Feb. 14, 2019 - With Europe’s halfhearted financial mechanism, named INSTEX—short for “Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges—coupled with Iran’s conformance to the de facto world’s body standards on money laundering, its ballistic missile program and regional malevolent meddling, the Iranian regime stands at a strategic crossroads with inevitable dead-ends.
While fresh meat prices are already approaching the one-tenth region of the monthly minimum wage, Iran’s economy is on the slippery slope of a downward spiral towards hyperinflation, and popular discontent levels are rising.
To benefit from Europe’s mechanism, which doesn’t amount to more than a food-for-oil program, the Iranian regime needs to abandon its terrorist nature and curb its ballistic missile program, pass the necessary bills into law to conform to FATF’s anti-money-laundering standards, and leave its terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East.
On the other hand, the regime can also choose the path of confrontation with the international community and lose the little economic and political support it has in Europe, or China and Russia.
The Iranian regime likes to extend this game and postpone the decision as long as possible. But the FATF ultimatum is a few days away and Warsaw’s summit on security and peace in the Middle East will shed a fundamentally different light on the playfield.
While the FATF standard’s on financial transparency, combatting the financing of terrorism, and anti-money-laundering may seem very reasonable to the civilized world, to the ruling elite in Tehran, it can pose an existential threat.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is founded on the idea of exporting its so-called revolution—read death and destruction—to all the Islamic world. The concept of a Supreme Leader, currently Ali Khamenei, is called in Persian—although the term has Arabic roots— Velayat-e-Faqih, which literally means Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist. This very idea puts religion before nation and cannot live without expansion. Think medieval catholic church and the crusades.
That’s why many Iranian officials are concerned about EU’s INSTEX proposal.
Mohammad-Javad Abtahi, an Iranian MP close to Khamenei’s faction, says: “INSTEX is a window dressing that leads to a ruined place.”
“While Europeans present INSTEX with no acceptable solution to Iran, they have a new demand from our country. This European act is in fact the prelude to the second JCPOA. INSTEX is more like a candy offered to a child to draw his attention from an important matter,” he added.
Mohammadreza Pour-Ebrahimi, chairman of the economic commission in the Majlis (parliament) attacked the so-called moderate faction and said: “Some have set their heart on the Europeans.”
On the other hand, officials and pundits close to regime president Hassan Rouhani call for concessions to Europe out of fear of a popular uprising due to widespread economic misery.
Davoud Hermidas-Bavand, a pundit close to Rouhani’s faction says in an interview with the Iran Diplomacy website: “It seems that next year Iran will be enclosed with serious economic upheavals to provide for basic needs for the country. We have to accept that regardless of some chants and an ideologic look, we have to start a successful diplomacy based on mutual cooperation and respect with all the countries in the world.”
Amid the confusion and indecisiveness among the ruling factions, Ali Bigdeli, close to Rouhani’s faction, suggests: “Today, we need a serious and active approach to keep our exchange with the green continent of EU. You see, right now it isn’t about achievements. The international situation for Iran has reached a turning point. We have to keep the European Union on our side at any cost. If we, in light of our wrong behavior, send the EU, especially Germany, France, and the UK, to this triangle [of which, according to Bigdeli, two edges are United States and Arab countries], the conditions for Iran’s presence in the international community will become very difficult. In such a way that our allies like China and Russia will turn their back on us.”
Considering the Warsaw summit, the looming prospects for the Islamic Republic look even more damning.
Signatories to the JCPOA, like Germany and the UK, who also proposed INSTEX, will attend the summit where the ruling theocracy in Iran will be more isolated to say the least.
And the Iranian regime’s hopes to drive a wedge between the EU and U.S. seems more remote as ever before
Poland: Iranian resistance holds large demonstration as ministers gather for summit in Warsaw
Reported by PMOI/MEK
Warsaw - Feb. 13, 2019 - A large crowd of Iranians, supporters of PMOI/MEK and NCRI, held a gathering in Warsaw as authorities from numerous countries gathered in the city to attend a meeting co-hosted by United States and Poland. The demonstrators were there to voice the long-suppressed desire of the Iranian people to live in a free state.
Ministers from several countries will be discussing the situation in the Middle East and especially the threats posed by the Iranian regime.
Supporters of the PMOI/MEK rallying in Warsaw - February 13, 2019
The Iranian Resistance event was attended by dignitaries and politicians from several countries, who came to Warsaw to express their support for the Iranian resistance and regime change in Iran. The NCRI and its president Mrs. Maryam Rajavi are vying for the establishment of a democratic, secular, and nuclear-free state in Iran that provides equal opportunities to all Iranians regardless of their religion, gender and ethnicity. The Iranian resistance also denounces the terrorist meddling of the Iranian regime in neighboring countries.
Iranian Diaspora rallying in support of NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi
Prior to the rally, the NCRI held a press conference in which dignitaries spoke to the importance of supporting Iranian protesters and the Iranian resistance as the sole alternative to the despotic rule of the mullahs in Iran.
“Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world. We should not be doing business with a regime that supports terror,” said Rudy Giuliani, former New York Mayor and current lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump, at the press conference. Giuliani stressed that the Warsaw Summit should be focused on regime change in Iran.
“We believe the alternative to this regime is Madam Maryam Rajavi, and this organisation, the MEK, is at the core of that movement. We want to see a non-nuclear Iran. A free Iran. So that the people of Iran can have their country back. We want to see a democratic Iran. A non-monarchy, non-mullah dictatorship,” Giuliani said at the press conference.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, speaking at NCRI conference before Warsaw demonstration
Marcin Święcicki: NCRI is the alternative to Iran’s regime
Marcin Święcicki
“The Iranian Resistance movement has introduced a ten-point plan that promotes secularism and abolishes the death penalty. This is an alternative. Iran will win the fight for freedom and respect for peace,” said Marcin Święcicki, a Member of Parliament from Poland and former Mayor of Warsaw and a former minister for foreign economic relations, the first speaker at the demonstration, which began at noon, local time.
Maryam Rajavi: Recognize the right of the Iranian people’s Resistance to overthrow the mullahs
Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi
Urging the international community to break their silence over the Iranian regime’s human rights violations, Iranian opposition President-elect Maryam Rajavi sent a video message to the Warsaw rally.
“The Iranian people’s immediate demand from the world and their lawful expectation from the Poland Summit is for them to recognize the right of the Iranian people’s Resistance to overthrow the mullahs’ theocratic regime to achieve freedom,” she said.
The Iranian people’s immediate demand from the world and their lawful expectation from the Poland Summit is for them to recognize the right of the Iranian people’s Resistance to overthrow the mullahs’ theocratic regime to achieve freedom.#Iran#FreeIranpic.twitter.com/7Q1qZ4RRiJ
“The question is why have they recognized a regime which has invaded and occupied Iran, which rules by torture and execution, which plunders Iran’s assets and spends the Iranian people’s wealth on terrorist groups to slaughter the peoples of the region,” Mrs. Rajavi added
The Iranian regime has enjoyed the West’s appeasement for many decades, allowing the mullahs to launch a massive crackdown machine inside the country, and warmongering across the region and abroad.
“Former U.S. administrations gave huge concessions to the mullahs, inflicting enormous damages on the Iranian people and Resistance. The way to rectify those damages is to recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the mullahs’ regime,” Mrs. Rajavi explained.
“In recent months, in addition to the U.S., the European Union has also imposed sanctions on the clerical regime to counter its terrorism and belligerence. But this is not enough. They must stand up more decisively to this regime,” the NCRI President-elect added, emphasizing more measures are needed to confront the Iranian regime’s bellicosity.
“The people of Iran have been the ones demanding the boycott of the Iranian regime since many years before western governments. The policy of blacklisting the Iranian regime’s criminal institutions and figureheads will be effective only when the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) is placed on the terror lists of the U.S. and the European Union as a whole entity,” Mrs. Rajavi continued.
“The IRGC supports wars and terrorist mercenary groups in the region; it runs the regime’s missile program, nuclear arms and cyber activities, and it cracks down on the populace and plunders the country’s assets. The IRGC is the backbone propping up the clerical regime, and it must be immediately designated as a terrorist force,” the NCRI President-elect added, shedding light on the mullahs’ utter dependence on the IRGC.
“From the EU states who have set up a financial mechanism for the Iranian regime, we ask: Why haven’t they found any mechanism over the years to save political prisoners suffering under torture by Khamenei’s henchmen? Why haven’t they set up any mechanism to prosecute the regime’s leaders for the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, or a mechanism to prevent the crackdown on and arrests of workers, students and Iranian youths for participating in legitimate protests?” Mrs. Rajavi said in strong criticism of Europe’s appeasement vis-a-vis Tehran.
“In spite of this, the protests and activities of courageous members of Resistance Units in Iran will carry on till the day of victory and freedom.”
Rudy Giuliani: All countries must adopt firm policy against Iran’s regime
Former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani, lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump
“In order to have peace and security in the Middle East, there has to be a change in the theocratic regime ruling Iran. There should be a major focus on Iran and a real discussion on what is going on there,” Giuliani said during his speech at the event.
“It’s hard to talk about peace when there’s a major state that is undermining it in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and other countries of the region. The Ayatollahs’ regime is the number one state sponsor of terrorism not only in the Middle East, but in the world,” he said, emphasizing on the regime’s destructive nature.
Mayor Giuliani also reiterated details of the Iranian regime’s terror plot targeting the massive Iranian opposition Paris rally back in June 2018 and other terror/assassination attempts across Europe.
“This is unheard of from a country that wants to be part of a group of nations. We hope that all governments represented here endorse the policy of taking a firm stance toward Iran. We have to get them to change their policies, and if they don’t change their policies, change the regime,” he stressed.
Iran has been witnessing continuing protests since the Dec 2017/Jan 2018 uprising and the regime has increased its crackdown.
“Iran has desecrated human rights. The regime has tried to stop protests through brutal measures. But the protests are getting bigger and stronger. The more the regime is becoming oppressive, the bigger these protests become. We support these people and want them to know they are not alone.
We want the people of Iran to know that they can have what they desire if they resist. The people of Iran have a right to democracy,” Mayor Giuliani underscored.
Former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani
“A major question about regime change is who will replace the regime. We’ve seen that work and go wrong when there wasn’t an alternative. Here we don’t have to worry. We have an alternative. We will have groups of people who feel the same way as we do. Madame Rajavi has a ten-point plan that lays it out clearly. We want Iran to be one of the countries respected in human rights, not one of the worst countries. We want a non-nuclear Iran,” he added
“All these things are within our grasp. These are the kinds of protests we’ve seen in other parts of the world.”
Senator Ryszard Majer: World needs a free Iran
Ryszard Majer
“I hope that, thanks to your efforts, your nation will be free, democratic and full of solidarity,” said Senator Ryszard Majer, Vice President of the Polish Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. “Iranians need the truth. Only such an Iran will guarantee peace in this part of the world. The whole world needs a free Iran.”
Robert Torricelli: Time to end Iran’s regime
Former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli
“We have tried to negotiate with Tehran. We have hoped for the best for 40 years. But they have answered with terrorism, oppression and death. There’s no negotiating with this regime. The regime must end now,” said former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli
The Iranian people are braving all odds in their continuing protests across the country.
“Thousands and thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets of Iran despite the risks. They are the choice. The millions of diaspora and Mrs. Rajavi, they are the choice for a new Iran,” he added.
“I understand the nations not gathered here today seek accomodation with the regime of Iran. Negotiations won’t bring a free government. There is more that the Iranian people deserve than simply ban nuclear weapons. A government that murders its own people and opponents can’t be trusted,” Senator Torricelli emphasized.
“Yesterday was about negotiating with Tehran. Today and tomorrow will be about ending the regime and bringing about freedom in Iran.”
Zbigniew Cichoń: Iranian nation’s dignity will be restored
Zbigniew Cichoń
“Your dream for a free Iran will soon become true. You have a right to introduce the governance of law where there’s no place for the death penalty,” said Polish Senator Zbigniew Cichoń.
“I believe that very soon Iran will become a free state where there’s a rule of law, not the rule of an individual. The dignity of the Iranian nation will be restored.”
Sid Ahmed Ghozali: PMOI/MEK is only force capable of liberating Iran
Sid Ahmed Ghozali
“When we talk about Iran we often talk about economic affairs. But we forget the essentials. The Iranian nation, which has passed by the regime of Shah and is enduring an even more cruel regime,” said former Algerian Prime Minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali.
“Many think that peace and stability can be achieved in this region by negotiating with the Iranian regime,” he said on the appeasement mentality practiced by many in the West.
“This resistance is rooted in the people and is the only force that is capable of liberating Iran. The Iranian threat wants to establish its hegemony over the entire Muslim region. If we want to achieve peace and stability in the world, we have to remove this menace.”
Javad Dabiran: IRGC, MOIS must be blacklisted
NCRI Member Javad Dabiran
“The right of the Iranian people to resist and overthrow the religious fascism ruling their country must be recognized. The regime resorts to terrorism and demonization against its opposition to preserve its own rule.,” said NCRI Member Javad Dabiran.
“In the past four decades, the people of Iran have risen against the mullahs and the IRGC to obtain their freedom, paying the price with tens of thousands of martyrs. The appeasement policy has prevented the people of Iran to achieve their goals and dreams,” Dabiran added in reference to western policies in regards to Iran’s regime.
“It is past time that the U.S., Europe and all states join the cry of the resistance to end the terror, torture and nightmare of this regime. We are here to voice our support for the NCRI and its President Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the PMOI/MEK and the Iranian Resistance units, who are the symbols of the resistance of the Iranian people against the dictatorship of the mullahs,” the NCRI Member continued.
“The Iranian regime’s terrorist plot against the large gathering of the Iranian Resistance in June 2018 must be condemned, and the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence must be sanctioned,” he emphasized on the demands raised in this rally.
“The Iranian regime must be expelled from the UN and the NCRI must be recognized as the legitimate representative of the Iranian people. Change in Iran is necessary for peace and stability across the world.”
Iranian Resistance Units voice their support for regime change
In tandem with preparations for the Warsaw demonstration, Iranian Resistance Units and supporters of the Iranian Resistance took to the streets in various Iranian cities and voice their support for the PMOI/MEK, the NCRI and their desire for regime change.
These people braved the odds and threats posed by the Iranian regime to express their desire to live in a free country. Their activities are coming at a time that the Iranian regime is imposing harsh punishments on anyone that shows support for the MEK and calls for regime change.
Feb. 12, 2019 - Widespread crises in Iran has led officials to desperately look for solutions to escape the current economic and social downfall. But the makeshift prescription emanating out of the boiling chaos among the ruling elite are sometimes pointed to 180 degrees different directions which further escalate the quarrels among the ruling factions, especially when it comes to negotiating with the “Great Satan”—Islamic Republic’s official term for the United States of America.
In an interview on February 8, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, chairman of the security and foreign relations committee in the Majlis (parliament), expressed his desire for negotiations with the United States in the typical backward way of Iranian regime politicians.
“I believe that after the great February 11 demonstration [anniversary of 1979 Revolution], by conducting a policy that combines anti-corruption reforms and constructive management inside [the country] with constructive engagement with the world except for the U.S, we can gradually create a situation that the U.S. approaches negotiations with Iran,” Fallahatpisheh said.
In a meeting with ambassadors and representatives of foreign countries, Iranian regime president Hassan Rouhani said in a similar fashion: “If the U.S. repents and changes course… we are ready to accept the repentance and change of even the U.S. that has done us injustice for years.”
In contrast, Mahmoud Alavi, Rouhani’s minister of intelligence, said last week that Iranian people wouldn’t want their leaders to negotiate with the U.S. despite their current economic miseries.
“The people understand this and won’t ever damage their national unity because of the impact of [our] enemies’ on their lives and won’t have treat their officials unkindly and deny them the opportunity to solve the difficulties and won’t put pressure on them to sit at a negotiation table with the U.S. out of weakness so that the people are comforted and their problems are solved.”
It’s just outrageous how Alavi allows himself to speak on behalf of ordinary Iranians who can’t afford a kilogram of meat to put on their families’ tables.
Mohammadreza Naqdi, cultural deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, criticizes those who are hopeful to solve economic difficulties through “negotiations” and says: “The Supreme Leader has said years ago that he isn’t optimistic about negotiations with the U.S. and the country’s economic [difficulties] won’t be solved through negotiation with the U.S. and today we have experienced that negotiations don’t solve the difficulties of the nation.”
Currently, whether the Iranian regime chooses to negotiate with the U.S. or avoids doing so, the end-result will be damaging to the whole Iranian regime.
In order for the regime to start negotiating with the U.S., it first needs to accept the 12-point-plan of U.S secretary of state Mike Pompeo, abandoning its nuclear, ballistic missiles, and regional hegemonic ambitions.
Analysts believe that the essence of the Pompeo’s 12-point-plan contradicts with the fundamentalist philosophy of the Islamic Republic and accepting it will lead to its eventual collapse.
On the other hand, if the Iranian regime chooses to continue its current path of defying international laws and standards, further isolation and economic sanctions await and will accelerate the demise of Iran’s already fatally-ill economy.
Feb. 9, 2019 - Pursuant to Sadegh Larijani's negative comments on INSTEX, dispute and despair rose over the matter. Considering the fact that the new European initiative for trade with the Iranian regime hinges on Tehran’s adoption of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) conventions and setting aside its missile program, the mullahs’ regime will not accept Europe’s new INSTEXblueprint, said judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani, who is also head of the regime’s Expediency Council.
Iran daily, a newspaper with strong ties to the government of Hassan Rouhani, had an opposing view. However, due to its weak position, it had to be very careful and expressed its position in the form of some questions. It wrote on February 5, 2019:
"The positions on JCPOA and INSTEX should be future oriented. They must unambiguously respond to certain questions… What should be done? Who should make the decision? Who should announce that? Who is taking responsibility for possible negative ramifications of leaving JCPOA?"
Rouhani is clearly trying to drag Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei into assuming responsibility for the regime's deadlock.
However, Khamenei's faction is far more vocal in expressing concern over dangers of complying with the requirements and preconditions of INSTEX.
The discrepancy between the public statements of the regime's officials and the actual course of their actions about INSTEX (as well as JCPOA and FATF) is yet another strong indication of their impasse.
On February 5, Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani, deputy chair of Health Commission in Majlis, acknowledged the crippled state of the regime. He said, "The Europeans planned INSTEX very cleverly, requiring Iran to join FATF as a precondition to its implementation. This has produced a dangerous atmosphere.” Ghorbani also expressed concern that "with the lack of transparency we have seen from Europe, if there are suggestions to return the dossier to the Security Council, one should not be surprised to hear of Europe supporting the US." (Majlis News Agency, February 5, 2019)
Hanif Ghaffari, another analyst from Khamenei faction spoke of the same concern only with different words. He wrote, "European officials connected this financial vehicle to issues such as missile capabilities, regional power, as well as FATF. This proves that they do not view this vehicle as an independent legal variant, but a means of further pressuring Iran to impose their will." (Young Reporters Club, February 5, 2019)
The clearest expression of disappointment came from Abolfazl Zohrehvand, a former diplomat of the Iranian regime (Ambassador to Italy and Afghanistan) who summarized what INSTEX would mean for the regime:
"They have set up an office of financial unit with a group of retired personnel. The registered capital is just 3,000 euros. Their function is confined to the domain of non-sanctioned goods. INSTEX, can go bankrupt or shut down. On the other hand, [EU foreign policy chief Federica] Mogherini and some European officials who are active on JCPOA, will be out of office in a matter of few months. If we implement this model, we will deprive ourselves of an independent identity in the regional and international commerce. Russia and China, the two serious players against the U.S. and the West, will not even consider us a third-hand entity, because our destiny is at the hands of an unimportant office called INSTEX with no resolve whatsoever." (Fars News Agency February 5, 2019)
Feb. 9, 2019 - In recent comments, Lebanese Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah said, “I will tell you with clarity and honesty, the Islamic Republic has been supplying all our needs, from medical pills to missiles. We couldn’t have supplied these without them.”
Regarding the Iranian regime’s support for terrorist and paramilitary groups in the Middle East, Nasrallah said, “Iran is helping Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and resistance groups. Iran helped in Iraq, in Syria and Lebanon and Yemen and Bahrain.”
It is worth reminding that in a Hezbollah rally, Nasrallah had said, “We say it very clearly in front of the entire world, the budget and expenses of food and weapons and missiles of Hezbollah are being paid by the Islamic Republic... As long as Iran has money, we have money.”
During the 2017-2018 uprisings, Nasrallah, who was fearing that a blow to the Iranian regime will undermine its own financial resources, wrote to Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, “We are confident that these movement will not shake the foundations of the Iranian establishment, which has been founded on the principle of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist). Hezbollah will support you with all its might and human resources.”
Reiterating his loyalty to the mullahs’ regime, Nasrallah said, “We are all soldiers of the army of the supreme leader and we will prevail over anyone who wants to carry out activities against Iran.”
While the Iranian regime is spending the Iranian people’s money to replenish the weapon stashes of Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, the people of Iran are struggling to make ends meet and provide the most basic needs for their families. In the past months, thousands of workers in different areas of Iran have protested over not receiving their wages. Teachers are protesting to awful work conditions and low pay. Truck drivers are protesting to high prices. And the children of Iran are dying in unsafe, underfunded schools that lack the minimum safety measures.
In the streets of Iran, the people continue to call off the Iranian regime for wasting the country’s resources on fueling conflicts and sectarianism in the Middle East. Protesters are regularly chanting in the streets “No to Gaza, no to Lebanon, my life for Iran” and “Leave Syria, think about us,” a reflection of their anger over the squandering of Iran’s wealth on the regime’s terrorist proxies.
Hundreds of teachers rallied on Thursday in Isfahan, central Iran
Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iran, Feb. 8, 2019 - Hundreds of teachers in Isfahan, central Iran, rallied alongside the city’s famous Zayanderud River on Thursday, protesting the mullahs’ unjust policies, including the drying up of Zayanderud’s waters, and demanding changes. People from all walks of life were seen joining the protesting teachers in this gathering.
Women played an active and significant role in this rally. Other strata of the society joined the massive protest rally to demand that the Zayanderud water to be allowed to permanently flow into the river.
Following this widespread rally, welcomed from a variety of sectors in the society, especially the teachers, authorities dispatched repressive units to disperse the crowd. The security forces were seen firing tear gas and using pepper spray in attacking the demonstrators. However, the brave protesters were heard chanting:
“No fear, we’re all together”
“Our enemy is right here, they lie and say it’s America”
“Release jailed teachers”
On the same day, a group of teachers in the Esfarvarin district of Qazvin Province, northwest Iran, rallied outside of the local governorate building, protesting the hollow pledges provided by the housing cooperative and the judiciary failing to hold them accountable judiciary after twelve years.
In other protest reports on Thursday, a group of defrauded clients of the Padideh Shandiz credit firm in Mashhad, northeast Iran, held a rally outside the office building of Ahmad Alamolhoda, the city’s Friday prayer imam, protesting their claims remaining unfulfilled and demanding a return of their assets. Friday prayer imams are considered representatives of Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Padideh Shandiz is an Iranian private joint-stock holding company affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), which enticed investors by promising huge returns on their shares, only to plunder their assets and refusing to redeem the deceived investors.
On Tuesday, a group of plundered clients of the Sekeh Samen online trading platform rallied outside the General Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran, protesting the plundering of their assets.
Hundreds of teachers rally in Isfahan - Feb. 7, 2019
Hundreds of teachers rally in Isfahan - Feb. 7, 2019
Hundreds of teachers rally in Isfahan - Feb. 7, 2019
