Formiche.net – By Giulio Terzi of Sant’Agata | 29/12/2022
Thanks to a broad base of political and moral legitimacy, the Iranian Resistance, led by the Mek and the charismatic figure of Maryam Rajavi, fully represents the essence and meaning of the current uprising in Iran. The remarks of Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Senator of Fratelli d’Italia, President of the European Union Policies Committee of Palazzo Madama.
The uprising flared up three months ago in Iran has been a severe blow to the political balance inside and outside the country. A phenomenon that has certainly shown, in some ways, a spontaneous character. However, it should be kept in mind how deeply its roots are tied to the widespread support, the organized branching, and the long-term vision of Iranian resistance movements: primarily the MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq) which, jointly with other groups, acts under the leadership of the NCRI and its elected president, Maryam Rajavi.
For those familiar with Iran since the time of the Shah and the opposition movements to Iran’s theocratic dictatorship, it is well known that the Iranian women’s uprising has been rapidly joined by very large segments of Iranian society, it has become even more established in the past four years and has become even more decisive in recent months.
All the anger accumulated over nearly half a century, together with a powerful and tenacious opposition against a political, social, military and information establishment that has become hateful and unacceptable to tens of millions of Iranians, has rooted rebellion and protest sentiments deep inside the soul of Iranian people, and in what appears to form their profound identity, of a people who want their freedom.
A dogmatic system exposed
Although many repeated but vain attempts to discredit or downplay the real scope of the events taking place throughout Iran, and to separate their origins from the past are being witnessed from many sides. The reality of the facts – the massive political campaign waged by the People’s Mojaheddin Organization of Iran (MEK/PMOI) and its allies against the mullahs – is now dramatically laying bare the true nature of the regime, manifested ever since Ayatollah Khomeini masterminded his dogmatic system of power, known as “Velāyat-e Faqih.”
A very large number of Iranians inside the country and the millions of them who have been forced to expatriate as political refugees have always struggled to resist the relentless harassment, torture, and executions of tens of thousands of Iranian dissidents from the early 1980s until today.
The regime’s fierceness culminated in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, most of them MEK supporters. A genocide ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini and implemented by the “death commission,” headed by the then Judge Ebrahim Raisi, who has even become President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Over the past four decades, the “National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)” has waged a relentless campaign inside and outside Iran to expose the regime’s terrorist activities and providing a viable and democratic alternative to the mullahs.
It is now the time for the international community to actively support the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, and her allied groups, in the long march towards freedom and democracy: for an extraordinary country, Iran, where freedom and democracy must shine again.
A ten-point plan for Iran’s future
For years, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has been promoting a ten-point plan aimed at reforming and revitalizing her country. It is a comprehensive vision for Iran’s future that Iran’s opposition leader is proposing:
- Rejection of the “Velāyat-e Faqih.” Affirmation of the sovereignty of the people based on universal suffrage and pluralism;
- Freedom of speech, of political parties, of assembly, of the press, and of the internet. Dismantling of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the terrorist Qods Force, the Bassij militia, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Cultural Revolution Council and all repressive organizations and institutions in cities, villages, schools, universities, offices and factories;
- Commitment to individual and social freedoms and rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Dissolution of all entities actively engaged in censorship and repression. Justice for political prisoners, prohibition of torture and abolition of the death penalty;
- Separation between religion and state, freedom of belief and worship;
- Gender equality; political, social, cultural and economic rights; equal participation of women in political life; abolition of all forms of discrimination; right to freely choose one’s clothing; right to marry and divorce freely and to obtain education and employment. Prohibition of all forms of exploitation of women under any pretext;
- Creation of an independent judicial and legal system in accordance with international standards, based on the presumption of innocence, the right to defense, the right to appeal and the right to be tried by a public court. Full independence of judges. Abolition of regime-imposed Sharia law, dissolution of Islamic revolutionary courts;
- Removal of discriminatory “double standards” against nationalities and ethnicities in Iran, in line with the NCRI’s plan for Iranian Kurdistan autonomy;
- Justice and equal opportunities in employment and entrepreneurship for all Iranian citizens in a free market economy. Restoration of the rights of workers, farmers, nurses, office workers, teachers and pensioners;
- Protection and revitalization of the environment, denuclearization of the country, and strict compliance with all international commitments and agreements in this regard;
The essential contribution of the MEK
Prominent multilateral institutions have recognized the essential contribution provided by the MEK/PMOI and the Iranian Resistance since 2002 in documenting the clandestine nuclear program, carried out by the Iranian Regime. A breakthrough that was further confirmed in 2008, when the MEK/PMOI was once again decisive in gathering evidence related to the “Fordow” enrichment plant, with late-generation advanced centrifuges; well-protected, used for banned uranium enrichment activities.
Ironically, although these revelations have greatly influenced international perspectives on the threats posed by the Iranian regime, the misconception among Western governments that they can change the regime’s behavior by offering concessions does not yet seem to have changed.
Bloody conduct as an instrument of power
More generally, the Iranian regime has never hesitated to deploy criminal and bloodthirsty conduct as instruments of power, as demonstrated by:
- The “hostage-taking diplomacy” to be used as a bargaining chip to free fellow terrorists, also in Europe, sentenced to long prison terms abroad;
- Providing support, even funding, to many international terrorist groups, over which the West has long expressed deep concern;
- the reckless misuse of its network of embassies to plan and carry out terrorist acts around the world, especially in Europe, as was demonstrated after the imprisonment and final conviction of Asadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat, for his central role in the attempted bomb attack in June 2018 in Villepinte, Paris, during the annual Iranian Resistance gathering;
- the public hanging of women, young people and even minors, summarily judged after indiscriminate arrests among protesters who took to the streets across the country.
For too many years, Western governments have pursued illusory “appeasement” policies, moreover, overlooking the crucial contribution of the Iranian people and by the “MEK/PMOI” tackling the regime.
More than ever, it is evident that the Iranian regime cannot ever be reformed. Thus, the urgency is being asserted to prevent Tehran from continuing to massacre and torture its own people, to destabilize entire regions of fundamental importance to Europe, to tighten its ever-growing involvement in Russia’s aggression war against Ukraine, to threaten directly and through its “proxies” – namely Hezbollah and Hamas – the very existence of Israel, even equipping itself with the atomic weapon, which it could quickly obtain.
The establishment of the theocratic regime can no longer hide in an attempt to downplay the scale of the uprisings throughout Iran. With a broad base of political and moral legitimacy, the Iranian Resistance – led by the MEK/PMOI and the charismatic figure of the NCRI’s President-elect Maryam Rajavi – fully embodies the essence and the meaning of the ongoing uprising in Iran aimed at regime change that has become inescapable.
