By Mostafa Aslani
The Iranian election resulted, predictably, in Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s preferred candidate Ebrahim Raisi becoming president, while the majority of the population stayed away from the polls in line with the campaign by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The MEK and the Iranian people have l ong noted that there is no difference between the reformists and hardliners in Iran, citing that the conditions in Iran have gotten worse no matter who occupies the second-highest office of the land. In fact, while domestic and foreign policy has pursued the same goals, the only change was which group got the majority of benefits from corruption.
This can be seen in the promises of civil freedoms and economic stability made by ‘reformist’ President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, which were never fulfilled. In fact, the situation has only gotten worse. But even as Rouhani was a loyal ally of Khamenei, the members of his faction were eliminated from this election by Khamenei. Despite this, the reformists supported the election. How could it be more obvious that nothing will change no matter what under the mullahs?
Raisi, appointed as Judiciary Chief in 2019 by Khamenei, has spent the past two years proving his loyalty to the Supreme Leader through violent crackdowns on political prisoners and protesters. The biggest example is the November 2019 uprising, where over 200 areas rose up in protest following the tripling of gas prices by the government. Over those few days, security forces shot indiscriminately into the crowds and murdered 1,500 protesters, while some 12,000 protesters remain in prisons under torture to this day.
Of course, the reformists (and the hardliners) did nothing to stop it, not even voicing any dissent.
The fact that the regime does this indicates that they see incredible amounts of violence as the only way to keep power, which shows how unstable the regime currently is. They fear so much that they can be overthrown that rather than do anything to address the people’s problems, they think that torture and killings are needed.
The unified boycott of the election show sent a message to domestic and foreign investors in this regime that the government has no popular base. This political and social instability causes them to refuse to invest in Iran.
Undoubtedly, the unipolar government of Velayat-e-Faqih will not be able to cope with economic and social problems and crises. Because it is basically self part of all the crises.
One of the parameters that Khamenei is looking at, is behind-the-scenes talks with the United States, which is also at a standstill.
The economy of the system is not alive enough to withstand the current megatons pressure and tries to make up for its budget deficit by looting more people. But there is nothing left in people’s pockets. Now the provincial system remains and an army of the starving and the unemployed, whose cry will be louder and louder as the rule becomes more unified. The cries that have now matured in the commitments of the rebelling youth.
The MEK wrote: “The entire affair has gone a long way toward proving two essential facts about the Iranian regime. Firstly, there is no such thing as reformists among its officials and insiders. And secondly, there is no support for that regime among the Iranian people. These facts have gone unrecognized by Western policymakers for a long time, but now they should be uniquely hard to deny. Khamenei has unwittingly seen to that with his dismantling of the hardliner/reformist power-sharing arrangement.”
On July 10, the MEK will host the 2021 Free Iran World Summit, an annual gathering of Iranian expatriates, where they call for the overthrow of the regime.
This article was first published by irannewsupdate
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