In recent years, Iranian officials, their lobbies, and foreign supporters frequently blasted sanctions and firm policies, describing them as an act against the Iranian people. They pretend the sanctions and restrictions violate the Iranian people and their human rights.

However, the truth is 100 percent difference from somewhat the international brokers would like to insinuate and dupe their audience. Iran is under the heel of authoritarians who had built up their rule on corruption, bribery, blackmail, discrimination, violation of the primitive human rights, and fear.

The massacre of 1,500 peaceful protesters in November 2019 and the execution of young protesters like Navid Afkari are a sample of the ayatollahs’ cruelty against their people.

The cleric regime is violating all of the international laws, seeking to produce nuclear weapons, supporting all other brutal regimes like Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and expanding fear through its proxies in the whole Middle East and across the globe.

Hereby, the ayatollahs squander the country’s resources and wealth while the people living conditions are deteriorating day by day. Iranian rulers annually spend billions of dollars to unstable the region while most of Iran’s population live below the poverty line and they have to struggle with starvation and the coronavirus simultaneously.

As the first speaker and director, Mr. Alireza Jafarzadeh, Deputy Director of the U.S. Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), briefly explained about the arms embargo and the imperative of comprehensive sanctions against the Iranian regime.

“In four days, the conventional arms embargo is no longer there and the regime will be able to buy all the arms it wants. This morning regime President Hassan Rouhani said that this coming Sunday the ‘cruel arms embargo will be removed,’ adding they will be able to ‘sell weapons to everyone we wish’ and ‘buy weapons from anyone we wish,'” he said.

In his remarks, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Amb. Eric Edelman spoke about the importance and the veracity of the sanction policies. However, he underlined that the sanctions should be accompanied by supporting the Iranian people’s struggle for fundamental changes.

“Sanctions are a clearly important element of a successful policy toward Iran. But sanctions alone are not going to be enough to get the right outcome. The expiration of the arms embargo highlights some of the weaknesses of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA,” Amb Edelman said.

“Those of us who said the snapback will not be a self-executing mechanism turned out to be right. We also need to focus on making sure Tehran is isolated. We must address a whole range of issues that the regime is causing,” he added.

Then, Dr. James Jay Carafano, director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, pointed out to the Iranian regime’s malign activities in the Middle East and around the world.

“In the Greater Middle East, the U.S. recognizes the regime in Iran is the greatest threat to peace and stability. On the nuclear issue, it is not just about whether Iran will be a nuclear power, but if it does, there will be other countries. It could become a global threat. That is why Iran’s nuclear program is a global threat. Other issues such as terrorism and support for terrorist groups are twin challenges that we must deal with,” he said.

“The U.S. sanctions are meant to deal with these threats. They are a component of a strategy. The sanctions have been very effective. What this administration would like to do is to sanction Iran as long as it takes to get them to stop doing what they are doing to destabilize the region and the world.

“This administration also wants to create an alliance that stands against the regime’s destabilizing activities in the region. This is beyond sanctions and puts additional pressure on the regime,” Dr. Carafano emphasized.

The JINSA Director of Foreign Policy Jonathan Ruhe was the next panelist at the NCRI-US Rep. webinar. In his remarks, he focused on Tehran’s dangerous and suspicious nuclear activities.

“We have to start what Iran’s nuclear program is. This is a nuclear weapons program, not a nuclear energy program. Iran is in violation of its commitment under the NPT… This is a treaty against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It does not guarantee what Iran claims is its ‘right’ to enrich uranium. Iran already has what the NPT promises, which is access to nuclear energy. As we all know, Iran has enrichment facilities, which were created in secret and violation of the NPT,” he underscored

“Whoever the next administration is, there are some key flaws in the JCPOA that need to be addressed. JINSA’s ultimate goal is what we call ‘regime collapse.’ This is primarily between the regime and the people. Sanctions and more concerted pressure is needed,” Mr. Ruhe concluded.

The last speaker Amb. Robert Joseph also confirmed all the previous talking points and bolded the necessity of supporting the Iranian people and their organized resistance’s struggle for democracy in Iran.

“We can all agree that we are at a critical crossroads that will shape the region’s environment for a time to come. It is disappointing but not surprising. The situation with Iran is complex but shows how three successive administrations have failed to stop Iran from acquiring the means to obtain nuclear weapons and become a threshold state. Iran is an even greater threat than North Korea because of its support of terrorism. Iran’s nuclear weapons program threatens to ignite a regional arms race in the region,” he said.

“We can and should learn from our failures. From the past decades we should have learned from our experience: This is not a regime that has good faith in negotiations. You can negotiate and come to an agreement as we saw in 2015. But the regime cheated on every commitment it has made to the international community. The regime will not abandon its nuclear program and will try to keep a path to sneak toward nuclear weapons.

“The policy of maximum pressure is the best policy to prevent the regime from carrying out terrorist acts, threaten its neighbors, and suppress its people. We in the international community should be doubling down on sanctions and other means of pressure.

Support for democracy and human rights is vital, expression of support for those inside Iran who seek democracy. They add to the pressure on the regime. We must tell the truth about the regime’s crimes against humanity. We must support the democratic opposition inside and outside Iran. Regime change must and will come from within. While apologists try to spin that the current regime is the only alternative to chaos, the ten-point plan of the NCRI provides a pathway to democracy and stability,” Amb. Joseph ended.