the central bank in recent years. He criticizes that the high supply of coins causes people to invest instead of buying gold artefacts.
“Iran is among the seven gold-producing countries and almost among the ten gold-consuming countries in the world; this is while the increase in the minting of coins by the central bank and placing various pieces of coins at the disposal of the public has caused people’s taste to change. The cultural attitudes towards gold consumption and value have shifted in the country including India and the Persian Gulf nations.”
In an interview with Khabar Online, Nader Bazrafshan, head of the Tehran Jewelry Association, said, “In Tehran alone, 700 requests for permits to sell coins have been submitted to the union of gold and jewelry. And the Central Bank has given permits to 598 exchanges. Therefore, around 1,300-coin dealers are in Tehran, which is very significant across Iran.”
The head of the jewelry producers’ union believes that many of the price fluctuations we are experiencing today come back to the currency market.
According to the latest statistics, the Central Bank has minted around 80 million coins.
Iran Sees Another Surge Of Anti-Regime Protests
On Thursday and Friday, Iran’s ongoing protests saw another surge of rallies against the regime despite strict security measures and suppression of dissidents.
On Thursday, people took to the streets to mark the 40th day of the execution of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, who were arrested and hanged for taking part in the nationwide protests. Both of them were severely tortured, forced to make incriminating confessions, and were deprived of a fair judicial process.
While the regime had dispatched security forces to prevent protests, rallies were reported in many cities. including Tehran, Mashhad, Sanandaj, Shiraz, Karaj, Qazvin, Arak, Izeh, Ahvaz, Khorramabad, Rasht, Yazd, Javanrud, and Qorveh. Protesters chanted slogans against regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei and called for regime change. They also pledged to avenge Karami, Hosseini, and hundreds of other protesters who have been killed by security forces in the past five months.
In several locations, protesters blocked roads by lighting fires and clashed with security forces who were dispatched to suppress them.
On Friday, the province of Sistan and Baluchestan saw another round of protests following the Friday prayers. These protest rallies are taking place on a weekly basis despite videos showing the regime sending troops and taking extra security measures to prevent rallies from taking place. The protesters chanted slogans in support of regime change but also in opposition to a return to the dictatorship of the Shah regime. Protesters were chanting, “Death to the oppressor, whether it be the Shah or the Mullahs” and “No to monarchy, no to the supreme leader, democracy and equality.” Nightly protests were also held in several cities, including Tehran, Sanandaj, and Isfahan, where protesters marched in the streets and chanted anti-regime slogans. These protests were taking place at the same time as the first day of the annual Munich Security Conference was being held. Thousands of supporters of the Iranian Resistance held a protest rally in Munich to voice their support for the ongoing protests in Iran and to call on the world leaders to hold the regime accountable for its crimes. The rally was also in support of the slogan “No to Shah and no to Mullahs,” which has become very popular inside Iran. This rally was also significant since representatives of the remnants of the Shah regime were invited to the Munich Security Conference. The demonstrators in Munich voiced their opposition to this invitation and made it clear that the people of Iran will not accept a return to the Shah dictatorship.February 17 – Zahedan, southeast #Iran
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 17, 2023
Placard reads: "Freedom will come [with the motto of] 'We can & we must!'"
Protesters chanting:
"Death to Khamenei!"
"Death to the IRGC!"#No2ShahNo2Mullahs #مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبرpic.twitter.com/IFUqtCelGy
Leo Dautzenberg, Chair of the German Solidarity Committee for a Free Iran (DSFI) and former Member of German Bundestag, warned against the promotion of the son of Iran’s ousted Shah. Dautzenberg emphasized that during the 1979 revolution, Khomeini promised not to seek power and leave it to the people to choose their leaders. “But we know that he seized power when he came to Iran. Reza Pahlavi has also made similar moves. He claims not to want power, but he has already sworn an oath of being the King of Iran. And he has even declared his heir,” Dautzenberg said. Pahlavi has not condemned the crimes of SAVAK, the secret police of his father’s regime that was tasked with arresting, torturing, and killing dissidents. Neither has he revoked his claim to the throne. “This is dangerous,” Dautzenberg said. “This is why the participation of the Shah’s son at the Munich Security Conference is a dangerous decision and welcomed by the regime. It distracts discussions focused on unity and solidarity for freedom.” Hanif Mahoutchian, Legal Advisor of the JU-Hamburg, said, “Whatever the media try to promote fake alternatives, the true face of the Iranian revolution is different. The people of Iran are relaying their own message to the world.” The supporters of the Iranian Resistance resumed their rally on Saturday.LIVE STREAM
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) February 16, 2023
SUPPORT IRAN UPRISING
MUNICH RALLY
Max-Josef-Platz
Friday, February 17
12.00 CET#IranRevolution #IranRevolution2023 #Iran #Iranprotests #IRGC #BlacklistIRGC https://t.co/XXo280JFzk
Why Iran Will Not Return To The Pahlavi Era
Iran’s nationwide uprising has entered its sixth month despite a heavy crackdown by security forces. As spectators see the mullahs’ demise on the horizon, one question remains unanswered: Who or what will replace the clerical regime?
From France to Russia and to Afghanistan, where monarchic systems were booted, the return of those deposed royal families to power became a myth. Although in some countries, like Afghanistan, the royal family was toppled through foreign invasion, foreign powers couldn’t return the power to the monarchic system.
While Iranians have demonstrated their desire to establish a democratic country, some observers suggest that the return of the Pahlavi dictatorship to Iran is one option on the table. Is this real, or is it just a fake alternative and part of Tehran’s strategy to discredit its principal opposition movement and detract the nationwide uprising from its main course?
Social media is filled with photos of women without the hijab during the Shah’s rule, trying to create this illusion that Iranians lived affluent lives in comparison with the current deplorable situation in Iran, particularly the women’s harsh conditions under the misogynous regime.
So, did Iranians make a mistake in ousting Pahlavi’s dictatorship?
In 1979, millions of Iranians poured into the streets, calling out the corrupt Shah regime that had plundered their wealth, squandering it on building its army. While the remnants of the deposed monarchy claim that Shah modernized Iran, a closer look at facts and figures proves the opposite.
In the 1950s, the Middle East and Asia were hotbeds of communist revolutions spearheaded by farmers and peasants. Shah, who owed his throne to the American-led coup against Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, was directed by his masters to counter the possibility of a revolution inside Iran, which could have sent a shockwave through the region.
Therefore, Shah started his so-called “White Revolution,” or land reforms. He made a lot of fanfare about distributing land among farmers and modernizing Iran’s agriculture. The real intention was first to diminish any motivation for revolution in farmers and, secondly, further plunder people’s wealth. This so-called reform was meant to preserve the traditional power pattern and safeguard the regime. The nobility and ruling elites, including the Pahlavi family, received the lion’s share of lands by owning the new industrial farms. As a result, Iran’s agricultural exports were reduced by half in less than a year, and by the mid-70s, Iran was no longer exporting agricultural goods.
Shah also started a series of so-called modernizing plans. Delusional about the huge oil revenue following the Arab-Israeli war in 1973, Shah started a series of so-called “modernization plans” while ignoring the country’s lack of infrastructure. By increasing imports and foreign investments, Iran’s economy caught the “Dutch disease.” So, when the oil prices suddenly dropped in 1975, Iran’s inflation and prices skyrocketed, adding to the people’s pain.
The combination of economic and social crises, most importantly Shah’s oppression and creation of a one-party state, prompted Iran’s middle and lower classes, who suffered both politically and economically, to revolt against the regime and topple it. The people also wanted to ouster the Shah for the many crimes of his regime, including the torture, murder, and execution of dissidents and freedom fighters. The SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police, is still known as one of the most notorious and brutal security agencies of contemporary times. It later became the basis for the VEVAK, the intelligence ministry of the mullahs’ regime.
Although the crimes of Shah’s regime pale in comparison to those of the incumbent theocracy, their common goal of plundering the national wealth and oppressing freedoms makes them de facto allies. Neither the Islamic Republic nor the Pahlavi dictatorship was seeking Iran’s progress. The ruling clerics and the comprador elites of the Pahlavi dynasty are not an economically and socially productive force.
The Iranian people’s revolution is the revolution of productive forces. The revolution of a people who actually turn the wheels of industry, agriculture, factories, workshops, etc., and want to participate in the society’s political governance and take over the affairs. Naturally, such a demand will find its appropriate answer in a pluralistic and democratic republic. This will not be achieved by replacing one dictatorship with another.
So, the return of a monarchic revolution in Iran is a mirage, and following it bears no result rather than political exhaustion and hinders the process of a revolution in the making in Iran against any form of tyranny. The international community should embrace this democratic change in Iran, as it will be the beginning of a flourishing era in the crisis-riddled region of the Middle East.
The Voice Of Iran’s Revolution Echoed Loudly In Paris Rally
Ten thousand Iranians gathered in Paris on Sunday to voice their support for the ongoing revolution in Iran. The rally, organized by the supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), featured speeches from opposition figures, Iranian communities, and western politicians.
The rally took place as Iran has seen five months of relentless protests despite repression, arrests, executions, and the murder of more than 750 protesters in the streets. At the same time, the remnants of the overthrown Shah regime and proponents of the mullahs’ regime have been trying to promote solutions such as a return to monarchy and a compromise with the current regime and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
The Persian-language TV and radio channels located outside of Iran that promote the narrative of the monarchy enjoy financial support from governments known for their policy of appeasement towards the regime. However, this promotion does not align with the true aspirations of the Iranian people, who are striving for a democratic and free country. The fixation on the Shah’s son and the monarchy serves only to distract and obstruct the Iranian people’s efforts to achieve a more democratic and free society, hindering progress towards their collective vision for the future of their country.
The Paris rally was a clear echo of a slogan that has become very popular in the past five months of protests in Iran and has been widely censored by these so-called Persian media: “Death to the oppressor, whether it be the Shah or the mullahs!” “Dictatorship, whether draped in a turban or a crown, remains dictatorship,” said Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), who spoke at the event. Mrs. Rajavi stressed that the international community has a duty to recognize the Iranian people’s right to resist against the fascist regime and to defend themselves “against the IRGC, covert agents, and the barrage of bullets that pierce their eyes, heads, and hearts.” She also called on world leaders to back the protests in Iran by designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity. “This is what people of Iran demand and indispensable to promoting regional and global peace,” she said. John Bercow, the former Speaker of the UK House of Commons, emphasized that the Shah was “a corrupt killer” who did not believe in “democracy, freedom, the rights of media, the rights of women, or the rights of minorities.” Bercow said that the mullahs hijacked “what should have been a revolution by and for the people of Iran” and are “dictators every bit as much as the Shah was a dictatorship.” “We don’t want dictatorship for the people of Iran,” Bercow said. “We want democracy. We want freedom, the rule of law, respect for the media, equality for women, and the protection of the equal rights of minorities.” Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt stressed that 44 years ago, Khomeini stole the democratic revolution of the Iranian people. “He took advantage of the Shah’s repression of the opposition to seize power,” she said. “Today, the opposition is back in the streets. Protesters are chanting, ‘Death to the dictator, whether it be the Shah or the mullahs!’” The rally for several hours and included speeches from Iranian communities, including youth, lawyers, and experts. “In the past five months of uprisings, the people of Iran have made it clear that they will settle for nothing short of regime change,” said physicist Farhang Pouya. “The end of the regime is near. This is why the regime, and its intelligence services are trying to put different hurdles in place. But with the Resistance Units, the people of Iran are guaranteed to be victorious.”Live – Paris Grand Rally – Place Denfert-Rochereau
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) February 11, 2023
Sunday, February 12 – 11:30 AM
Solidarity with the Iran protests & honoring the legacy of the 1979 anti-monarchic revolution. #IranRevolution #IranRevolution2023 #Iran #Iranprotests #IRGC #BlacklistIRGChttps://t.co/ZJa2pnExV8
U.S. Congress Resolution Calls For International Support For Iran Protests
Members of the US Congress introduced H. RES. 100, a resolution in support of the Iranian people’s quest for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear republic. The resolution, introduced by Congressman Tom McClintock, already has the backing of 166 members of Congress. The resolution acknowledges the long history of the Iranian people’s fight for freedom, including past nationwide uprisings in 2017 and 2019 and protest movements in 1999 and 2009, all of which were brutally suppressed by the regime.
The “Iranian people have been deprived of their fundamental freedoms for which reason they are rejecting monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny, as evident in their protest slogans,” the resolution reads in part, referring to the popular slogan that is being chanted in Iran’s streets these days: “Death to the tyrant, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader.”
The resolution also condemns the regime’s long history of human rights abuses, including the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners, in which the current president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, played a key role as one of the main judges who sent prisoners to their death in Tehran and Karaj.
The lawmakers draw attention to the ongoing abuse against religious and ethnic minorities, such as Kurds, Baluchis, Arabs, Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, and Sunni Muslims.
Moreover, the resolution warns about the regime’s use of terrorism abroad, including a foiled plot led by a Vienna-based Iranian diplomat to bomb a rally of the Iranian Resistance in Paris in 2018, and the regime’s continuous espionage and terror plots against members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Albania.
In addition to supporting the protests and the Iranian people’s fight for a democratic republic, the lawmakers are calling on US government agencies to work with European allies to hold Iran accountable for its breaches of diplomatic privileges and to prevent its malign activities by closing its diplomatic facilities and expelling its agents.
The resolution comes as Iran’s uprisings, which began in September, have continued for nearly five months. So far, the regime has murdered over 750 protesters and arrested at least 30,000 people. Iranian authorities also executed four prisoners so far, and many others are under the threat of being executed.
At a press conference in which the lawmakers presented the resolution, they voiced their support for the Iranian Resistance and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
“The bipartisan house majority is telling the Iranian people and the world that it stands with the organized resistance and against the tyrannical rulers who have wrecked their country and plagued the Middle East with terrorism and brutality,” Mr. McClintock said.
Mrs. Rajavi, who spoke at the event, said that the people of Iran “want to put an end to one century of dictatorship and establish a democratic, pluralistic, and secular republic. What you see in Iran today is another revolution in the making. This is the result of 40 years of organized resistance and struggle against the regime, with 120,000 political executions.”
Rep. Randy Weber, another sponsor of the resolution, stressed that the ongoing revolution in Iran aims to end “any kind of dictatorship in Iran. This is evident in the popular slogan: death to the dictator be it the Shah or the leader. I applaud all who are demanding an end to the totalitarian regime and seek a form of governance that derives its legitimacy from the people, not from an unelected dictatorial single party.”
