IRAN RESISTANCE GROUP MEK CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT PROTESTERS

By INU Staff

INU - The Iranian Regime is involved in “warmongering and belligerence” in order to fuel crises in the Middle East, according to Iran’s organised democratic forces, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The Iranian Regime’s regional aggression has also been criticised by the Iranian people during their ongoing nationwide anti-regime protests, and the MEK are advising that the international community back the protesters’ calls for regime change in order to avoid Iran starting another war in the Middle East.

MEK representative Shahin Gobadi said: “The regime’s warmongering and belligerence is a major source of concern and tension in the region that can lead to a major war. But it can be averted. Years of policy of appeasement by Western governments emboldened the Iranian regime. The overthrow of the Iranian regime and establishment of peace and democracy in Iran would have a lasting impact in establishment of peace and tranquillity in the region.”

The area is on the edge of all-out war, as tension rise between Iran and its neighbours over Iran’s support for terrorism and proxy militias.

Indeed, Iran has tens of thousands of fighters in Syria, where they have spent $100 billion propping up the Assad Regime since 2011, is in direct conflict with Saudi Arabia over Iran-backed terrorist groups in Lebanon and Yemen, and is at odds with Israel after the downing of an Israeli fighter jet.

Gobadi said: “Export of terrorism and Islamic extremism, including warmongering and meddling in the region, has been a strategic pillar of survival of the regime and a cover for its domestic repression. Syria has been the lynchpin of this policy.”

Protests

The popular people’s protest has featured slogans such as “no to Syria” and “think about us” as the Iranian people call on the mullahs to end their foreign wars and return the money to the public purse.

The protests, which began over a draft budget that slashed subsidies for the poor in favour of additional military spending, have spread to 142 cities and morphed into a protest against everything wrong with the Regime.

The protesters, recognising that the Iranian Regime isn’t listening to their cries, have gone so far as to call for the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an offence punishable by death in Iran.

So far, at least 50 protesters have been killed in the streets, 8,000 arrested, and 12 have died under torture.

The Iranian Regime, desperate to portray itself as stable and popular, has organised pro-regime demonstrations to retaliate against the people’s protest and in honour of the 39th anniversary of the Iranian Regime, in which paid actors will burn the US flag.

This is nothing new. Iran has been doing this for years in order to make it seem as if the Iranian people are in favour of the Regime and deter the international community from acting. Still, revolution is in the air.

Gobadi made this call for the West to support to the protesters ahead of a meeting in Paris on Friday, in which representatives from 11 European countries will back the protesters.
Gobadi said: “The wall of fear has been cracked, and nothing including arrests, killings and torture can prevent the advancement of the protests to overthrow the regime. The regime’s own officials repeatedly talk about super challenges facing their regime and precarious prospects that loom on the horizon. After 39 years of rule, the clerical regime has never closer than being overthrown by the people than today.”

IRAN RESISTANCE GROUP MEK CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT PROTESTERS

By INU Staff

INU - The Iranian Regime is involved in “warmongering and belligerence” in order to fuel crises in the Middle East, according to Iran’s organised democratic forces, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The Iranian Regime’s regional aggression has also been criticised by the Iranian people during their ongoing nationwide anti-regime protests, and the MEK are advising that the international community back the protesters’ calls for regime change in order to avoid Iran starting another war in the Middle East.

MEK representative Shahin Gobadi said: “The regime’s warmongering and belligerence is a major source of concern and tension in the region that can lead to a major war. But it can be averted. Years of policy of appeasement by Western governments emboldened the Iranian regime. The overthrow of the Iranian regime and establishment of peace and democracy in Iran would have a lasting impact in establishment of peace and tranquillity in the region.”

The area is on the edge of all-out war, as tension rise between Iran and its neighbours over Iran’s support for terrorism and proxy militias.

Indeed, Iran has tens of thousands of fighters in Syria, where they have spent $100 billion propping up the Assad Regime since 2011, is in direct conflict with Saudi Arabia over Iran-backed terrorist groups in Lebanon and Yemen, and is at odds with Israel after the downing of an Israeli fighter jet.

Gobadi said: “Export of terrorism and Islamic extremism, including warmongering and meddling in the region, has been a strategic pillar of survival of the regime and a cover for its domestic repression. Syria has been the lynchpin of this policy.”

Protests

The popular people’s protest has featured slogans such as “no to Syria” and “think about us” as the Iranian people call on the mullahs to end their foreign wars and return the money to the public purse.

The protests, which began over a draft budget that slashed subsidies for the poor in favour of additional military spending, have spread to 142 cities and morphed into a protest against everything wrong with the Regime.

The protesters, recognising that the Iranian Regime isn’t listening to their cries, have gone so far as to call for the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an offence punishable by death in Iran.

So far, at least 50 protesters have been killed in the streets, 8,000 arrested, and 12 have died under torture.

The Iranian Regime, desperate to portray itself as stable and popular, has organised pro-regime demonstrations to retaliate against the people’s protest and in honour of the 39th anniversary of the Iranian Regime, in which paid actors will burn the US flag.

This is nothing new. Iran has been doing this for years in order to make it seem as if the Iranian people are in favour of the Regime and deter the international community from acting. Still, revolution is in the air.

Gobadi made this call for the West to support to the protesters ahead of a meeting in Paris on Friday, in which representatives from 11 European countries will back the protesters.
Gobadi said: “The wall of fear has been cracked, and nothing including arrests, killings and torture can prevent the advancement of the protests to overthrow the regime. The regime’s own officials repeatedly talk about super challenges facing their regime and precarious prospects that loom on the horizon. After 39 years of rule, the clerical regime has never closer than being overthrown by the people than today.”

We Should Listen Closely To Iran

As the world continues to debate the recent Iranian outburst of protests, its "lack of leadership" as they claim, and the road ahead, there is no doubt in the minds of senior Iranian regime officials over who led, and continues to lead, this latest uprising that continues to rattle the very pillars of the mullahs' rule.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made his thoughts crystal clear.

“The incidents were organized” and carried out by the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), he said although using a different term. “The [MEK] had prepared for this months ago” and “the [MEK’s] media outlets had called for it.”

The MEK is best known for first blowing the whistle on Iran's clandestine nuclear program back in 2002 and raising awareness over the possible military dimension (PMD) of this drive, a subject awaiting full clarification as we speak.

Interesting is how Khamenei's remarks, however, mirror those of influential American figures.

“The resistance is making a difference,” said Newt Gingrich, former House of Representatives Speaker and an individual very close to U.S. President Donald Trump, at a “Regime change in Iran” meeting held recently by the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, the sole significant Iranian opposition coalition. The MEK is a member of this umbrella group.

Riyadh "Riyadh Daily" 

Iran: Protests continue in numerous cities

Despite Iran's security forces being on high alert following the nationwide protests erupting on December 28th, protests are reportedly continuing in cities across the country. The Iranian regime intends to mark the beginning of its 40th year in power after the 1979 revolution, yet these protests are causing quite a stir and disrupting such plans.

Iran is known to filter and impose severe control over its internet, further indicating that despite the Iranian officials' claim of conditions returning to normal, it is anything but. There is a fire simmering beneath and the society is being labeled a powder keg by experts.

Iran's Future, In Its Own Words

On the very sensitive subject of how Iran plans to confront ongoing protests, described by some as an uprising, all the while attempting to resolve the very issues engulfing the ruling regime, there are critical concerns raising from various voices within.

And considering U.S. President Donald Trump's powerful State of the Union message, underscoring "America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom," the stakes at hand in the months ahead for Tehran are extremely high.

Iran's state-linked media are a good source, shedding significant and noteworthy light on the seemingly obscure nature of the Iranian regime.

The common tone heard in all such messages is hopelessness. Those loyal to the faction of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei see the solution in sacking the regime's president, Hassan Rouhani.

Arguments from the other side of the aisle in Tehran's politics rely on warning the Khamenei camp that such a scenario will not end the regime's escalating quandaries. This is only the beginning and there is no stopping this train, adding the entirety of this regime is in the crosshairs.

There are those who believe dark days await those sitting on the throne in Tehran, speaking of future uprising waves. Providing no solutions, their words can mean nothing but succumbing to an inevitable downfall.

"Those who have continuously spread despair and anxiety through their platforms in state TV/radio and Friday prayers (in reference to the Khamenei camp) seek to portray Rouhani as incompetent. They issue and chant slogans of 'Death to Rouhani,' failing to answer the inescapable question of who after Rouhani. The answer is obvious: surpassing Rouhani means overcoming the government, reaching the very principle of our state, and finally surpassing the Islamic republic itself," according to the Tadbir24 website, known for its affiliation to the Rouhani camp.

Interesting is how this piece considers Rouhani a synonym of the ruling state, or at least the velayat-e faqih regime's last chance of survival, warning surpassing Rouhani is tantamount to the end of the clerical rule altogether.

Protesters in the streets, however, are crystal clear in their intentions and how they view the overall regime apparatus. Chanting "Death to Rouhani," "Death to Khamenei," and most interestingly, "Reformists, principalists, end of story," the Iranian people are demanding sweeping changes, accepting nothing short of regime change. This ends Iran's scheme of portraying a system established on two parties of conservatives and reformists.

We Should Listen Closely To Iran

Heshmat Alavi: As the world continues to debate the recent Iranian outburst of protests, its "lack of leadership" as they claim, and the road ahead, there is no doubt in the minds of senior Iranian regime officials over who le

d, and continues to lead, this latest uprising that continues to rattle the very pillars of the mullahs' rule.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made his thoughts crystal clear.

“The incidents were organized” and carried out by the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), he said although using a different term. “The [MEK] had prepared for this months ago” and “the [MEK’s] media outlets had called for it.”

The MEK is best known for first blowing the whistle on Iran's clandestine nuclear program back in 2002 and raising awareness over the possible military dimension (PMD) of this drive, a subject awaiting full clarification as we speak.

Interesting is how Khamenei's remarks, however, mirror those of influential American figures.

“The resistance is making a difference,” said  meeting held recently by the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, the sole significant Iranian opposition coalition. The MEK is a member of this umbrella group.

Newt Gingrich, former House of Representatives Speaker and an individual very close to U.S. President Donald Trump, at a “Regime change in Iran”

“The MEK is making a difference. I have no doubt that, in the long run, you are on the right side of history. The resistance is knitting together both in the country and in the world a tremendous force that is sustaining the right to believe that you can be free,” Gingrich added while joined by former Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli.

Their participation marks bipartisan support the NCRI and MEK enjoy in Washington, considered rare these days.

"This is the beginning of a revolution. A regime that stays in power by killing its people has a numbered life. When Rouhani called French President Macron and asked him to clamp down on the MEK it made one thing clear: This is not a revolution without a leader. The leader is sitting here," Senator Torricelli, in reference to NCRI President Maryam Rajavi.

"I agree with Khamenei on nothing except one thing: he is putting responsibility on the MEK and the PMOI and blaming Mrs. Rajavi. He is right about it. This has been organized for years, network has been created, by never compromising with the regime, never being part of it. The MEK and Mrs. Rajavi have kept credibility… So in identifying the MEK and Mrs. Rajavi, he is right because the MEK and the entire international community that supports it, we are all coming for Khamenei to end this nightmare," he added.

Iran's history of uprisings and the 1979 revolution specifically have witnessed their ups and downs. The current movement is undergoing a similar phase today and any argument that this round of protests have come to an end are baseless.

“The uprising showed that Iranian society is in an explosive state, simmering with discontent," Rajavi said in her speech. "It showed that the regime is much weaker than perceived. It showed that the billions of windfall dollars from the nuclear deal did nothing to cure the regime’s instability. And finally, the uprising showed that the people of Iran detest both regime factions and want it overthrown in its entirety.”

Invited by numerous parliamentary groups, Rajavi continued her efforts on Wednesday in the European Parliament by calling on the Green Continent to break its dangerous silence in the face of ongoing protests in Iran and the regime resorting to numerous crackdown measures.

View image on Twitter

Maryam Rajavi meets and holds talks with former US house speaker and senator Robert Torricelli

Maryam Rajavi met and held talks with Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives and a presidential nominee, and Senator Robert Torricelli.

She elaborated in this meeting on the latest developments in Iran and the nationwide uprising, stressing on the Iranian people’s demand for the overthrow of the mullahs’ corrupt dictatorship in its entirety as reflected in their chants heard in cities across the country.

She said, “After these protests, the Iranian people, the ruling regime, and its relations with the region and the world are not going to return to the pre-uprising conditions. Today, the clerical regime is very fragile and weaker than ever before. What the Iranian Resistance has been saying about the solution, the regime’s overthrow being imperative and within reach, and the existence of an alternative and an organized resistance to realize it, has become most clearly evident.”

Maryam Rajavi also elaborated on the regime’s crimes in dealing with the uprising, particularly the extensive arrests of thousands of people, and the torture and murder of young protesters in detention.

She repeated her call on the UN and the International Community to take urgent action for the freedom of those arrested in the uprising. She reiterated, “Opening fire on protesters, making mass arrests, and torturing prisoners to death are examples of crimes against humanity. The International Community’s commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights demands that it ends its silence and stop appeasement and engagement of the mullahs’ criminal and illegitimate regime. An international inquiry commission must be formed to investigate the arbitrary arrests and the practices of Khamenei’s henchmen in prisons, and take serious practical measures to stop these crimes.”

In his remarks, Newt Gingrich said there is a bipartisan support in the United States for the Iranian people’s struggle and uprising to achieve democracy and get rid of the religious dictatorship, as demonstrated by their joint presence in the meeting with Senator Torricelli. He said the Iranian regime’s moderation is an illusion. “The MEK (PMOI) is a real force. The level of fear of you and your resistance is growing among the regime.”

Mr. Gingrich reiterated that the younger generation’s participation and their ties with the MEK (POMI), the organized resistance, and the democratic alternative, ensures the progress of the uprising and the Iranian people’s victory in their struggle for freedom.

Senator Torricelli said the 38-year struggle of the MEK (PMOI) and the Iranian Resistance is bearing fruit. Today, people are chanting your slogans and repeating your goals throughout Iran. They made Khamenei (the regime’s leader) acknowledge in his recent speech that it was the MEK (PMOI) who advances the uprising inside Iran and had organized and called for it in advance. Like all dictators, he blamed foreign powers to overshadow the alternative to his regime. He said two angles of the triangle of these protests were the United States and Saudi Arabia and the third angle was the MEK (PMOI) inside Iran. But the truth is that the best and most the U.S. or any other power can do is to declare support for the Iranian people’s desire to overthrow this regime and support the uprising you are advancing. This is something that they had hesitated to do until just last year.

IRAN REGIME CHANGE: A NEW WAR OR PREVENTING ONE

by Keyvan Salami

The bipartisan passage of the sanctions bill H.R. 3364 by both houses of Congress, and the Trump administration’s approach to Iran have raised questions over the right policy toward Iran.Meanwhile, a grand gathering of Iranians in Paris suburb on July 1st with 100,000 participants, recited the desire of millions of Iranians: regime change.Accordingly, Iran apologists, concerned that the appeasement policy is coming to an end and

the new administration may adopt a policy of regime change, have become active to portray this bloody picture that such a policy will drag America to another Middle East war.

To prove their point, they refer to the US-led invasion of Iraq or the Libya regime change campaign. Due to catastrophic consequences of Iraq’s invasion for the US and the region, this reasoning could convince many Americans that regime change policy is not the right policy.

Nonetheless, this comparison is merely aimed at exploiting a wrong policy to adopt yet another wrong policy. Sending troops and invading Iraq by the US was a wrong policy, but worse is naively comparing that failed policy to the current situation in Iran, and denying the right of Iranian people to change the tyrannical regime.

U.S. Military Action Not Needed

Contrary to what Iran apologists portray, the regime change policy means neither military invasion nor military intervention by US in Iran.

It simply means stopping the appeasement policy and recognizing the right of the Iranian people for regime change. The Iranian people and their resistance movement can and will change the regime in Iran, and ask for the US to stop standing alongside this regime.

“We reiterate and emphasize that regime change and establishment of freedom and people’s sovereignty, is solely the task and within the powers of the Iranian people and Resistance and no one else. Having relied on the suffering, struggle and endurance of this movement and this alternative, today we are most confident in the victory and liberation of our homeland” said Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of Iranian Resistance in her opening statement at a recent Interim Session of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Obama Supported The Mullahs

For years, Iran apologists, by adopting the appeasement policy, have denied such a right for the Iranian people. In the 2009 uprising while millions of Iranians were in the streets demanding regime change, the Obama administration was busy exchanging letters with senior regime officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iranians in their street demonstrations were shouting, “Obama! Are you with us or with them?”

Obama’s response was clear. Through the appeasement policy he sided with the regime and allowed the mullahs cheat their downfall.

Now that the new administration’s policy is shifting in the right direction, the same apologists continue their support for the Iranian regime by claiming any regime change policy will lead us to another war in the Middle East.

The Evil Mullahs Rule By Terror

During their rule, the mullahs have executed more than 120,000 people for political reasons. Hundreds of thousands more have been imprisoned and tortured.

Corruption is raging throughout the ruling system while poverty has increased and reached an unprecedented level in Iran’s history. The regime has also destroyed this nation’s culture.

Due to this regime’s terrorism Iran has lost the respect it deserves in the international community.

The people of Iran have the right to change such a regime. Denying them is tantamount to suggest the Iranian people should continue suffering torture and execution under the mullahs’ regime.

“We say that the struggle of the people of Iran for regime change is legitimate, righteous and imperative. We urge you to recognize this ‘resistance against oppression.’ The same notion that is stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in France’s Declaration of Human Rights and Citizens’ Rights. This has also been stated in the American Declaration of Independence where it says, ‘whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of’ the people’s rights, ‘it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government’ of their liking.” Said Maryam Rajavi in her speech at Paris gathering.

Iran Is Unlike Iraq and Libya

Contrary to Iraq, Libya and other countries, Iran has a democratic, powerful and organized opposition with the capacity of mobilizing and organizing the people of Iran for another uprising.

The NCRI and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI-MEK) enjoy widespread popular support inside Iran and abroad.

The NCRI has a clear democratic platform, calling for a secular republic, gender equality, no capital punishment, rights of religious and ethnic minorities and a non-nuclear Iran.

The right Iran policy is to support the NCRI. This is the only way to prevent another war in the Middle East.

How Iran views the new US sanctions

by:Heshmat Alavi

The recent Iran sanctions ratified by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump specifically target the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and have caused very interesting reactions from Tehran.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has remained silent, signaling his state of shock. His regime’s president, Hassan Rouhani, also indicated the toll of these new measures.

“…first, the Majlis (parliament) will take steps in this regard. If they have the Congress, we have the Majlis,” he said in a weak reaction. This is a president whose executive branch is in charge of the Iran nuclear deal, passing on the official response to the legislative branch.

Aside from legal and technical aspects of these sanctions, Tehran is currently facing regime change policy and support for the Iranian opposition, represented in the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Ahmad Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, said Iran’s enemies are seeking to topple the establishment. This has left the entire Iranian regime deeply concerned, rendering it unable to establish a strong position in the face of the status quo.

Prior to this Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also expressed weak remarks in response to the new U.S. sanctions.

Members of Khamenei’s camp have used their platform in Friday prayers to call on Rouhani’s cabinet to take a strong stance. There are voices also saying that Iran’s Central Bank and the entire government will eventually be sanctioned.

Iran’s reactions are of political importance as they indicate how this crisis is resulting in major internal tension.

“This is the mother of all sanctions,” said Foad Izadi, a Tehran University assistant professor, in a recent interview with state TV. “Based on the text, for example, the IRGC will be linked to the government as the government approves the defense budget. Thus, as this military entity is considered a terrorist organization, the government will suffer the same consequences.”

Elements of Khamenei’s camp, known as the conservatives/hardliners/principalists, are demanding Iran exit the nuclear deal altogether, while Rouhani’s camp is arguing the IRGC was under such sanctions in the past.

The entire regime in Iran, however, is forced to follow in line with the nuclear deal and lacks the will to do otherwise. There are concerns inside Iran that the nuclear deal will lead to similar pacts demanded by the international community, such as Tehran’s ballistic missile drive, meddling in other countries, and support for terrorism abroad, and most importantly, the mullahs’ grave human rights violations dossier.

Khamenei, who has the last word in all national security and foreign affairs, had launched the nuclear negotiations even prior to Rouhani’s first term.

Iran’s regime is currently facing two paths of death or suicide. Khamenei himself has been heard saying any change in behavior will result in regime change. Therefore, his entire apparatus lacks any capacity for meaningful change.

To this end, it appears Iran is seeking to maintain the nuclear deal intact with support from the Europeans. However, even such a policy has its own problems for a ruling system of this nature. Khamenei knows the Europeans will also demand changes, especially in Iran’s human rights dossier. This means another dead end for the mullahs.

Even those who naively dubbed Rouhani a “reformist” have questions to answer after he recently met with several senior IRGC commanders. This is yet another sign that Rouhani is calibrating his ties with the belligerent IRGC. Under Rouhani’s watch the defense budget has risen and the IRGC’s ballistic missile production has advanced dramatically.

All the while, Tehran is facing even larger challenges of regime change. Iran’s powder-keg society continues to gain momentum with daily protests and the organized NCRI opposition is enjoying increasing support.

For over 35 years this organization has emphasized the fact that Iran only understands strong language and must be sanctioned meaningfully. The world is only now beginning to comprehend.

Even during the Bush administration, NCRI President Maryam Rajavi reiterated the fact that while her coalition had blown the whistle on Iran’s clandestine nuclear weapons program, the main threat emanating from Tehran was its meddling in Iraq and export of terrorism and fundamentalism. This phenomenon is far more dangerous than Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Rajavi emphasized.

The recent sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S. Congress is in line with this argument. They first target the Iranian regime and seek to tackle the mullahs’ destructive policies that have plunged the Middle East into flames and threaten the entire globe.

The world is beginning to understand how peace and stability in the Middle East hinges on reining in Iran’s utterly dangerous bellicosity.

As the Trump administration continues to weigh its Iran policy with a possibility of regime change on the table, there are voices heard arguing such a move, citing the failures witnessed in the past two decades.

The very reason regime change campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria have failed is the lack of an organized opposition movement ready to provide the alternative afterwards.

Iran enjoys such an alternative, symbolized in the NCRI, its President Maryam Rajavi and her ten-point-plan delivering a free and democratic Iran.

Heshmat Alavi is a political and rights activist. His writing focuses on Iran, ranging from human rights violations, social crackdown, the regime’s support for terrorism and meddling in foreign countries, and the controversial nuclear program.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/how_iran_views_the_new_us_sanctions.html#ixzz4pL4gcVzQ
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Blueprinting the Right Iran Policy

By Heshmat Alavi    avery reluctant US President Donald Trump recently gave the green light for the State Department to recertify Iran as complying with a nuclear agreement signed between international community representatives and Tehran two years ago.

This measure has hurled ongoing debates, launching a faceoff amongst those who consider the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a liability and seek an immediate exit, and those who argue the world simply can’t live without it.

While there are also calls for renegotiating the deal or implementing the JCPOA to its exact meaning, as mentioned recently by senior US officials such as inspecting Iran’s military sites, there is another option before the Trump White House: supporting the Iranian people and calls for regime change.

What needs understanding is that Trump’s agenda of adopting a firm stance on Iran should not be minimized on the JCPOA. This would play into Iran’s hand, while Tehran continues its belligerence elsewhere.

The Trump administration has before it an opportunity to adopt meaningful leverage on Iran.

We must give credit to the Obama administration for establishing an international coalition and initially ramping up sanctions against Iran. This is what brought Tehran to the negotiating table, as economic strains began reaching the point of no return.

Obama’s mistakes afterwards were treacherous, however, succumbing to Iran’s demands. Tehran came to believe Obama sought a foreign policy legacy at all costs, and took full advantage. Whereas if the US led the international community in pressuring the mullahs, Tehran would have given in to all demands.

Never forget how despite all his saber-rattling remarks, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered the nuclear agreement approved in the regime’s parliament in 20 minutes.

Yet to those who believe continuing with the JCPOA as it is, a look back at the past two years is necessary. Iran has used the deal’s resulting in reportedly up to a $150 billion windfall, reportedly up to $150 billion, to expand its Middle East hegemony. Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon are under substantial Tehran influence, leaving the region heavily battered more than ever before.

To add insult to injury, the JCPOA’s sunset articles provide Iran the option of patiently awaiting until they can produce all that is necessary for a nuclear weapon.

Iran is already cheating the nuclear deal due to Obama’s desperate positions in his final years. Tehran exceeded its heavy water production cap. Heavy water is the fundamental ingredient in a plutonium bomb. Iran has been testing more advanced centrifuges, again undermining JCPOA limits. According to German intelligence services Iran has been illicitly procuring highly sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile technology in Germany. Tehran has also exceeded its uranium enrichment cap, another major non-compliance factor.

The deal left the Trump administration little to work with, and no serious building block to build pressure on Tehran.

As a result, abandoning the deal allows Iran make a dash for nuclear weapons capability and leaves the US to blame. In such a scenario, it would most likely take more time for Washington to form an international coalition necessary to re-impose necessary measures.

The Obama approach encouraged the Europeans and other parties to rush to the Iranian market. This effectively has been providing further billions to the notorious Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as this entity controls more than 40% of Iran’s economy. Such a disastrous dogma has also left the Trump administration reluctant, or even unable, to fully overhaul Washington’s comprehensive Iran policy and hold Tehran accountable.

In its first six months the Trump administration slapped three different rounds of sanctions, mostly through the Treasury Department, in response to Iran’s ballistic missile test launches, support for terrorism and regional extremism, and egregious human rights violations. While such action is necessary after all the cost-free concessions provided by Team Obama, they fail in forcing Iran to think twice about its measures. However, there is light at the end of this tunnel.

Congress sent a very powerful message to Tehran recently through the House 419-3 and Senate 98-2 votes, slamming an unprecedented level of sanctions and restrictions on Iran. This bill experienced its share of riddles and obstacles, as reservations and alterations have continuously hovered over the Russia and North Korea sections. The Iran chapter, however, continuously enjoyed vast bipartisan support. And Tehran is receiving the message loud clear.

Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Keyhan daily in Iran, known to be the Supreme Leader’s mouthpiece, described the new bill as the “mother of all sanctions.”

While long overdue, and despite the fact that the IRGC should officially be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department, the Guards are now blacklisted amongst the Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT).  “The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), not just the IRGC Quds Force, is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program of destabilizing activities, support for acts of international terrorism and ballistic missiles,” the text reads in part.

Drastic measures will be implemented following Trump’s signature: all US-based assets and property associated to any individual or entity linked to the IRGC will be seized and frozen. No US individual or entity is permitted to any affiliation, including financial, business or other services, with any individual associated by any means to the IRGC. With all IRGC-affiliated individuals and entities placed under sanctions, this move will have a paralyzing effect for Iran’s belligerent efforts. The IRGC Khatam al-Anbiya conglomerate, currently involved in cooperation with over 2,500 companies, will be targeted severely. A domino effect will launch as sanctions target all related firms. Secondary banking sanctions against the IRGC will ban any and all financial institutions from delivering direct and/or indirect banking services to any individual or entity linked to the IRGC.

These sanctions should be imposed immediately to act as a launching pad for the Trump White House to take the next necessary steps. Iran’s footprints in Syria and Iraq have resulted in utter death and destruction. Tehran’s lethal influence in the Levant and Mesopotamia must be brought to an end. Moving on, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have both spoken of regime change as a forward-looking approach when it comes to Iran.

Ambassador John Bolton, former US envoy to the United Nations, said it most clearly at a recent Iranian opposition rally in Paris: “The outcome of the president’s policy review should be to determine that the Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 revolution will not last until its 40th birthday,” come February 2019.

New Law Imposing Sanctions Against Clerical Regime and Revolutionary Guards Should Be Implemented Immediately, Meticulously and Without Exception

The Iranian Resistance welcomes the signing into law by the President of the United States of legislation imposing new sanctions against the clerical regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). It calls for this law to be implemented immediately, meticulously and without exception and urges the European Union to join these sanctions. The expulsion of the IRGC and its affiliated militias from the Middle East, in particular from Syria and Iraq, is indispensable to the enactment of this law and a prerequisite to ending the conflict and crisis that have engulfed the entire region.

This law that was passed last week by the US House of Representatives and Senate with overwhelming majority imposes new sanctions on the clerical regime for violations of human rights and proliferation of ballistic missiles. The new law also subjects the IRGC to the same sanctions imposed on the entities in the list of “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.” This list was created subsequent to September 11, 2001 based on an Executive Order of the US President.

The terrorist designation and sanctions against the IRGC should have taken place a long time ago since the IRGC protects the entirety of the clerical regime. It also acts as the regime’s main instrument of suppression and export of terrorism and extremism. However, the policy of appeasing the mullahs’ religious dictatorship paved the way for rampage in the entire region by the IRGC and its proxies.

Subsequent to the passage of the Act by the U.S. Senate, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian R,esistance stated: “The full implementation of these sanctions against the clerical regime must be completed with urgent actions against officials in charge of executions, torture and particularly the massacre of political prisoners in 1988. Topping the list is Ali Khamenei, the mullahs’ supreme leader. They must face justice for 38 years of crimes against humanity. Recognition of the Iranian people’s desire and right to overthrow the mullahs and establish democracy and freedom in Iran is the greatest contribution to peace and tranquility in the Middle East and the world."

The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran