Iran dissidents risk lives with public appeal for ‘maximum’ pressure on regime

FPI / February 11, 2021

Geostrategy-Direct.com

Leading Iranian dissidents are calling on the Biden administration to continue former President Donald Trump’s strategy of “maximum pressure” on the Iranian regime.

Iran remains the second most prolific executioner in the world, after China. / AFP / Getty Images

“[T]he Islamic Republic Theocracy is on the verge of collapse,” said a letter dated Feb. 1 from 38 Iran-based dissidents to the Biden administration.

The dissidents, who risked their lives in issuing the public letter, Judith Bergman wrote for the Gatestone Institute.

They said they want Biden “to follow Trump’s path in terms of maximum pressure… we Iranians have been taken hostage by the Islamic Republic of Iran… the moment Biden joins the nuclear deal and unblocks the money for the Islamic Republic, the regime will once again dish out money to Taliban, ISIS, Al Qaida, but Iranians will keep remaining in a bad state.”

The letter also pointed to Trump’s brokering of the Abraham Accords which led to diplomatic ties being established between Israel and several Arab states.

“The events in Iran in conjunction with the signing of the Abraham Accords signals a significant geopolitical shift in the Middle East…the Islamic Republic Theocracy is on the verge of collapse,” the letter said.

The dissidents called for Biden’s team to back “maximum political, diplomatic, and financial pressure on the regime” and to support Iranians’ “determination in seeking a secular democratic government through a non-violent, free, and fair referendum.”

The dissidents also called on Biden not to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Returning to the JCPOA on Iran’s terms would require lifting sanctions, which analysts say will only strengthen and embolden the Iranian regime. Lifting sanctions is what the dissidents in Iran are literally pleading with the Biden administration not to do.

“Following the JCPOA agreement, when Iran received substantial financial benefits, the Islamic Republic lost a major opportunity to implement meaningful welfare reforms for its people…” the Iranian dissidents write in the letter.

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