Why the Iranian regime is incapable of reforming from within

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

The unprecedented strength of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Paris and Albania has severely alarmed the Iranian regime. It has also raised a pertinent question, can the Iranian regime be reformed within?
At the gathering in Paris, Kouchner said: “Zarif was welcomed in France yesterday. I do not want to blame French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. We are an old republic, and on this basis we can welcome everyone and accept him in our country, but perhaps we should do the right thing at the right time”.

The annual PMOI gathering was held on July 1 at the Villepinte convention hall, northeast of Paris. Tens of thousands of supporters from all over the world gathered to attend this gathering. As the hall did not have the capacity to accommodate all participants, thousands remained outside the hall.

A gathering in Tirana, the capital of Albania, was held to join the Paris summit via satellite. Nearly 3,000 PMOI members who relocated from Iraq to Albania attended this gathering.

This huge rally represents the PMOI’s strength despite being in exile. It shows their capability of organizing such a large gathering and hosting hundreds of political and parliamentary figures from all over the world.

Maryam Rajavi, the main speaker of this gathering, is an influential leader of this Muslim-democratic movement who believes in gender equality and pluralism. In her speech she emphasized on three essential facts.

How To Tackle The Iran Dilemma

The Iran dossier is high-priority issue on the desk of US President Donald Trump and his entire administration. Both his Secretary of Defense and National Security Advisor have long years of experience in dealing with Iran’s belligerence, especially seen in the mullahs’ meddling in the Middle East.

The 1988 massacre is a highly sensitive matter for the mullahs’ regime in its entirety. While mainstream media in the West continue to mistakenly differentiate various elements in Iran as “moderates” or “reformists”, all factions inside the regime apparatus consider this issue a red line.

This very opposition, represented politically by the renowned National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its President Maryam Rajavi, held its annual convention in Paris on July 1st emphasizing it is high time for the international community to adopt a policy of regime change vis-à-vis Iran.

For the past year, however, the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has focused its efforts inside Iran through its network of activists on raising public awareness about this massacre. This has been welcomed on a wide-scale by Iran’s very young population, with nearly half the country under the age of 35.

A delegation of US Senators and Representatives sent video messages and were present at the scene to support a cause seeking freedom for the Iranian people. Standing by their side was a long slate of American dignitaries, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Massive ‘Free Iran’ Rally Calls for Regime Change

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

As the number one state sponsor of terrorism and the source of a fundamentalist ideology, the Iranian regime is the principal contributor to the crises that are riddling the Middle East. And the past eight years have proven that appeasing the mullahs ruling Iran will only render a bad situation worse.

This was the message delivered by the July 1 Free Iran gathering in Paris, an event attended by tens of thousands of Iranians expats and hundreds of politicians, activists, parliamentarians and religious figures from across the globe.

The international community should take that message seriously if it wants to avoid another war.

“Would giving concessions ever change the behavior of this regime? The answer is no,” said Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), during her keynote at the event. “This is something that has been already tested repeatedly for the past three decades by the US and Europe. And is it possible to contain this regime? No. the policy has been called containment, but in effect, it does nothing but obstructing the adoption of a firm policy against the regime.”

Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who spoke at the Free Iran rally, called it “an arc of control which if it’s allowed to form will simply be the foundation for the next grave conflict in the Middle East.”

A democratic alternative to the Iranian regime – 'Free Iran' rally highlights MEK's role in Iranian resistance

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

But many of the speakers and delegations also spoke of the real possibility of regime change in Iran, as they noted major changes on the international scene. Speaker after speaker from the United States pointed to the new policies of the Trump administration, while others acknowledged the Obama administration for its efforts to remove the MEK from the terrorist list.
Still, the highlight of the event was the keynote address by Maryam Rajavi, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) President-elect. She noted that there was an alternative to the current regime and its extremism.

"Since last July, the Iranian Resistance has hoisted the banner of seeking justice for the victims of the massacre of political prisoners 29 years ago, turning it into the main focus of political discourse in Iran today," said Rajavi.

She noted that in the recent Iranian elections, which many speakers called a "sham", that the slogan of the resistance was "No to the executioner, no to the charlatan". It was a slogan that was widely embraced by the Iranian people, and referenced the attempt by Khamenei to elect Raisi, a member of the death commission in the 1988 massacre.

Rajavi said there is alternative to the Iranian regime and it is the Iranian resistance.

"It is relying on political prisoners, who reaffirmed their support recently for this gathering from the depth of their cells and dungeons. It is relying on women, workers, teachers, professionals, and selfless youths. It is relying on their unsparing love and generous support, those who barrow money and sell their houses and properties to help keep this Resistance independent, strong, and solidified," said Rajavi.

Legacy of a dictator: Iran's 30,000 murdered, then and now

 Iran's 30,000 murdered, then and now

In the wake of the 30th anniversary of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in summer of 1988 in Iran, the people of Iran and especially families of the victims are still waiting for justice and an international tribune.

"[A] dictatorship that appoints as its justice minister someone who killed 30,000 people is telling you everything you need to know about the core nature of the dictatorship," said Newt Gingrich, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives, at the Free Iran Rally in Paris on July 1, 2017.  "[D]ictatorships like the one in Iran threaten freedom anywhere," according to Gingrich, who called Iran the largest supporter of state terrorism in the world.

The massacre was ordered by the Khomeini decree, called a fatwa, that reads: "[P]olitical prisoners throughout the country who remain steadfast in their backing for the Mojahedin (MEK) are condemned to execution."

The massacre happened 30 years ago to eliminate the main opposition group, the MEK.  Despite the continuation of execution, torture, and crackdown during the past three decades, miraculously, the regime has failed.  "You will someday be proud to say you were a part of what freed Iran," Gingrich said.

"I want to salute you today for your courage and for your perseverance of the MEK and the NCRI," Said Linda Chavez, chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity and former director of the Office of Public Liaison, at the Paris gathering.  "You are the ones who remain committed to freedom and to democracy for Iran and to eradicate the suppression, the terrorism, and the regime's demonizing campaign that has been directed at you.  Your perseverance gives up hope that we shall, in the end, defeat the phenomenon of Islamic fundamentalism, whose heart beats in the clerical regime in Iran.  I wish you a good meeting, and I wish that your message will be carried throughout the world."

Middle East peace hinges on regime change in Iran

An enormous crowd of participants joined hundreds of prominent dignitaries from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The entire convention voiced exuberant support for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its President Maryam Rajavi as the sole viable alternative for the Iranian regime.

The NCRI President then emphasized on how her people continue to suffer from the mullahs’ regime, highlighting their main demand for an end to the mullahs’ rule. “Regime change is possible and within reach,” Rajavi said. “The Iranian society is simmering.”

The Iranian opposition leader’s call for the international to once and for all designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity received echoes by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and even elevated by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“The Iranian people are the first victims of Khomeini’s dictatorship,” said former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal Faisal, also a former Saudi ambassador in the United States and the United Kingdom. “Your effort in challenging this regime is legitimate and your resistance for the liberation of the Iranian people of all ethnicities, including Arabs, Kurds, Baluchis, Turks and Fars of the mullahs’ evil, as Mrs. Rajavi said, is a legitimate struggle.”
Senator Joseph Lieberman reiterated Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.

Regime change in Iran is within reach

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

The Free Iran gathering, attended by tens of thousands of Iranians and hundreds of politicians, parliamentarians, religious leaders and activists from across the world, suggested the prospects of democratic regime change are becoming more and more viable.
"The winds of change have started blowing in our homeland," said Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), during her keynote at the rally. "The ruling regime is in disarray and paralyzed as never before. Iranian society is simmering with discontent and the international community is finally getting closer to the reality that appeasing the ruling theocracy is misguided."
"The fact is the Tehran regime is the central problem in the Middle East," said former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who spoke at the event. "As the campaign to destroy the [Islamic State] caliphate nears its ultimately successful conclusion, we must avoid allowing the regime in Tehran to achieve its long-sought objective of an arc of control from Iran through the Baghdad government in Iraq, the Assad regime in Syria and the Hezbollah terrorists."

What makes Iran different from other countries in the region where revolutions have spiraled into chaos is that there is a solid and reliable alternative. "In this case there is something different. We have an alternative," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said at the event, referring to the NCRI, the opposition coalition led by Mrs. Rajavi.

The NCRI, founded in 1981, strives for the establishment of a secular and democratic government in Iran. The NCRI played a pivotal role in exposing Iran's illicit nuclear program since 2002.

What force is this alternative relying on? "It is relying on an organized and united movement with thousands of trailblazing and selfless members," Mrs. Rajavi "It relies on the genuine support of Iranians at home and abroad and the tireless efforts of its dedicated supporters."