In a recent article for the American Thinker, Mr. Shahriar Kia, a spokesman for Iran’s main opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) urged that the U.S. should make it their core foreign policy to transform Iran from a totalitarian state, ruled by the mullahs to a democratic country by supporting the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Another article published earlier this week in The Hillby Michael Johns (an international affairs major at Cornell University), outlined the growing support and popularity of the NCRI, stating that: “Iranians largely want the kind of peaceful democratic change and moderate foreign policy that NCRI is promising.” Johns sees this as the golden opportunity for the new U.S. president to correct the mistakes of the Obama presidency, which failed to respond to the peaceful protests of millions of Iranian civilians who took to the streets after the 2009 fraudulent presidential election. The sluggish response from Washington sent out a message to the world that, despite its values of democracy, the U.S. is ready to stand by the tyrannical rulers of Iran, watching as they mercilessly punished thousands of the protestors.
The NCRI has gained more and more support in the recent years. Led by Maryam Rajavi, the organisation attracted the support of more than 100,000 people from the international community at a rally in Paris earlier this summer. The NCRI are rooted in the values of democracy, equality, human rights and the freedom of religion which they hope to bring to Iran, overthrowing its current oppressive government. The current Iranian regime seems threatened by the growing support of the opposition, targeting Camp Liberty after seeing the massive turnout at the rally, and taking increasing measures to punish any political oppression in Iran.
The organisation now needs support from powerful allies who can help bring about the kind of change that the NCRI and its many supporters have been calling for, allowing the Iranian citizens to enjoy basic human rights and freedom of expression. The time is ripe for the new U.S. president to step up and declare support for a new, democratic government in Iran.
