Ahead of the Warsaw Ministerial Conference, when governments will meet in the Polish capital on the 13^th and 14^th of this month to discuss the Iranian threat, the Iranian diaspora in the United States took out an ad in the Washington Times.

Fourteen Iranian-American groups, including the Association of Iranian Americans in New York, the California Society for Democracy in Iran, the Members of the Organization of Iranian American Communities, and the Iranian American Community of Massachusetts, took out the whole-page ad to demonstrate the need to hold the Iranian regime to account.

The Iranian People Deserve to Have Their Voices Heard

The Iranian regime is the world’s leader in executions per capita. Its people suffer gross human rights abuses on a daily basis. In 2018, the regime detained more than 10,000 protestors in Iran. Their crime was merely taking to the streets to demonstrate their political opposition to the regime.

The political opposition living abroad have been the target of the world’s largest state-sponsored terror campaign. The People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK) have been persecuted. In March, an Iranian plot was uncovered to attack their compound in Albania where more than 2,000 live in exile.

Then, in June, at the MEK’s annual Grand Gathering event where more than 100,000 international politicians and supporters meet in Paris, the Iranian regime orchestrated a plot to detonate a car bomb. The plan was foiled by Belgian authorities when they arrested a Belgian-Iranian couple en-route on the event in a car laden with explosives.

Beyond planning terror attacks, the Iranian regime is also financing terrorist and militia groups across the Middle East. Their finances flow to the coffers of Hezbollah, the Taliban, Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, and militia groups in Iraq.

The People Are Showing Their Anger

The regime’s heinous crimes and destabilizing activities have not gone unnoticed. The Iranian people launched a nationwide uprising at the beginning of 2018. The movement led to protests spreading across 160 cities and towns in the nation in all 31 of Iran’s provinces.

The MEK played a central role in these protests, facilitating communication through resistance units that distributed pamphlets and organized protests.

These protests represented a decisive moment in the opposition movement. The ranks of the protestors swelled to include teachers, students, merchants, farmers, nurses, retirees, investors, factory workers, and truck drivers. Demographics that the regime typically relied on for support have turned against the mullahs and are joining the opposition movement in larger numbers than ever before.

The statement by the Iranian diaspora, published in the Washington Times, expresses two points in bold. “Must voice support for the Iranian people’s uprising for a #FreeIran,” and “must hold Iran’s ruling theocracy accountable for its record.” The regime’s heinous and violent behavior and the momentum the Iranian opposition is building demonstrate the need for both. The mullahs’ current position is untenable. The international community would be well-placed to acknowledge that.

With the days counting down to the Warsaw conference, where Western leaders will meet to discuss the threat the Iranian regime poses to regional and global security, the regime looks more isolated on the international stage than ever.

Tehran has had its requests to attend the landmark conference set for February 13-14 rejected. The reasons articulated by Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz who said, “Iran’s presence at the event would have hampered talks.”

#IranFreedom"In face of Iranian mullahs, we say them “you are on your last legs!”.Iranian people deserve a secular, democratic government that guarantees the culture&dignity of Iranian. We support10-point plan of #MaryamRajavi."So do many EUsupporters of #NCRI #Iran #PolandSummit

— Giulio Terzi (@GiulioTerzi) January 26, 2019

There are also indications that US sanctions, coupled with the European firms being forced to choose between continuing trade with Iranian markets and engaging with US markets, are having an effect. Poland’s state-run gas firm, PGNiG is closing its office in Iran and withdrawing from the country.

The EU also launched its own sanctions against Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) on January 8^th. It placed a branch of the intelligence ministry and two of its officials on its official terror list after an Iranian plot to assassinate members of the opposition in Europe was uncovered.

A State-Sponsored Terror Campaign

The People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK) and other pro-democracy groups have been the target of a brutal campaign of state-sponsored terror.

The Iranian regime increased its operations in 2018, plotting several attacks against the MEK in Albania, France, Denmark, and Norway.

The Warsaw conference is an attempt to curb the regime’s destabilizing role in the region and end their terrorist activities abroad. Dozens of countries from across the world will attend the conference, illustrating the global nature of the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities.

Closer to home, the Iranian regime funnels vast funds to terrorist and militia groups across the Middle East. Its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Quds Forces are active in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Their operations undermine the peace efforts in the region.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa has made it clear that Iran’s activities will be under the microscope at the conference.

Jan. 25, 2019 – Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa is saying he will be talking about the Iranian regime’s multi-faceted terrorism during the Warsaw conference of foreign ministers focusing on the middleEast #iranRegimeChang #Iran#FreeIran#mojahedin pic.twitter.com/2oZccarYph

— behrouz (@behrouz69078096) January 26, 2019

A top diplomat for the country said, “next month there will be a gathering in Warsaw focusing on challenges facing Middle East stability and security. While I will be listening carefully to what others have to say, I will also deliver remarks in regards to the Iranian regime’s multi-faceted terrorism that we face on a daily basis.”

The conference has drawn ire from the Iranian regime. Following the Warsaw Conference’s announcement, the regime Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted his thinly-veiled threats. “Reminder to host/participants of [the] anti-Iran conference: those who attended [the] last anti-Iran show are either dead, disgraced, or marginalized,” he said.

Where Next

The president-elect of the Iranian opposition, Maryam Rajavi, has praised the increasing hardening of attitudes towards the Iranian regime in the West. In a statement, the welcomed renewed interest in US and European sanctions

She underscored the importance of preventing the Iranian regime from developing weapons of mass destruction and urged the international community to acknowledge and address Iran’s glaring human rights violations. She once again reiterated that terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism are both pillars holding up the Iranian regime.

Moving forward, the West must recognize the sole democratic alternative to the mullahs’ tyrannical regime, the MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). A firm response like this is the only action the regime understands and is the only way to bring democracy to Tehran.

On February 13-14, the United States will host an international conference in Warsaw, Poland to discuss Middle Eastern security and peace and the Iranian regime’s destructive role in the region. The conference has sparked outrage amongst high-ranking officials of the regime, who have made a number of warnings about the implications of such a meeting. As usual, many of these comments have focused on the MEK.

The latest regime official to publicly weigh in on the Warsaw conference is Alaeddin Borujerdi, a senior member of the regime parliament and former Chairman of Foreign Policy and National Security for parliament.

“[PMOI/MEK] is part of the American puzzle against the Islamic Republic in the Warsaw security conference. Recently, we’ve seen European countries take measures against the Islamic Republic under pressure from the U.S.,” said Borujerdi.

Former Vice-President of European Parliament Urges the West to Take Stronger Action Against the Iranian Regime

Borujerdi cited a number of complaints in his comments, including the relocation of an MEK camp from Iraq to Albania and recent actions taken by European nations against regime agents in their countries.

Consequences for the Regime in Europe

The European Union imposed new sanctions on the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) last week, along with two of its agents for their role in the terrorist plots against the MEK and Iranian dissidents in Europe. Over the past year, France, Denmark, and the Netherlands have all publicly expressed their concern about the Iranian regime’s terrorist and espionage activities within their countries.

An End of Appeasement and Realising a Democratic Iran

This has been a radical shift for regime officials, who have become accustomed to the policy of appeasement toward the mullahs that have allowed them to act without consequences for the last four decades. The regime has found this loss of support particularly difficult given the current situation with the United States government, which has also abandoned its policy of appeasement.

Borujerdi said that the regime should take action against Poland for hosting the “anti-Iranian” conference by reducing diplomatic relations so the Polish “understand that we will not remain indifferent to the plotting of the Americans.”

Countering Iranian Regime Meddling

 

On January 11th, American and Polish officials announced that they would hold an international conference in Warsaw to promote peace and security in the Middle East by countering the Iranian regime’s meddling in foreign countries.

The US Congress Must Hold Khamenei Responsible for its Terrorist Acts and Rights Abuses

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the conference would “focus on Middle East stability and peace and freedom and security here in this region, and that includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.”

I am pleased to announce that the U.S. and #Poland will jointly host the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East in Warsaw on Feb. 13-14. It will be a forum for countries to address a range of critical issues toward a more peaceful Middle East. pic.twitter.com/IS8oPP4Aqs

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 11, 2019

The regime responded to news of the conference with anger and threats. Regime Foreign Minister Javad Zarif described the conference as an “anti-Iran circus” and made vague threats to take action against Poland.

Other regime officials have made similar comments since then. The frenzy in Tehran has become its own circus, with high-ranking officials frantically rushing to discredit a conference which clearly poses a threat to their power.

Staff Writer