By John Gizzi
Wednesday, 17 April 2024
On Tuesday morning, 145 House of Representatives members called on the U.S. government to condemn the Iranian regime and to “recognize the rights of the Iranian people to establish a democratic, secular and non-nuclear Iran.”
The resolution, officially House Resolution 1148 and supported by lawmakers of both parties, also called on the government to hold “the Iranian regime accountable for its actions through the continued imposition of sanctions and to support the Iranian Resistance’s Ten Point Plan for the Future of Iran.”
The plan referred to in the resolution is the work of Maryam Rajavi, leader of the People’s Mujahedin-e Khalq of Iran (MEK). This group is considered the largest of the dissident Iranian groups throughout the world.
Based on free market economics and a commitment to keep Iran a non-nuclear nation, the 10-point plan is considered the “first draft” of a democratic constitution when and if the current theocratic dictatorship is overthrown.
Supporters emphasized to Newsmax that HR 1148 has 30 Democratic co-sponsors so far, as well as 115 Republicans.
Noting that the lives of many Iranian dissidents who fled their country are still in danger, the resolution calls on the U.S. government “in cooperation with our ally Albania, to ensure the full protection of the Iranian political refugees in Camp Ashraf 3 in Albanian against the Iranian regime’s plots and pressure.”
“We’ve got to put maximum pressure on the regime and stop offering the regime international capital,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., one of the earliest sponsors of the resolution, told supporters in the U.S Capitol shortly after the resolution was introduced.
“And we’ve got to stop undermining the Iranian opposition, ” he continued.
“And just as we must send long overdue assistance to Israel, we must send long overdue assistance to the Iranian resistance.”
McClintock’s fellow Californian, Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman, noted that “food experts to Africa are blocked by [the Iranian regime] at the Red Sea and, as a result, the regime is responsible for 5,000 deaths in Africa in the last few years.”
The overthrow of the regime, Sherman said, will mean that “Iran will again be a friend to the United States and a blessing to the Middle East.”
