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Showing posts from May, 2022

Tehran in Meltdown as Israel Decapitates Hamas and Hezbollah

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  By Struan Stevenson Conflagration engulfs the Middle East, with the Israel-Hamas war having gone on for more than a year now, and many Israeli hostages are still being held in deplorable conditions by Hamas terrorists. In Northern Israel, constant missile and rocket attacks by Hezbollah led to the mass evacuation of more than 70,000 Israelis from their homes in 2024 and to the inevitable military retaliation by the Israel Defense Forces, as they crossed the border into Southern Lebanon. Israeli missiles are raining down on key Hezbollah targets in Beirut. The assassination of Hezbollah’s terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, a seismic event, shattered his close friend and ally Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader and Hezbollah’s main sponsor. Nasrallah’s successor, Hashem Saffieddine, was also killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut within hours of being nominated for the Hezbollah leadership role and before the funeral of his predecessor had even taken place. Es...

Why IRGC issue has become a red line for Iran regime

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  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh When Joe Biden won the US presidential election in November 2020, hopes were high among the advocates of the Iran nuclear deal that the 2015 agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action would soon be revived. After all, the two key players, the Iranian regime and the US, both wanted to resurrect it. But after nearly a year and half of discussions, it has become evident that reaching a nuclear deal with Tehran is more difficult and complicated than ever before. During the first few rounds of negotiations in Vienna between the Iranian nuclear team and the world powers known as the P5+1 (the UK, China, Russia, France, the US and Germany), the talks appeared to be progressing. That was until Iran put up a major hurdle by adding yet another demand: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps must be removed from America’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. In 2019, former US President Donald Trump added the IRGC to this list. This was the first time...

Cognition, Recognition and Change

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  By Dr.   Alejo Vidal Quadras On May 16, as the news of an official meeting between the 70th United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran,  Maryam Rajavi , was made public, critics and advocates exchanged words on how to interpret the occasion. With strong views on the subject, I believe that our distinct perceptions rely on interests rather than principles. Since the Declaration of Independence of the United States was read to the world on July 4, 1776, until this proud nation established itself as a frontrunner of prosperity after World War II, the outlook of western leaders towards political movements in other countries has fluctuated in accordance with leanings or political interests. The White House has hosted hundreds of leaders as well as many wishful figureheads. At times, American presidents have defended autocrats on the edge of being overthrown and there were also those who called on a for...

Iran’s nuclear defiance may provoke Israel to strike

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  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh There are several interconnected conflicts occurring between the Iranian regime and Israel. One is the heightened proxy war in countries such as Syria. Iran is attempting to increase its military presence in the region, while Israel is escalating its attacks on Tehran’s foreign bases. Another important conflict is linked to Iran’s nuclear program. And the latest developments suggest it is very likely that Israel will militarily target Iran’s nuclear sites for several critical reasons. To begin with, the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 world powers have dragged on for more than a year without any positive results. The Biden administration was hopeful of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal soon after assuming office, but the Iranian regime kept creating hurdles, such as making irrational demands and asking for more radical concessions. One of the regime’s latest demands is the removal of sanctions that are not related to its nuclear activities. It wants th...

International community must hold Iranian regime to account

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  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh Iranian authorities continue to employ desperate measures to suppress protesters and those who oppose the regime’s policies. Iranian citizens from all walks of life have been protesting for more than a week about the additional hardships imposed on them by the regime through its arbitrary withdrawal of food subsidies. At least half the population rely on these subsidies. Several people have been killed by regime forces so far and many have been arrested. Many people in Iran are suffering financially. For the past 10 years, the unemployment rate in the country has been in the double digits and in spite of the fact that Iran has a highly educated youth population, which accounts for more than 60 percent of the total population, almost 30 percent of them are without jobs. By further expanding the economic sanctions and other pressures targeting the regime in Tehran, the US could very well provide the Iranian people with precisely the added push they need to re...

Only The Iranian People Can Prevent A Nuclear-Armed Iran

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  The United States should hit the Iranian regime where it hurts by supporting and empowering its people By Alireza Jafarzadeh On May 16, the seventieth U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, met with Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the Iranian National Council of Resistance, at the Iranian opposition’s headquarters in Albania. While most newsrooms might be too busy or too biased to take notice, there are two major crises running in parallel, and they are the reason why this meeting matters to the world: the internationally disputed Iranian regime’s nuclear dossier and the nationwide uprisings in Iran over multiple socio-economic crises. As leaders in Western capitals are trying to find a balance between their own domestic challenges and a Russian invasion that is already disrupting world order,  Tehran is busy  with a nuclear program that  no sane mind  believes is peacefully designed, let alone intentioned. But in the two decades since September 11, the cleri...

Persistent Iranian Protests Are a Warning to a Failing Regime

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  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh Iranian citizens from all walks of life  have been protesting  for more than a week over the additional hardships imposed on them by the regime through its arbitrary removal of food subsidies. At least half the population rely on these subsidies.  The protests are becoming increasingly political while authorities are taking desperate measures to suppress them. Ordinary Iranians are appealing to the international community for assistance in preventing a dramatic rise in the rate of fatalities resulting from the crackdown. A prominent figure in the opposition, Maryam Rajavi, echoed that sentiment on Monday,  noting  that support from the US and its allies would greatly assist the Iranian people in their efforts to “free Iran, the Middle East, and the world [from] the evil of the nuclear mullahs.” Mrs. Rajavi is the President-elect of the largest opposition movement, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). She  urged ...

Expect another major uprising soon in Iran

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  By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh The Iranian people’s frustration with the clerical establishment has reached a new high, which could endanger the regime’s hold on power. The real threat against the ruling clerics of Iran comes from within, not abroad. During his presidential campaign, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made bold promises that his administration, unlike the government of the former president, Hassan Rouhani, would be a strong force in “supporting the underprivileged,” “eliminating absolute poverty,” and “constructing one million homes.” But now, after less than a year in office, living expenses have skyrocketed under Raisi’s watch. The first problem is linked to the economy. The administration recently cut subsidies for imported wheat, which can lead to price rises as high as 300 percent for flour-based food such as bread. This has sparked protests and chants such as “Death to Raisi” and “Death to Khamenei” in many cities across the country. Inflation has reached more than 50...

MARYAM RAJAVI: THE IRANIAN PEOPLE AND THE ORGANIZED RESISTANCE ARE THE DECISIVE FACTORS IN DEVELOPMENTS PERTAINING TO IRAN

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  We can and must liberate Iran, the Middle East, and the world of the evil nuclear mullahs On Monday, May 26, 2022,  Michael Pompeo , the 70th U.S. Secretary of State, visited Ashraf-3, Albania, home to thousands of members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK), and met with Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ). He also visited the Museum of 120 years of Struggle for Freedom in Iran and later addressed members of the MEK in Baharestan Hall at Ashraf-3. Maryam Rajavi  addressed and welcomed Secretary Pompeo. The following is the text of her remarks: Mr. Secretary, Welcome to  Ashraf-3 , home to the Iranian people’s Resistance. Those here today continue the Iranian people’s 120-year-long struggle for freedom. They include 1,000 tortured political prisoners during the Shah’s dictatorship and those imprisoned under the mullahs’ tyranny. In visiting the  Resistance’s Museum , you saw a glimpse of the Iranian pe...