Former Member of the European Parliament for Scotland, Struan Stevenson, wrote an op-ed in the British newspaper, the Times. Entitled ‘Mullahs Agents Operate Across Europe’, the piece revealed that Iranian regime agents could be operating undercover in Glasgow, Scotland.

The revelation comes after the United States government identified two Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) agents working in the UK who had previously been involved in espionage activities against the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK) in Iraq and Albania.

Targeting the Opposition

The MEK has long been the target of the Iranian regime’s violence. Just last year, MOIS agents were involved in espionage and terror activities against MEK members in Albania, Bulgaria, the US, France, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

A 2013 report from the US government entitled ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile’ found that the Iranian regime tasked the MOIS with identifying and eliminating MEK members living at home and abroad. Stevenson writes:

“It found that the key task of Ministry of Intelligence (Mois) agents was to identify and eliminate opponents of the regime at home and abroad, with the main target being the key democratic opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) and its charismatic Paris-based leader, Maryam Rajavi.”

The German interior ministry carried out a similar investigation and came to the same conclusion, that MOIS agents were placed to combat opposition at home and abroad.”

This campaign of identifying and eliminating MEK members abroad led the Iranian regime to plan a terror attack on the MEK’s annual Grand Gathering in June 2018.

A diplomat based at the Iranian regime’s embassy in Vienna, Austria, provided a Belgian-Iranian couple with explosive material and detailed instructions to head to Paris and detonate a car bomb at the event. The disaster was narrowly averted for the 100,000 attendees when Belgian authorities detained the couple en-route to the event.

Stevenson himself had more cause than most for alarm. He writes in the Times, “As a long-term opponent of the fascist regime in Iran, I was there myself.”

In response to the terror attacks planned on European soil, France and Albania expelled Iranian diplomats and the EU has implemented its own sanctions against individuals in the regime.

“When I tried to pull his arm off me I felt something poking me in the base of my spine. I looked around and saw he had a handgun with a silencer. He told me if I did anything drastic he would shoot me there and then” https://t.co/fZnrZJjfLW

— The Times Scotland (@thetimesscot) May 15, 2019

The Trump administration has designated the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) a foreign terror organization, severely impacting the regime’s ability to raise foreign capital. The US economic sanctions are also starting to bite.

The regime also faces an expanding protest movement and increased domestic pressure from the Iranian people. It will likely respond to this increased pressure by cracking down on political opponents within Iran and abroad.

Staff Writer

A new resolution explicitly condemning the Iranian regime’s terror attacks against opposition group the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (ME) has been submitted to the US Congress. House of Representative Resolution 374, backed by 39 members of both the Democrat and Republican parties, also expresses the support of the US House for the Iranian people’s calls for a democratic, secular and non-nuclear Iran.

Thirty-nine bipartisan United States Members of Congress have jointly submitted a new resolution condemning the Iranian regime's terrorist acts against U.S. citizens and supporters of the People's Mojahedin Organization of #Iran (#PMOI/#MEK).https://t.co/Of6beOmpyx pic.twitter.com/iyUvBmVdo3

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 15, 2019

Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan

The resolution cites the ten-point plan from the President-elect Maryam Rajavi as a viable roadmap towards a democratic Iran. The plan maps Iran’s course to free elections, the establishment of the universal right to vote, the separation of religion and state, the removal of the death penalty, gender equality, equal rights for religious minorities and the dismantling of the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program.

The resolution also calls for increased cooperation between the US government and governing bodies in Europe to combat the threat of Iranian state-sponsored terror.

A Tumour in the Heart of Europe

The Iranian regime intensified its espionage and terrorist activities on European and US soil throughout 2018. It has become an issue that heads of states from around the world cannot ignore any longer.

In 2018, the regime plotted terror attacks and assassination attempts against the MEK in Albania, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the US. The most severe of which, a planned car bomb to be detonated at the MEK’s annual Grand Gathering event in Paris, endangered the lives of more than 100,000 dignitaries and political figures from across the globe.

The Iranian regime has systematically used its embassies and diplomatic outposts to further its terror objectives. The planned Paris attack involved diplomats working at the Iranian embassy in Vienna and an Iranian diplomat by the name of Assadollah Assadi provided the perpetrators with explosive material for use in the attack.

Expanding Diplomatic Efforts in the Balkans

One of the areas Resolution 374 explicitly calls on the US government to work with international bodies is within the Balkans. The Iranian regime, following the MEK’s exile to Albania, increased its diplomatic activities in the Balkans. The Resolution argued that these “malign activities in the Balkans, specifically its presence and activities in Albania, pose a serious threat to United States national security interests.”

The resolution reminds that the US has an obligation to oppose human rights abuses and state-sanctioned terrorism across the globe wherever it occurs. The Iranian people have expressed their will in the streets in the form of vast anti-regime protests. Now it is up to the world to take note and ensure the international community comes down on the right side of history.

 

Relations between the United States and Iran have deteriorated rapidly over the course of the past few weeks as the U.S. has toughened its stance against the regime. The escalating hostilities have left the mullahs in an untenable position. The regime is currently on the verge of collapse due to widespread domestic unrest, the catastrophic floods that recently devastated the country, and a failing economy that has driven 80% of the population below the poverty line. Iran has no money for additional conflict, but the mullahs will not stand down in the face of a challenge to their authority, and they will take the country down with them if they are not checked.

 

IRGC Terrorist Designation

In April, the United States designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), creating an economic and political disaster for the mullahs’ regime. The regime responded by immediately labeling the United States military as a terrorist organization and publicly threatening U.S. forces stationed in the region.

 

Two weeks later, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States was canceling waivers to countries still importing Iranian oil, meaning that they would have to stop purchasing oil from Iran or face U.S. sanctions. Early this month, Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani retaliated by announcing that Iran would partially withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal. The United States withdrew from the JCPOA last May, but the European Union has struggled to keep the deal alive in the absence of the U.S.

 

In the last two weeks, the United States has responded to intelligence indicating that regime military forces and their proxies are planning an attack on U.S. military forces in the Middle East with the deployment of additional troops, an aircraft carrier, and B-52 jets into the Persian Gulf. U.S. Secretary of State denied that the deployment was an act of aggression, saying that the move was necessary to defend forces in the region. He added that any threat to U.S. interests would be dealt with in a “swift and decisive” manner.

Today we build on that success. President @realDonaldTrump signed an executive order targeting Iranian trade in metals, #Iran’s third largest export. We will deny the regime the resources it uses to fund terror.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 8, 2019

President Trump has expressed willingness to drop sanctions if the Iranian regime would enter into negotiations about the terms of the nuclear deal, but regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei refused to consider this offer. The regime appears to be determined to continue escalating the conflict with the United States, no matter the cost.

 

The Trump administration says that it does not want a direct confrontation with Iran, but it is impossible to avoid appeasement of the Iranian regime without a firm position in response to its destructive behavior in the region.

The Iranian regime sows discord across the Middle East through its military forces and proxies. It props up dictators and funds terrorist groups. Over the forty years of the mullahs’ rule, the Iranian regime has been responsible for terrorist attacks that killed thousands of people.

The Regime’s Attacks on the MEK

The current target of the regime is the opposition MEK. Last year alone, the regime attempted to carry out terrorist plots in Albania, France, the United States, and Denmark. All of these plots were foiled by law enforcement, leading to sanctions, arrests, prosecutions, and expulsion of MOIS agents and regime diplomats from the European Union.

The regime’s relentless attacks on the MEK show two things. First, the regime is dangerously unstable and is willing to do anything to destroy its enemies. Second, the regime sees the MEK as a viable alternative that could realistically overthrow the mullahs and replace them.

The progress of the organized resistance & the accelerating trend of domestic & international developments have brightened the prospects of the regime's downfall & the subsequent triumph of the Iranian people.#MayDay#Iranhttps://t.co/Q4kVJxEwuk pic.twitter.com/MDWXmZVYjs

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 1, 2019

The MEK has widespread support in Iran and has a ten-point plan for establishing democracy in Iran after the fall of the regime. The MEK’s Resistance Units are established inside the country and work with citizens from all sectors of Iranian society to organize protests and demonstrations. They know the needs of the people. They are the people.

"This action, is great, but isn't enough.@Maryam_Rajavi President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, called for an arms and oil embargo on Iran’s religious dictatorship since 1981, and reiterated the need to take the following measures:#BlackListMOIS #FreeIran pic.twitter.com/5elAx894TZ

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) May 10, 2019

The international community is threatened by the Iranian regime and therefore it’s necessary to take efforts to end the horrific and brutal human rights crimes, the Iranian regime is responsible for.

Staff writer

 

On Thursday, May 2, the Wall Street Journal published claims made from US officials that President Donald Trump is considering pushing for more rigid enforcement of his sanctions against the Iranian regime. The Trump administration reintroduced economic sanctions against the Iranian regime last year in an attempt to restrict its access to US dollars and reduce its ability to finance terrorist groups across the globe.

The officials cited petrochemical sales to Singapore and the sale of consumer goods to Afghanistan as two revenue sources Trump is particularly interested in restricting.

Spending Revenues on Terror

Under the current Iranian dictatorship, the regime leadership has expanded the Iranian petrochemical industry. It has brought most of the Iranian market under the control of regime-affiliated groups, including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) which was recently added to the US terror blacklist.

#Iran's petrochemical industry is under the full control of Iran’s Supreme Leader,@khamenei_ir & the Revolutionary Guards Corps #IRGC, allowing them to fund terrorist activities abroad.https://t.co/VlFkuhz79c@USAdarFarsi @FDD pic.twitter.com/S4EdrwvzF2

— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) May 3, 2019

This has allowed the IRGC and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) to use these revenues to finance terror and militia groups across the Middle East and beyond. The IRGC’s proxy forces have been found operating in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Afghanistan.

Former MOIS chief, Ali Fallahian, described on Iranian state TV how the mullahs had diversified the Iranian economy to increase its spending on warmongering and terrorism.

“Many people, including Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader were insisting that the country should not be totally dependent on oil. So we decided to build the petrochemical industry in Iran. We had $16 billion income from exporting oil at that time. We planned on the export of petrochemical goods and another $16 billion income came from this. Of course, this was back then, now it is much more,” he said.

The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) recently wrote that according to some experts, Ali Khamenei controls over 90% of the petrochemical industry in Iran. The companies sell petrochemical products to foreign companies in exchange for foreign currencies. They then transfer these currencies through regime-affiliated exchange companies to their intended recipients.

Struan Stevenson: “Eighty Million Iranians Have Lost Their Fear”

These companies can transfer vast sums of cash. Some estimates put these transactions in excess of US$10 billion. These funds, once in the IRGC’s possession, are used to repress the Iranian population within Iran, or funneled to militias and terror groups outside the country.

The US and its European allies have a responsibility to disrupt and prevent the flow of funds from the Iranian regime to its terrorist affiliates abroad. The enforcement of rigid sanctions is one way of doing so. These sanctions are necessary to enhance global stability, reduce the export of terrorism and end the Iranian regime’s malign and nefarious activities across the Middle East and beyond.

Staff writer

 

 

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, a leading expert on Iran policy and president of the International American Council, penned an op-ed for Arab News on Thursday, May 2. Entitled, ‘Iranian regime uses foreign prisoners as political pawns’, the piece examined the way the Iranian regime uses prisoners in international diplomacy and the treatment of foreign citizens as political currency, to be traded and leveraged to further regime interests.

OP-ED: #Trump administration critics would have us believe that #Iran’s population stands to suffer from increased sanctions, but the reality is that they will suffer more if the country’s repressive authorities remain unconstrained, writes @Dr_Rafizadeh https://t.co/nrsVU2tAhe pic.twitter.com/im8OZtGLZW

— Arab News (@arabnews) May 5, 2019

During Javad Zarif’s recent visit to the US, the Iranian foreign minister made a shocking offer to Western nations whose citizens are currently languishing in Iranian prisons. He offered to exchange them for Iranian prisoners inside the US and European nations.

“I put this offer on the table, publicly, now. Exchange them. All these people that are in prison inside the United States, on an extradition request from the United States… Let us exchange them,” he said.

False Hope

The centralized structure of power in Iran means that only the Supreme Leader Khamenei is able to make such offers and follow through with them. The matter of prisoner exchanges would fall under the remit of the judiciary. The head of the judiciary is appointed by Khamenei. Therefore, the judicial system would need Khamenei’s direct approval to make any prisoner exchange offers.

Zarif appeared to acknowledge this. In an interview, when Zarif was probed further on the details and quizzed about the possible release of eight US environmentalist from an Iranian prison, he responded with: “This is not my job. Our judiciary is independent. I have not agreed with the accusations against them, but I am busy enough preventing wars and economic pressures.”

Both the American government and the European Parliament have raised the issue of the eight detained environmentalists with the Iranian government before. In a letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, several members of the European Parliament complained, “we understand that the Iranian judiciary has accused the activists of using environmental projects as a cover to collect classified strategic information, but a committee established under your authority has found no evidence of these allegations.”

The Iranian government has not yet responded. It has been previously unwilling to release the eight environmentalists or any of the other seven American and European prisoners currently detained in prisons across Iran.

Rafizadeh describes how under President Hassan Rouhani, several countries have increased their travel warnings, urging their citizens to take extra precautions, and in some cases, advising against traveling to Iran while the regime is in power.

The British Foreign Office recently warned all UK-Iranian dual nations to avoid traveling to Iran.

Political Pawns

The Iranian regime has a long history of using detained foreigners as diplomatic leverage to advance its international interests. Rafizadeh concluded: “In a nutshell, the Iranian regime is once again using foreign citizens as hostages in order to blackmail other governments.

He urged: “It is incumbent on these countries not to submit to Tehran’s hostage-taking game. Accepting Iran’s terms will only embolden and empower the regime.”

Staff writer

 

Fox News, covered the press briefing of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) – U.S. representative office in Washington D.C. and called for blacklisting the Iranian regime Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and for the European nations to close their Iranian embassies in the interests of national security.

In an article on the Fox News website, Adam Shaw reported on an address by Alireza Jafarzadeh, the Deputy Director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. He told reporters at a press conference in Washington D.C. this week, “What we are calling for is closing the Iranian regime’s embassies.” He added: “These diplomatic relations have allowed the regime to plot terrorist attacks and assassinations in the West.”

Fox News wrote:

“Iranian-backed plots have surged in recent years, particularly in 2018, when the NCRI logged 10 instances of terror plots or terror-related arrests against Iranian officials. The most significant was the foiled plot to bomb an annual gathering of Iranian dissident groups (under the umbrella of the NCRI) in Paris last year — an event that was attended by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. An Iranian diplomat based in Vienna was one of four arrested for the plot.”

A Network of Spies and Terrorists

The Iranian opposition group has written extensively on the Iranian regime’s use of embassies abroad to coordinate terror attacks against their political opponents.

In 2018 alone, authorities in Europe and the US foiled terror attacks or arrested Iranian agents on 10 separate occasions. Many of the attacks were planned against the MEK, the largest opposition group. Among the countries affected were the US, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Albania.

In one of the most nefarious plots, the Iranian regime planned to detonate a bomb at the MEK’s annual Grand Gathering event in Paris. The event drew an attendance of more than 100,000 politicians, journalists, and activists from across the globe, including President Trump’s personal lawyer, former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani Issues Statement in Wake of Failed Terrorist Attack on NCRI Gathering

An Iranian diplomat working out of the regime’s embassy in Vienna allegedly provided a Belgian-Iranian couple with 500g of explosive material and detailed instructions of how to carry out the attack. The diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was working for the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) and was tasked with coordinating attacks against the MEK in Europe.

The incident in Paris was one of several high-profile assassinations and terror attacks. In July, the Dutch government expelled two Iranian diplomats accused of orchestrating the murder of two Iranian dissidents living in the Netherlands. A similar incident occurred in Denmark when authorities exposed a plan to murder another opposition activist.

The European Union imposed sanctions against the regime in January 2019, following the spate of incidents.

Europe Still Reluctant to Take a Firmer Stance Against the Iranian Regime

Despite the string of terror plots exposed on European soil, the European Union has still been reluctant to take a firmer stance against the Iranian regime.

The Inner Workings of #Tehran's Terror apparatus exposed by @NCRIUS. @WashTimes report on the recent Press briefing by #NCRI. Read more here: https://t.co/47qcFxEtX0 #BlackListMOIS #IRGCTerrorists @USAdarFarsi

— MEKIran (@MEK_Iran) May 3, 2019

It has fallen to the US president to lead the charge against the bloodthirsty dictatorship in Iran, a mantle he has taken up with gusto. Last month, the Trump administration announced the inclusion of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on its foreign terror list (FTO).

The listing, announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, criminalizes any American provides assistance, whether financial, physical or advice, to the organization. Given the IRGC controls 90% of the Iranian economy, it will have significant repercussions for any company of individual conduction business in Iran.

In his statement, Mike Pompeo said: “This is an effort by the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran – the president, Rouhani, who’s the president of Iran, is permitting to take place, where they’re going to Europe and killing people on European soil. This is unacceptable.”

Where Next?

In its press conference, the NCRI took the opportunity to call on European governments to follow the US’s lead and designate the IRGC as a terror organization. It also urged European nations to close Iranian embassies on their soil to limit the Iranian terror capabilities and disrupt the web of Iranian terrorism and espionage that has spread across Europe in the last 12 months.

The Inner Workings of #Tehran's Terror apparatus exposed by @NCRIUS. @WashTimes report on the recent Press briefing by #NCRI. Read more here: https://t.co/47qcFxEtX0 #BlackListMOIS #IRGCTerrorists @USAdarFarsi

— MEKIran (@MEK_Iran) May 3, 2019

Jafarzadeh also called on the United States to take measures to ensure the Iranian regime doesn’t divert funds away from the IRGC into the MOIS. It urged the Trump administration to follow up its IRGC designation by adding the MOIS to its FTO list. In doing so, it would ensure the maximum disruption to the Iranian terror machine.

Live from the @NCRIUS Press Conference on ’Iran’s Emissaries of Terror’ https://t.co/hqGpQIVWCY

— Debbie Aldrich 🇺🇸 (@DebbieAAldrich) May 1, 2019

John Bolton, Trump’s National Security Advisor, told journalists, “[The policy] is to put maximum pressure on the regime to change its behavior, and I think it’s working, and I think that’s what they’re worried about.”

The US’s maximum pressure policy is having its intended effect. Now it is time to tighten the screws and further limit the finances and resources at the regime’s disposal.

Staff writer

The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif returned to Iran from his time in the US empty-handed. The regime’s mouthpiece abroad traveled to the United States last month to open a communication channel. He left with little to show for his efforts, instead of spending his time spouting regime propaganda on US news outlet, Fox News.

#Iran regime has frequently utilized hostages as political pawns and leverage against other governments. It is incumbent on these countries not to submit to Tehran’s hostage-taking game, writes @Dr_Rafizadeh https://t.co/NPHNKN1tAk pic.twitter.com/MsGUfsTqFM

— Arab News (@arabnews) May 2, 2019

Part of the issue, critics point out, is that when power is concentrated in the hands of the Supreme Leader, it becomes impossible for foreign governments to negotiate with anybody else in the leadership. Zarif does not have the authority to make assurances. Everything must go through Khamenei himself.

This leaves foreign governments with little inclination to spend the time opening communication channels with figures like Zarif. Mehdi Motaharnia, a regime political pundit, acknowledging the deadly crisis and ongoing infighting among different rifts for power, said “The government and Zarif want to decrease the pressure. However, this endeavor will only be accepted by the other party when governmental elements [meaning Khamenei] officially approve it.”

Motaharnia also described the change in the US’s thinking. The Trump administration represents a break from the decades-long policy of appeasement. It will no longer accept half-concessions in exchange for turning a blind eye to its destabilizing activities in the Middle East and beyond.

“The U.S. is serious this time around and will not heed what the government [meaning Hassan Rouhani and his faction] says,” Motaharnia added.

The Struggle Reaching its Pinnacle?

In recent weeks, the struggle between the US and the Iranian regime appears to have escalated. Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the designation of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization.

In his speech, Pompeo said, “we are going to zero,” adding, “how long we remain there at zero depends solely on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s senior leaders.”

Iranian security pundit, Mehdi Mohammadi, questioned whether the struggle is “reaching its pinnacle now.”

#JZarif, is “human rights professor” of course from the University of Terrorism.#Ban_Zarif #Zarifisaliar pic.twitter.com/0J3T7YfU0b

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) April 28, 2019

The US’s adoption of a policy of maximum pressure against Iran is taking its toll on the Iranian leadership. Nationwide protests are becoming a regular occurrence and the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) and its resistance units become stronger by the day, garnering more public support and intensifying their opposition activities.

Zarif’s visit to the US should be interpreted as a sign of desperation. As the mullahs lose their grip on power at home, Zarif sought to open a channel of communication to reduce the regime’s international isolation.

His failure means the mullahs will have no respite from the storm of their own making. There will be no letting up. The Iranian people are saying enough is enough.

Staff writer

The Washington Times published a piece on Wednesday, May 1, covering the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI’s) press conference in Washington D.C.

The Deputy Director of the NCRI’s US operations, Alireza Jafarzadeh, is quoted in the piece pushing for the US government to take a firmer stance against the bloody and violent Iranian regime. In the press conference, Jafarzadeh urged the United States to add the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) to its terror blacklist.

Iran's intelligence service tagged as a terror organization by exile group.https://t.co/OL6yLhNndz #Iran

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) May 2, 2019

An Instrument of Terror

The MOIS has been behind many of the mullahs’ state-sponsored terror attacks planned across the globe. In 2018 alone, the Iranian regime orchestrated 10 separate terror attacks in countries like France, Albania and the US.

The MOIS uses diplomatic buildings in Europe as cover to send terror agents into the countries. In one incident last year, a diplomat working out of the regime’s Austrian embassy provided a Belgian-Iranian couple with explosive material. The couple’s target was the annual Grand Gathering of the largest Iranian opposition group in Paris.

Exposed in NCRI-US Press Briefing today: The web for decision-making, planning and execution of terrorism abroad.#Iran #BlackListMOIS pic.twitter.com/d0zcf8vxwa

— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) May 1, 2019

“It is a clear sign of desperation. … The policy of [Iranian] appeasement had failed,” Jafarzadeh said. In response to increasing international isolation, the Iranian regime has increased its global terror activities.

“If [the U.S.] wants to fight terrorism, you designate the MOIS” as a terror organization, Jafarzadeh told reporters. Other notable terror groups on the US foreign terrorist organization (FTO) blacklist include al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, etc.

Progress Under Trump

The strong progress in Iran policy under Donald Trump has not been lost on the NCRI and the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from the failing Iran nuclear deal, re-introduced economic sanctions, and listed the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

These moves have restricted the regime’s cash flow and brought enormous pressure against the Iranian regime to return to the bargaining table.

Jafarzadeh: “Javad Zarif puts on a smiley face but his hands are bloody. His job at the United Nations was to explain away the massacre of political prisoners. His job was to cover up the murders of the Iranian regime.”#Iran #BlackListMOIS pic.twitter.com/TIRr8Fp29K

— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) May 1, 2019

This has been the objective according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He told reporters, “We’re going to zero across the board. Our goal has been to get countries to cease importing Iranian oil altogether.”

A Matter of Life and Death

“This is not theoretical mumbo-jumbo, this is about life and death,” former US Ambassador to Bahrain Adam Ereli said on Wednesday. The Iranian regime’s persistent use of terror and intimidation as a tool of statecraft is a danger to global peace and stability.

Amb. Ereli: “The poster child for the regime’s ‘moderates’ is Javad Zarif. This report shows #Zarif’s true colors. The fact of the matter is that he &MOIS are in bed together. The embassies are the tip of the spear for gov-sanctioned assassination ops throughout the world”#Iran pic.twitter.com/iKogu867KU

— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) May 1, 2019

The US must respond with strength and place the MOIS on its terror blacklist. Until it does so, it will continue to raise funds and coordinate devastating attacks across the West. It is a matter of life and death for every member of the Iranian opposition living abroad in exile, but also for the citizens of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the US, who are at risk of being caught up in a deadly Iranian terror attack.

Staff writer

On Wednesday, May 1, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) held a press conference at its Washington DC bureau to introduce its new book “Iran’s Emissaries of Terror: How mullahs’ embassies run the network of espionage and murder”. The opposition group’s Deputy Director of the US operations, Alireza Jafarzadeh addressed journalists and briefed them on what the book cover, the Iranian regime terror threats in the U.S. and the EU.

He began by addressing the recent surge in Iranian state-sponsored terror operations in 2018. “There were 10 instances of terrorist operations in 2018,” he said, “a sharp surge compared to earlier years.”

https://t.co/KplkyL6QNy

— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) May 1, 2019

In 2018 alone, the Iranian regime coordinated terror attacks or assassination attempts in France, the US, Albania, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The attacks were enough for the French and Albanian governments to expel Iranian diplomats. The US also arrested two Iranian agents accused of planning an attack against the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), an opposition pro-democracy group.

Centralized Power

Jafarzadeh went on to describe the Iranian power structure. “There are five major decision-makers in Iran, but ultimately everything boils down to the Supreme Leader, Khamenei,” he said. This includes the final say on the terror plots, the decision to send agents to abroad under the cover of journalists, and the decision to carry out assassinations against MEK members living abroad in exile.

“Embassies provide cover to the MOIS to allow them to exploit diplomatic immunity & diplomatic pouches in order to carry out terrorist attacks. When terrorists are caught, their job is to explain it away and get their terrorists back to Tehran,” Jafarzadeh explained.

Jafarzadeh explained how the Security Council in Iran, which includes the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, is responsible for coordinating terror plots alongside the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS).

“Zarif should have been arrested once he arrived in NYC because he has been involved in terrorist activity for years,” he said.

Previous Iranian foreign ministers have also been implicated in the state-sanctioned terror apparatus. Ali Akbar Velayati, the former foreign minister, is wanted for his involvement in coordinating terror plots in Europe and Argentina.

The Moderate Myth

The implication of the senior leadership of the Iranian regime in state-sponsored terror attacks exposes the myth of the regime moderates. In the West, Hassan Rouhani and Javad Zarif have been held up as moderate elements in the regime, worthy of US and European cooperation and support.

Jafarzadeh: "Five diplomats have been implicated in terrorist attacks in Europe in the past year. Zarif should have been arrested once he arrived in NYC because he has been involved in terrorist activity for years. He is a terrorist &deserves to be arrested.”#Iran #BlackListMOIS pic.twitter.com/IOfDCJeXad

— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) May 1, 2019

A so-called “moderate” would not sit on a Security Council whose sole purpose is to coordinate terror attacks on foreign soil. “Javad Zarif puts on a smiley face but his hands are bloody,” Jafarzadeh said at the press conference. “His job at the United Nations was to explain away the massacre of political prisoners. His job was to cover up the murders of the Iranian regime,” he added.

The Next Step

For Jafarzadeh and the NCRI, the next step in confronting the Iranian regime’s export of terrorism is for the United States to include the MOIS on the Foreign Terrorist Organization(FTO) list. He said this would send “a very strong message to the Iranian regime: if you sponsor terrorism, we are going to treat you like terrorists.”

Jafarzadeh concluded: “What we are calling for is closing the Iranian regime’s embassies. These diplomatic relations have allowed the regime to plot terrorist attacks and assassinations in the West.”

Amb. Adam Ereli, frmr State Dept. Spokesperson, and @NCRIUS Dep Dir. discus the new book "Iran's Emissaries of Terror". Jafarzadeh on why Tehran is targeting the NCRI and MEK on Western soil at these sensitive times for the regime.#Iran #BlackListMOIS pic.twitter.com/PSK7nbfCKh

— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) May 1, 2019

He added: “No country should be allowed to buy Iranian oil.” And called for the imposition of increasingly strict sanctions to deprive the regime of oil revenues to spend on its terrorist activities.

“But the real solution for the Iranian regime,” he said, “is not just sanctions. The real cure is regime change by the people of Iran.”

Staff writer

The former member of the European Parliament Struan Stevenson published an op-ed in the Scotsman. In the piece, entitled ‘Donald Trump is intent on Downfall of This Fascist Regime’, Stevenson welcomes the US governments recent pressure on the Iranian regime and describes how ordinary Iranians are increasingly turning away from the regime and protesting its mismanagement of Iranian resources and rampant human rights abuses.

“Donald Trump’s decision to cancel the temporary waivers that had enabled countries like Iraq, Turkey, India, Japan, and China to continue purchasing Iranian oil without breaching US sanctions has hammered the final nail into the mullahs’ coffin,” Stevenson writes.

The decision constricts the flow of finances into the mullahs’ coffers and prevents them from increasing their spending on repressive mechanisms and efforts to destabilize other Middle Eastern nations.

The Iranian regime, through its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), has funneled money to the militia and terrorist groups across the Middle East and beyond. Its proxies have been active in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon. The abrupt end of its oil exports will reduce its ability to provide these financial resources to groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

Tightening the Pressure

Stevenson describes how President Trumps decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement signed under Obama and reintroduction of economic sanctions against the Iranian dictatorship is putting increased economic strain on the regime. “the Iranian economy was already in freefall,” he writes, “with the rial collapsing and inflation soaring against a background of nationwide protests.”

My article in @UPI on #Iran's thuggish regime
The announcement by Trump to designate the #IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization is a further nail in the coffin for the clerical dictatorship#HumanRights #MEK #IRGCTerrorists @SecPompeo @AmbJohnBolton https://t.co/VNq58Wr2zt

— STRUAN (@STRUANSTEVENSON) April 9, 2019

The US government’s most recent move to isolate the Iranian regime and cut off the resources at its disposal was announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week. Pompeo revealed that the US would add the IRGC to its international terror blacklist.

The listing will effectively make it a crime for any US citizen or organization to provide advice, services, assistance, money, or resources to the IRGC. Given the IRGC controls around 90% of the Iranian economy, “it will be virtually impossible for anyone to trade with Iran without breaching US sanctions or facing severe penalties for dealing with a listed terrorist organization,” Stevenson predicted.

The Next Step

For Stevenson and the Iranian opposition including the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), the US must go further and add the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) to the same foreign terrorist organization (FTO) blacklist.

The MOIS coordinates Iran’s elaborate global network of spies and terrorists. Last year it was behind a number of failed attacks in the US, France, and Albania, the most severe of which was thwarted when a Belgian-Iranian couple was found carrying 500g of homemade explosives destined for the MEK’s annual Grand Gathering event in Paris. An Iranian diplomat had provided the couple with the explosive device along with precise instructions of where and how to coordinate the attack on the Iranian opposition group and its allies.

While disaster was narrowly averted, for the more than 100,000 attendees, including President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, it was undoubtedly a traumatizing ordeal.

In a similar incident, Albanian President Edi Rama expelled the Iranian Ambassador and his First Secretary. The president cited national security concerns, suggesting that the pair posed a risk to Albanian security and the country’s inhabitants.

“Once again, these ‘so-called’ diplomats were revealed as trained MOIS agents who had been plotting bomb attacks and assassinations of regime opponents in Albania,” Stevenson writes.” There are growing demands for Iran’s embassies, which are clearly being used as bomb factories and terrorist cells, to be closed down throughout the EU.”

An Increasingly Angry Public

At home, the international isolation of the regime is becoming a source of frustration for the Iranian public. Protests rack Iran’s cities on a near daily basis, with the Iranian population calling explicitly for regime change.

The public is demonstrating. They will no longer tolerate the regime’s violence, economic mismanagement, and lies. They chant, “the enemy is here, not in America!”

“They have watched as the elderly, bearded, misogynistic mullahs have corruptly enriched themselves while also sponsoring international terrorism and proxy wars,” Stevenson writes. They will no longer stand by while Iranian finances are funneled to despots and terrorists abroad.

In response to the growing protest movement, the mullahs have sent the IRGC, its main repressive organ, to silence and arrest protestors. Several of those arrested have been tortured to death in regime custody. Many more languish in squalid conditions in Iranian prisons and are subject to show trials and routine beatings.

In the wake of recent flooding, the mullahs even resorted to contracting foreign mercenaries to silence protestors and quell public dissent. Rather than make the IRGC’s helicopters, boats, and shelters available to the Iranian public, they withheld them, leaving the public to organize relief and rescue efforts themselves.

A Tipping Point?

“Eighty million Iranians have lost their fear,” Stevenson writes, “they have watched as the appeasement policy of the Obama administration and his EU allies has been consigned to the dustbins of history. They long for the freedom, justice, human rights, women’s rights, an end to the death penalty, an end to the nuclear threat and the restoration of a secular democracy that is being offered by the main and best-organized opposition movement, the Mojahedin e-Khalq (MEK).”

With the US president taking a firmer approach against the brutal dictatorship in Iran, the Iranian public feel empowered to protest and defy the regime’s tyranny. MEK resistance units are active across Iran offering hope and opposing the regime’s crimes wherever they occur.

Stevenson concludes: “The Iranian population now recognizes that they have support in the West. They know that the US administration will continue to turn the screw until this evil regime is replaced and peace and stability in the Middle East and worldwide can be restored.”

Staff writer