International Consensus Rejects Tehran’s Lies and Supports Iranian Democratic Alternative
Written by
Mansoureh Galestan
For more than four decades, an extremely illegitimate regime in Iran has managed to deceive the world and sell the misleading assumption that the only available substitute to its own destructive reign would be chaos and the source of more instability in the Middle East. Responding to an increasingly discontent society and worldwide isolation, the regime tried to fool the world with the so-called “moderates” and “reformists.”
Never falling for the regime’s treachery, the Iranian Resistance exposed these tactics, and time proved those efforts futile when in 2017, protesters across Iran chanted, “Reformists, principalists, the game is over!”
Though, the power-thirsty regime in Tehran played a new game by initiating the “fake alternative” industry. Every now and then, some mid-level Iranian celebrity or dubious group was promoted to stardom, introducing itself as an alternative to the regime. Some even built coalitions that proved to be very short-living grouplets, and Tehran’s message to the world and the Iranian people was eventually the same: there is no alternative to the Iranian regime.
Unimpeded by the regime’s duplicity, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization expanded its network all across Iran and the Resistance Units continued to challenge the regime’s vast security apparatus and spread hope throughout society.
The Supreme Leader Khamenei felt increasingly threatened and launched a new initiative. Either through speeches at Friday prayer sermons or using questionable elements in the Persian language media outlets abroad, the clerical tyranny started to promote a false narrative about the regime’s options of replacement.
Certain that the former monarchy would never pose a threat to their rule, the mullahs and dubious media influencers— almost entirely with a background in the regime’s propaganda machine— intensified their demonization campaign against the Iranian Resistance while promoting the former dictatorship of the monarchy.
Yet again, despite all the hoax and slander campaigns, the MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) remain the most active forces in challenging Tehran both domestically and internationally.
And the regime that openly and willingly boasts of terrorism and ridicules international scrutiny made sure to note that supporting the Iranian Resistance is a line that no one should cross.
Though defamation, designation, and terror threats have not deterred dozens of honorable leaders and legislators worldwide from backing down from a just cause. Their messages and speeches to the Iranian people and their freedom fighters will continue to defy the regime in Tehran and inspire hope for a restive nation.
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Former US National Security Advisor General James Jones: “Indeed, Iran has been the scene of ongoing protests over the past few years. People from all walks of life, all streets of the society, have defied beatings, arrests, and even death to come out to the street and call for the overthrow of the ruling theocracy. They chant, the enemy is right here. They lie when they say it’s America. The people of Iran reject tyranny and dictatorship, be it in the Shahs or the mullahs. They are looking to the future, to a democratically elected republic that believes in universal suffrage, gender, religious and ethnic equality, and an Iran nuclear-free that is at peace with its neighbors. These are, in fact, the highlights of Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan for the future of Iran, which I have often described as a Jeffersonian document.”
RT @iran_policy: 4. Gen. James Jones, former National Security Advisor of the US: The people of Iran reject tyranny and dictatorships, be it Shah’s or the Mullahs, and they are looking for a future for a democratically elected republic.#Westand4FreeIran… pic.twitter.com/usxXlNu9KK
— ADFS_BEL (@ADFS_BEL) August 15, 2022
Former US Senator Joseph Liberman: “There is only one acceptable solution to the problems created by the terrorist government in Tehran. It must be removed, and soon will be by its own people. Led by the NCRI/MEK resistance and its supporters throughout the region and the world.”
“As we call for a revolution in Iran, the revolution has already begun. The revolution has begun with the thousands of fighters of the resistance of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, of the MEK in Iran. And it will not be stopped until this regime is dead and gone.”
“It’s time for the people of Iran to rise up together to liberate themselves. It’s time for the United States and every democratic nation in the world to help them. It’s time for us to recognize that within this movement NCRI/MEK, there are leaders who are ready to preside over the coming of freedom to Iran. To give the people a choice of their leaders, not to impose leaders from the top. And that, may I say, begins with your own and our own Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.”
Former US Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge: “The democratic alternative to this regime is the National Council of Resistance in Iran, NCRI, and the MEK, which shares our democratic values for a free society based on universal human rights and political legitimacy. Values that are based on popular suffrage and rule of law, gender equality and the separation of religion and state. The popular chant on the streets is death to the oppressor, whether it be Khamenei or the shah. The Iranian people have set their sights to the future, not the present or the past. For them, the Mullahs’ 40-year religious tyranny is a continuation of half a century of the military dictatorship of the shah and his father.”
Former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi: “The time has finally come to see the fascist regime of the mullahs overthrown and replaced by a democratic and free Iran. Now more than ever, after four decades under the tyranny of the Iranian regime, the Iranian people deserve a secular and peaceful democracy governed by the rule of law and abiding by international rules and principles concerning human rights, freedom of religion, justice, political pluralism, and individual freedoms. That is to say, a non-nuclear Iran, which is also devoid of weapons of mass destruction, and promotes peace, coexistence, international and regional cooperation, as foreseen by Madame Rajavi’s Ten Point Plan for a future Iran.”
“We cannot fall prey to the perverse dynamics of the mullahs. It should be absolutely clear all over the world that the only credible alternative to this criminal, the terrorist Iranian regime is the democratic and free Iran, strongly promoted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran led by Madame Maryam Rajavi. Millions of untamed people in Iran are waiting for a clear and unequivocal response by the Western world.”
Former US State Department Director of Policy Planning Amb. Mitchell Reiss: “The regime would have you believe that your protests are simply a call to impose a different type of tyranny on the Iranian people. A call back to the Shah and his repression. Nothing could be further from the truth. All of this is simply a mask, a smokescreen by the regime to try to distract people’s attention from its continued terrorism throughout the Middle East.”
“In the United States, there is now wide bipartisan support for Madame Rajavi and her agenda of respect for human rights and representative democracy. She has been and she continues to be, a beacon of light, illuminating a pathway forward for all the Iranian people. A pathway forward that will lead to a democratic Iran where everyone can live safely, securely, and in prosperity.”
Former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army General Jack Keane: “You are all an inspiration for Iranians living under the mullahs. To the freedom-loving people around the world, as you have courageously and steadfastly sacrificed your personal wellbeing for the cause of getting rid of the mullahs’ brutal regime and to establish freedom and democracy in Iran. The NCRI and the people of Iran reject dictatorship in any form, the shah’s, or the mullahs.”
“These brave people of Iran and the members of the NCRI are the world’s inspiration that there is an alternative to the mullahs, that the people of Iran demand a regime change, which should be the single most important objective to freedom-loving countries worldwide.”
“There is a serious alternative to the mullahs in Maryam Rajavi, who will not only change life for the better for every Iranian but remove the threat of a Middle East nuclear arms race, remove the threat of war, and return Iran to the role of a responsible member of the international community. This is all possible. Continue to be a loud and reasoned voice for all Iranians. The only acceptable alternative is a free Iran. Yes, a free Iran.”
Former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner: “A tyranny is not better than the other; like the regime of the Shah and the regime of the ayatollahs. No. What I am simply saying is that there is a democratic alternative. That’s what we must choose; that’s what we have to impose.”
“You have a program, a 10-point-plan, proposed by Mrs. Rajavi. I would like to tell you very deeply and sincerely: we, this new world which is dawning before us and which we can already see its destruction. For this world to become a better place, it needs you. We all need you.”
Former German Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer: “All the more, we have to stand by the Iranian people and their struggle for freedom. They reject Shah’s dictatorship and theocratic dictatorship and want a republic based on democratic values. Maryam Rajavi has stipulated the vision of such a republic and the way ahead in a Ten Point Plan for the future of Iran. This is the true alternative, the correct vision for a democratic, free, peaceful, and people respecting Iran. This is the Iran the world needs. Let us work together on it.”
Former Member of the German Bundestag Leo Dautzenberg: “A regime that massively oppresses and impoverishes its own citizens is rapidly approaching its downfall. Right now, (Iran’s) society needs a visible solution and alternative. It needs a democratic alternative that meets the needs of the people. Otherwise, people might be disappointed that their uprising will not succeed. It is therefore a supremely human duty of every Democrat to show stand up and support the democratic alternative. The Iranian people, who have endured two bloody and brutal dictatorships of the Shah and the Mullahs, deserve a free republic. They deserve a republic based on the separation of religion and state and parliamentary democracy.”
“Together, on July 23, at the Free Iran Rally, let us be the voice of those Iranians who yearn for freedom.”
Former Canadian Minister Tony Clement: “I would like to say that there is a democratic alternative in Iran that operates within the NCRI and the MEK and of course, Mrs. Rajavi’s 10-point plan and it is necessary, I believe for free nations to recognize this clear democratic alternative. The regime in Iran has a number of activities that seem to downgrade or denigrate this positive alternative. They imply a false choice between themselves and the defunct monarchy and you know, they try to emphasize that Iranians have to say no to Shah, but we know that this is just the way they prop up a dictatorial and totalitarian regime rather than promote a democratic republic.”
MEP from Italy Susanna Ceccardi: “Without doubt, I am with you. Asking to the international community and to the European leader to closely follow the world summit of Free Iran to see the existing democratic alternative for the future of Iran and listen directly to the Iranian resistance and inspirational leader Mrs. Maryam Rajavi presenting the real Iranian solution based on a ten-point democratic platform.”
MEP from Spain Javier Zarzalejos: “There is a democratic alternative in Iran and for Iranians. Like all citizens in the world have the right to choose their future. They have a right to freedom and democracy. The Iranian society has also the right to prosperity and opposite to poverty and misery which the clerical regime advocates. I sincerely wish you a successful summit which will allow you to convey the democratic alternative for Iran to the whole world from the European parliament.”
“Finally, I would like also to thank the Iranian resistance in the exile led by Mrs. Rajavi who tirelessly fight in the international community and for the international community to be aware of the real situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
MEP from Slovenia Franc Bogovič: “It is true that the old policy of appeasement vis-à-vis the mullahs has come to an end. But that is not enough. We must be frank and serious to work with those who hold the key to a future Iran.”
“In this respect, we should abandon the failed attempt to be friends with a regime that is determined to get the bomb, and we should try instead to establish contact with the democratic alternative represented in the NCRI. Madam Rajavi’s ten-point plan for a future Iran represents all the elements and values we respect, so I once more announce my full support for the program, and for your struggle, Madam Rajavi, for a free and democratic Iran.”
MEP from Poland Ryszard Czarnecki: “Those who claim that there is no alternative to the clerical regime are lying to appease the mullahs. They want the regime’s continued existence to pursue their commercial ties with it.”
“I know the alternative. I have been supporting the Iranian democratic opposition for many years. It is the NCRI, under the leadership of Madam Maryam Rajavi. Don’t look anywhere else, she is right here, ready with her people to move forward.”