Concerns for the Iranian regime began in 2017 with the death of former Iranian regime president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Iran saw the fall of one of its two pillars, and Tehran suffered a devastating blow.
The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and hiss factions within the regime are are advocating extremism, supporting terrorism, and pursuing their nuclear ambitions, according to Kia, who says that the weakening regime brings joy to the Iranian people, leading to concerns of uprisings such as those of 2009. especially with crucial presidential elections coming in May.
Kia writes, “The general public and even political prisoners are voicing their dissent like never before, especially thanks to social media. Families of regime victims are protesting, especially those whose loved ones perished amongst the 30,000 political prisoners massacred by the mullahs back in 1988. The people are demanding an end to ruthless executions and the regime’s existence. The Iranian people, one year after the Iranian nuclear pact’s implementation, have gained nothing. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, however, has ironically benefited Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), allowing Iran to finance lethal ambitions in Syria and throughout the Middle East,” and adds, “The world has come to realize that the mullahs, the IRGC, the Lebanese Hizb’allah and other Shiite militias have no such role of confronting extremism and Daesh (ISIS/ISIL). In fact, their goal has been to maintain Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in power.”
Khamenei recently said that if they “had not been confronted [in Syria], we should have stood against them in Tehran, Fars, Khorasan and Isfahan.”
According to Syrian opposition leaders, Iran is the sole party seeking nothing but to maintain Assad in power at all costs, and is against the latest Syrian ceasefire effort.
Kia says further, “No political solution is possible in the Levant as long as the IRGC and their Shiite militias are present in the country. Thus, if we seek peace in this land, the only serious path forward lies in expelling the mullahs from Syria. The main party in detriment from a ceasefire and eventual peace in Syria is none other than Tehran.” He calls the Obama administration’s appeasement policy “the main reason behind the Syria tragedy and the mullahs’ dominance in this war. Iran counted on the West’s engagement approach to literally export its extremism under the banner of Islam.”
The end of Obama’s tenure changes the situation in Iran. With the failed rapprochement approach, a policy change is needed to end the Middle East crisis. Actions must be taken in the face of the IRGC’s role in the region. “Otherwise neither the Middle East nor the world, for that matter, will ever experience true peace and tranquility,” says Kia.
No government can promote an alliance with Tehran under the pretext of pursuing a security policy, and we cannot neglect our principles for the mere sake of short-term economic gains and turn our backs on human rights and women’s rights violations in Iran, according to Kia.
There is an alternative, with a democratic agenda based on respecting religious freedoms, universal suffrage, separation of church and state, and gender equality. As proposed by nearly two dozen senior top U.S. officials in a hand-delivered letter to President Donald Trump, this alternative is the National Council of Resistance of Iran under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi, who presented her vision for a future Iran in a 10-point-plan. The Iranian opposition can usher in a new era for the people of Iran, and the nations across the Middle East.
“We only need to remain loyal to our democratic values and principles,” Kia concludes.
