Dissident leader: Appeasing weakened Iran regime caused new Mideast instability

FPI / July 10, 2024

Geostrategy-Direct

Iran’s regime is at its weakest point in nearly half a century having been stung by its brutal crackdown on internal dissent, an economy in shambles, and the death of its president. Continued appeasement of the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism has only made matters worse, spiraling the Middle East into a new era of instability, the leader of the world’s largest Iranian dissident organization said.

Maryam Rajavi: ‘at no time in the past 45 years has the regime been so weak and shaky, especially since it has no solution to the incurable social, political and economic crises.’  / Photo courtesy of Siavosh Hossein / The Media Express

“The Iranian Resistance has long emphasized that the main root of warmongering, crisis and instability in the Middle East region is the religious fascism ruling Iran. This fact can be witnessed in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen. This is why we say that we should target the head of the belligerent snake, i.e., the Teheran regime,” Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which seeks to replace Iran’s theocratic regime with a democracy, told The Washington Times.

“Decisiveness is the only way to confront the regime’s actions. Any concessions or accommodations by Western governments toward the mullahs send a message of weakness and embolden them to continue their destructive actions. Indeed, all the concessions and the $100 billion provided to the regime under the rubric of the nuclear agreement or for the release of Western hostages not only failed to halt its nuclear program but actually accelerated it,” Rajavi said.

Rajavi’s comments were made following a major NCRI rally in Berlin. NCRI and its associate group, the exiled People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK), also held a major indoor rally in Paris over the same weekend, which included speeches by former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

What is unfolding in the Middle East today is “the result of the conclusion [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei reached in the aftermath of the uprisings of 2022,” Rajavi said. “Like other dictators, he seeks to confront internal crises and the explosive social situation by fabricating external conflicts. The expansion of the regime’s proxies is a consequence of years of appeasement policies towards the mullahs’ regime. At no point in its modern history has the Middle East been so engulfed in instability and war.”

As for her expectations from Western governments about their policies toward Iran and their support for the opposition, Rajavi said:

“We do not ask for help in overthrowing the regime. We only ask Western governments not to help the criminals ruling Iran.”

Rajavi said the NCRI’s expectations from the international community include:

• Refer the dossier of horrific human rights violations in Iran to the U.N. Security Council and provide for the accountability and prosecution of the regime’s leaders, including Khamenei, for crimes against humanity and genocide.

• Designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and expel their agents and mercenaries.

• Activate the snapback mechanism in the short time remaining for U.N. Resolution 2231 and reinstate U.N. Security Council sanctions.

• Designate the regime as an urgent threat to world peace and security in accordance with Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter.

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