Iran is on the verge of a revolution. This revolution is shaped in the minds of young women and men in fact majority of the Iranian people. Today, a transition from the fundamentalist regime towards secularism and democratic republic is becoming more and more feasible. These nationwide protests seek to reclaim Iranian people’s integrity and ethnic freedom. The present uprising is the culmination of Iranian people’s 40 decades of struggle for a secular and democratic republic. Human rights, dignity and rights of women are a driving force in the present day uprising and in total contradiction against misogynist laws of the religious fascist regime.
While the historic task of freeing Iran is in the hands of Iran’s people, the international community can play a major decisive role in helping the process by standing on the side people and their revolution in the making by adopting sound and effective policies.
To address these policy imperatives in a high-level bipartisan forum, the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) organized the Iran Policy Summit where distinguished Iran policy and national security figures provided perspective on the state and trajectory of the uprising and relevant U.S. policy options.
Held on on Saturday December 17, 2022, a number of prominent American politicians participated a summit in Washington D.C. and expressed their support and solidarity with the nationwide Iran uprising. The event was organized by the Organization of the Iranian American Communities (OIAC). OIAC is an all-volunteer non-profit organization which advocates for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear Iran. It is founded on the respect for human rights and the national security of United states and peace in the Middle East and the world.
The summit and its speakers delivered policy recommendations vis-à-vis the revolution in the making in Iran. The role of organized Iranian Resistance in the past and the current Iran uprising was highlighted. The speakers clearly pronounced the world community’s responsibility in supporting the Iranian people’s legitimate demand for democratic regime change and for a secular and democratic republic of Iran.
The keynote speech was delivered by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Mrs. Rajavi said, “Today, the world is suffering from terrorism, war, and insecurity due to the religious tyranny in Iran, but our message today is that Iran’s uprising bares a gift for the Middle East and the world, which is peace, friendship, and peaceful coexistence.” The regime wants to make sure that nuclear negotiations with P5+1 group continue,” she added, “because it needs to continue the talks with the West to suppress and confront the uprisings.”
The event highlighted the fact that just a few years ago, the US designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity. Today, the EU nations have come to apply the same designation to the IRGC as well as certain regime leaders. More importantly, the speakers urged the United States to recognize the legitimacy of the fight of the Iranian youth against this evil and terrorist force. The uprising has demonstrated that the Iranian people have risen to defeat the monsters of repression and terrorism and chosen to pay the price of freedom with their ongoing sacrifice.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo who also served as the Director of Central Intelligence Agency, also addressed the audience. Mr. Pompeo noted, “I want to begin by recognizing President-elect Maryam Rajavi and her leadership of National Council of Resistance of Iran which is laying the groundwork for a free sovereign and democratic republic in Iran.”
Secretary Pompeo added:
“Freedom is absolutely on the march and all of us need to come together and speak with a single voice that the Iranian people deserve their basic freedom it’s what they’re demanding.
The world is finally waking up to the fact that the regime does not represent the people of Iran. Iran’s future does not lie with the radical theocratic regime that took power there in 1979. It lies with the brave protesters who have for months demanded basic freedom and called for an end to this regime.
The future of Iran of course as we all know and during my time as Secretary of State, I worked diligently on, the future lies with the Iranian people.
At this Moment though, the counter-revolutionary founding of the theocratic regime resides at the heart of Iran’s multiple conflicts.
There’s one conflict that is most important to understand and appreciate in order to restore Iran to its rightful place in history. This is the central fight.
It’s the one that we’re seeing play out as we sit here today in Washington DC. It’s the fight in the streets, in the mosques, and in the minds of the Iranian people. It is the divide between the people and the organized opposition seeking freedom and democracy on one side and the entirety of the regime on the other. Iranians want to prosper in faith and culture and allow their families to thrive.
It is undeniable that the regime reaps the harvest of suffering and death in the Middle East at the expense of its own citizens. The regime is headed by Ayatollah, Ebrahim Raisi, and the IRGC.
It is revolutionary in its efforts and in its zeal. It is brutal, it is theocratic, it is craven and kleptocratic too. Its leadership killed their own by the thousands.
This is not a partisan issue. This matters to every American, every human being, and all of America needs to get this right.
Many of the same folks from team Obama are now beginning to come to understand that this administration’s approach is going to be unsuccessful.
Our cooperation with allied nations to reduce the regime’s external capabilities had a real impact on its ability to foment terror on its own people as well.
Not only the hard power tools but also information warfare. Fighting against it was critical to the success of this mission and will be critical to its continued success.
After only twenty months, the maximum pressure campaign had begun to bleed the regime dry. This mattered to our friends and allies in the region. It mattered to the Gulf Arab states but most importantly, we knew it would ultimately matter to the Iranian people themselves.
The Resistance Units in Iran, those noble Iranian patriots, were strong as they had ever been. Their optimism was increased, and justifiably so. The people inside the country knew they had an administration that supported them.
One of the true low points of the regime you can actually see the effects of the work that we did with the election of Raisi just over a year ago. Turn-out was the lowest since 1979, marking a total rejection of the regime by its own people. I think the protests you see today, observed that this was a man bereft of any legitimate authority.
These uprisings shook the very foundations of the regime in its entirety. The Iranian people pin no hope on elections overseen by the Ayatollah. They can’t see that as a conduit for change and they are certainly right. Now, the regime 40 years on, is at its most uncertain point ever. Iranians not just in Tehran but indeed from every corner of the nation can see the failure of the regime to deliver on the promise that the regime itself made.
I think every Iranian is becoming closer to working towards the shared vision of changing the very nature of the leadership inside Iran. Raisi has already failed. He has failed to crush uprisings now 90 days on, and he has certainly failed to break the noble spirit of dissent among the Iranian people. He will not break it.
All of us must be prepared to stand with our partners and allies against the regime’s threats.
Today, 40 years of work and 40 years of resistance against the regime’s brutal repression have now come to a head. I can feel it, you can see it, the world can see it, and the movement we are seeing today is clearly different than what has happened before. The Ayatollah can see it too; the uprisings led by women spearheaded by Iranian youth.
It’s remarkable, too, to note they’re not calling for simple reforms. They’re calling for freedom. They’re calling for a regime that fundamentally treats its citizens in different ways. They want a democratic, secular, and free republic.
Tehran wants to discredit the protesters by painting them as driven by foreign agitators. It is not so. They’re saying that they are advocating for the return of others of other dictatorships; this is not so either. They want freedom. I’ve not seen a movement in disarray. Rather I have seen a united front. Many warring factions vying for acclaim don’t exist. It is a people demanding a singular set of freedoms.
These protests are about a deep recognition that this regime is incapable of changing. The entire world, and especially the Biden administration, must consistently, daily, repetitively, deeply, and unconditionally condemn these threats.
Three months of powerful unyielding protests and uprisings don’t happen randomly. They’re not the product of foreign meddling. The regime loves to lie and say that it is so. These protests are the result of 40 years of organized opposition.”
If we want to keep Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon, Mr. Pompeo concluded, “we have to apply pressure to them deny them resources. The program of sanctions we put in place was productive. It was useful. But in the end, it will be the Iranian people who drive the true change.”
Governor Gary Locke, who served as the Governor of Washington, as the Secretary of Commerce during the Obama administration, and was the US ambassador to China, highlighted Madam Rajavi’s 10-point plan and said:
“Mrs. Rajavi has put forth a ten-point plan for the future of Iran, which is governed by the rule of law, which is so fundamental to a free and just society. And this plan has been endorsed by more than 250 Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress.
The United States of America must stand in full solidarity with the people of Iran and fully support their desire to be a free people. You are waging a heroic uprising against a corrupt and brutal regime.
The people of Iran have suffered under the current regime for too long. And with the protests the social and political unrest and major national uprisings of recent years and now the nationwide protest of the last several months, it is clear that the Iranian people want fundamental political change that will transform the current system of despotic religious fascism to secular democratic rule and a fair and just independent judiciary.
The Iranian people deserve a government that respects democratic norms, and the rule of law and places the needs, dreams, and aspirations of the Iranian people above repression at home and terrorism abroad. It is therefore critical for the United States and other democracies around the world to stand with the Iranian people.
In addition to being a state sponsor of terrorism, the regime in Tehran continues to suppress the most fundamental human rights of its own people. Women in Iran suffer from a system of discrimination and inequality.
With every protester killed, the regime has only fueled more protests. Two individuals have been executed with no due process. Twenty more face imminent executions.
The current protests, spearheaded by women and young people, have turned into a universal call for regime change. Everyone wants a free republic based on the separation of religion and state.
And it’s not just women who have suffered under the regime. Ethnic minorities in Iran are among the most subjugated dehumanized and repressed groups.
Tehran must be treated like the pariah that it is. International bodies from the UN to the world court must hold regime leaders accountable for decades of crimes against humanity. Nations across the world must not appease Iran.
The people of Iran have paid a heavy price in their resistance against Shah and the current regime. Never can there be a return to such a dictatorship. The international community must stand with the Iranian people in their historic struggle for democracy.”
In her speech, former White House director of Public Liaison the honorable Linda Chavez said:
“What we’re seeing today is not a recent phenomenon but a very old one. In Iran, with the regime that is in power and has been in power for more than 40 years, going about your everyday life and living your life as you choose is not, in fact, an option.
The regime reaches down into every family, into every business, into every gathering to dictate how people have to behave and not.
This is a fight that has been going on for a long time, and it is not just a fight in international organizations. It’s not just a fight in places like Washington DC or, for that matter, in Iran itself. The reach of this regime is very, very wide and very, very deep. The reach of Iran and its murderous dictatorship can reach each and every one of us if we do not make it stop if we do not overturn this murderous regime.
Maryam Rajavi is leading the resistance, and her leadership, I think, is all the more important because she’s a woman. One of the things that this regime has made clear from the very beginning is that if you can repress the women in a society, you will control that society. Well, we say no to that.
This is a fight that is much bigger. The people want regime change. They want the ayatollahs out. We cannot afford to sit idly by and watch that happen. If we don’t support the people, we are going to see the regime do things that make lives terrible, not only for the people of Iran but for people around the world.”
In his speech, former Senator and Governor of Kansas, Ambassador Sam Brownback noted:
“The days of this regime are numbered and will soon be over. What you see is an organized resistance that is broad-based, that’s diversified, that’s unified, that’s powerful, and will not quit. This is a resistance that is going to win.
The idea of a religion running a government hurts the religion, it hurts the government, and it hurts the people, and that’s what we have seen taking place in Iran now.
Ultimately the people will rule and overcome the autocrat. You’ve got a wonderful nation of people and culture. The Iran that is coming soon is an open, free, democratic, powerful nation because the power of your people and culture is unleashed. You will be a rising star rapidly. That’s what’s on the cusp right now.”
Former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army, General Jack Keane also addressed the event and said:
“This is not 2009 when the middle class protested about a fraudulent election. This is not 2019 when fuel prices skyrocketed and the most disadvantaged took to the streets. This is very different. This is not just about the hijab.
This is about the young and the old, it is about Persians, Arabs, and Kurds. It’s about 100 plus cities that are protesting across the entire swath of the nation. It is about students, workers, bazaar market merchants, and business-people. This is about a nation united behind a singular goal and that goal is the mullahs must go, the Islamic Republic must end.
The people are yearning for human dignity. The people want to exercise personal freedom and personal choice. The people want democracy. After 41-plus years the people know that the government is not capable of making any fundamental change. The people must change the government.
The people want democracy, not the mullahs’ brutal theocracy and not the Shah’s authoritarian rule. The people, led by Mariam Rajavi on true democracy. This has been a long journey for four decades.
Tens of thousands throughout the country have been sacrificed to include the 30,000 massacres in 1988 by the current president of Iran. Iran has been conducting an aggressive and persistent military campaign to drive America out of the Middle East.
Sadly, the new administration started to cut back on sanctions on Iran’s regime. They switched from confronting Iran to appeasing Iran. Iran has caused the deaths of thousands of its own people and killed American civilians and troops.
American citizens are linked to Iran, to the hardships and suffering of the Iranian people. It is time for the U.S. to take a strong leadership role inspired by the people of Iran. The United States should take a policy position on Iran’s recent killing of over 500 of its own citizens, the jailing of tens of thousands, and a 41-year history of genocide and crimes against humanity. That policy decision should be to stop negotiations right now over the nuclear deal and double down on sanctions.”
The program, attended by hundreds of Iranian Americans from 40 U.S. states highlighted the fact that after four decades of tyranny and repression, people of Iran are again chanting “death to the dictator and death to Khamenei,” and “down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or Leader (Khamenei). Sparked by the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini, the uprising in Iran has persisted for months and is rapidly evolving into a revolutionary ultimatum for regime change. The mostly young protesters, led and coordinated by Resistance Units of the Mojahedin-e Khalq, the main democratic opposition movement, have lost their fear of the regime’s brutal security forces. Regime’s use of gunfire, teargas, baton charges, arrest, torture, imprisonment and execution have seemingly fired up their passion and inspired an escalating confrontation between the people on the one hand and the predatory tyrants who have ruled Iran with force for over 4 decades.
The message of Iran protesters and that of the Iranian American Community members who attend this event was clear: Iran is in a revolutionary phase and the regime in the process of be being overthrown. The sooner that the free world unequivocally supported the people’s democratic aspirations in Iran, the lesser the cost to all of humanity.
