The recent uprising in Iran, which began on December 28 and quickly spread to more than 140 cities and towns around the country, sent shockwaves around the world and started debates within Iran policy circles in the United States and Europe. More importantly, it shook the regime in its entirety.
One significant factor was the acknowledgment by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei about the role of the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in this uprising.
On January 9, 2018, Khamenei spoke about the protest.
He blamed the (PMOI/MEK) as the force inside Iran that organized the protests and further said the MEK first organized protests under the banner of “no to high prices”, which attracted people. He further blamed the US for plotting the protests and claimed an Arab country financed it.
Khamenei added, “I would like to say that there was an active triangle in the recent troubles. This is neither for yesterday nor for today; it’s an organized one. What I am telling you is, there is information about them [PMOI/MEK role] at hand.
The (PMOI/MEK) has been at the forefront of opposition to the mullahs since the 1979 revolution when it soon became the number one target of the Iranian regime’s repression, with thousands being executed and many more imprisoned and tortured.
The turning point came in the summer of 1988 when, by direct order of Supreme Leader Khomeini, the regime, in what is known as 1988 massacre executed 30,000 political prisoners, most of whom were members and supporters of (PMOI/MEK). With this heinous crime against humanity, the mullahs’ intention was to annihilate the (PMOI/MEK), but their failure to do so led them to concentrate on their demonization campaign.
Demonization campaign against PMI/MEK
The demonization by the enemy has been routinely conducted throughout history. The ancient Greek historian Thucydides recorded examples of demonization in Ancient Greece.
Demonization of the enemy or Dehumanization of the enemy is a propaganda technique and the Iranian regime can be called a master of this despicable technique.
Tehran waged an international effort to have the (PMOI/MEK) designated as a terrorist organization, which eventually failed after all the designations were overturned in Europe and the U.S. with the help of over 20 court rulings. Eventually, Tehran embarked upon a campaign of character assassination and demonization, which described the (PMOI/MEK) as a cult, to justify the policy of appeasement which was being pursued by the west to curry favour with the mullahs.
The mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) has published at least 300 books demonizing the Iranian Resistance over the past few years.
Some of these books are published by the regime’s specialized bodies and front institutions and by known experts of the MOIS.
And curiously, a number of books are published in foreign languages by foreign nationals who collaborate with the mullahs, and these books are also then published in Persian and presented as works of foreign researchers. Apart from books, there are various so-called associations, societies, and websites with various misleading names, all backed by MOIS and run by its agents in Europe and North America. Add to these the Iranian and foreign journalists writing articles with the same backing and intentions.
So the whole idea is to keep the mullahs in power, and they seem to have accelerated their activities following the recent nationwide uprising. It has been well over thirty years since the Iranian People and their just resistance (PMOI/MEK) began to seek a Regime Change.
But the brutal internal suppression, along with international policies of appeasement towards Iran, have been the main obstacles to achieving this goal.
Now the time has come for regime change, and the Iranian regime understands this more than anyone else. Iranian lobbies and apologists are spreading fake news that regime change in Iran means another war in the Middle East. They argue that the war in Iraq will be repeated in Iran and the U.S. will get stuck in another war.
Adoption of a new policy approach
This issue has taken a new turn since the change of administration in the United States and what seems to be the abandonment of the failed appeasement policy and adoption of a new approach.
Those who oppose this policy by encouraging panic about a looming war seem to somehow forget that the Middle East is already ravaged by conflicts, with the mullahs being the main instigator in all of them, aided by foreign appeasement.
They tend to forget that if it wasn’t because of the Iranian regime’s meddling in the region and its backing for Assad half a million people many by gas attacks such as the most recent one in Douma wouldn’t have been killed.
It was the result of the policy of appeasement, and the naïve decision to pull out all U.S. military forces, leaving Iraq which left the country completely at the mercy of Iran.
The mullahs' support for the brutal Shi’a militias in Iraq and their genocidal campaign against Iraq's Sunni population opened the floodgates for the Islamic State (ISIS). Current problems in Yemen can also be traced to the mullahs support of the Houthis, and problems in Lebanon can be traced to their unconditional support and backing for Hezbollah.
This regime is so infamous for human rights abuses inside Iran and terrorist activities around the globe that it is impossible for anyone to support it overtly, so the only way for them to preserve the status quo is by opposing the new policy in any way which they can. And there is no better way to do this than by scaring people with mentions of war.
But the message is loud and clear and the Iranian people have given their verdict about what they want, which is regime change. And for those advocates of appeasement and regime apologists of any kind: do not try to change the course of history. You and your futile attempts are doomed to fail.
