Iranian People and Organized Resistance are the Key to Maximum Pressure on Tehran

President Trump is expected to re-apply his “maximum pressure” strategy in relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran when he returns to the White House in January. This is as it should be, especially given recent reminders of Iran’s increasing nuclear activities and the looming threat of all-out war between Iran and Israel. But the Trump administration, like all Western leaders, must understand that to achieve truly maximum pressure on the Iranian regime, they must look beyond economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation and aim to increase the pressure the government already faces domestically from its own people. .

When protests over the killing of Mahsa Aminiby, Iran’s morality police, turned into a nationwide uprising in September 2022, it became widely understood that this was the biggest challenge to the mullahs’ power since the 1979 revolution. The uprising was eventually suppressed by killings. 750 protesters and the arrest of nearly 30,000 people. Yet public activism has persisted ever since, often voicing open calls for regime change. But while these calls are ignored by many Western politicians, even fewer are aware that these calls are backed by an organized opposition movement with a concrete plan to strengthen a democratic alternative to the mullah dictatorship.

Some of the policymakers who are aware of the situation attended a conference in Berlin last week. European Parliament, Where is the elected president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran? (NCRI) It revealed the extent of widespread opposition to the religious regime and the details of the transition.

NCRI “consists of 457 members from a broad political background; women represent more than 50 percent of its membership and supports a comprehensive program advocating freedoms and women’s rights, autonomy for ethnic groups, equality between Shia and Sunni Muslims and the protection of other religious minorities, religion and supports state separation, abolition of the death penalty, and a non-nuclear Iran, and consistently promotes peace in the Middle East.”

As a coalition of pro-democracy opposition groups, the NCRI is led by the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran, which its leaders describe as having “a 60-year history of fighting against the tyranny of both the Shah and the mullahs.” The regime itself recognized the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as “the arch-enemy and the decisive force behind every failure the regime has faced in the last 45 years.” Therefore, he targeted the group with a decades-long repression campaign, including systematic repression. massacre A group of nearly 30,000 members and supporters in the summer of 1988 alone.

A murder on this scale could be expected to mean a significant setback for the opposition. Yet its support now includes “hundreds of thousands of political prisoners” as well as “families and survivors of the 100,000 victims who sacrificed their lives for freedom” in the 45-year conflict with the regime.

This enduring support helped give decisive shape not only to the 2022 uprising but also to a half-dozen uprisings in the years immediately preceding it. The anti-government sentiment behind these uprisings remains strong in Iranian society and represents a powerful force for change. Western democracies, with whom the Iranian people openly share their core values, can support this force and mobilize it for change.

In her speech, Maryam Rajavi described this force as the “Freedom Army” and noted that this force consisted of “an extremely dissatisfied and angry people” and “a” network.Resistance Units” Depends on PMOI. These units helped organize large-scale protests and spread slogans that the recent uprisings were movements for regime change. Meanwhile, NCRI has also shared and publicly reassured the same message internationally. approves From 34 Western legislators, 137 former world leaders and 80 Nobel laureates.

While trying to apply maximum pressure, President Trump and his team should not ignore the importance of the Iranian people. If anyone was troubled by ongoing concerns about the uncertain consequences of regime change, Ms. Rajavi sought to appeal to them at the European conference.

His proposed term as interim president is planned to last no more than six months, after which elections will be held to establish a Constituent Assembly that will oversee the adoption of a new constitution. This road map towards democratic change should also be considered a road map towards the only definitive solution to the numerous global problems arising from the Iranian regime.