The Iranian people’s uprising that began in late December 2017 is far from over. It may have started over a sharp rise in the cost of basic foods, but it soon became political and the anti-regime protests spread to 142 cities in just days.

In response to the protest, the Iranian Regime cracked down violently on protesters, as it usually does, with at least 50 protesters being slain in the streets by the security forces and another 8,000 arrested facing the death penalty. Of those arrested, at least 14 have since died under torture in jail.

The Regime thought that they had solved the problem after this crackdown, but the people rose up again, this time demanding the return of their imprisoned loved ones and justice for those who had died, as well as regime change. Simply, these protesters were not a flash in the pan. They were representative of the Iranian people’s desire for regime change and these protests will not stop until the mullahs are out.

Of course, many in the West were caught by surprise during the protests. They believed, as the Regime’s lobbyists had been saying, that:

• the Regime enjoyed the support of the people – particularly the poor and the devout

• the Regime was strong and stable

• the Regime could suppress dissent with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)

• the nuclear deal was helping the Iranian people

• that the so-called moderate element of the Regime should receive help from the West to defeat the “hardliners”

However, the protests made it clear that the Regime does not enjoy the support of the Iranian people and that the diversionary tactics taken by the Regime (i.e. nuclear programmes, foreign interventionism) were actually a way for the Regime to cover up for its domestic weakness. The Iranian people also took it upon themselves to tell the world that there is no substantive difference between hardliners and moderates, as evidenced by their chant “reformists, hardliners, the game is over”.

Many wondered how these protests spread so quickly, especially as there seemed to be no clear leadership organising the protests.

Professor Ivan Sascha Sheehan, the incoming Executive Director of the School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Baltimore, wrote: “The protests were not leaderless or unorganized. Rather, some sort of organization and coordination was involved and the [People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran or MEK] played a much more extensive and prominent role than might have been recognized from the outside.”

So let’s make something very clear about the future of Iran. The only thing that will bring peace to the country and the Middle East is getting rid of the mullahs and their evil Regime. This is not some far-off dream, but something within reach of the people of Iran.

Better yet, the fall of the Regime will not lead to chaos or to Iran being usurped by a malign militia. They have a legitimate government-in-exile that will serve from the moment the mullahs fall until elections can be held, no more than six months later. That is the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and it already has the support of the Iranian people and political figures from around the world, like US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Source » ncr-iran