BY SHAHRIAR KIA
Clarion Project, May 17, 2017 – Iranians will be taking advantage of the May 19 presidential election to voice their apathy and respond to calls being made to boycott the so-called polls. They may also use the sham elections to spark an uprising against the regime.
The Iranian people have lost all hope in any form of real elections in Iran, knowing the theocratic regime vets all candidates based on their loyalty to the ruling establishment. This leaves no room for free and fair elections, and thus any expectation of changes inside Iran or in the regime’s foreign policy through elected officials is utterly naïve.
Even the past four years under the so-called “moderate” or “reformist” President Hassan Rouhani, Iran has executed over 3,000 people, enhanced its ballistic missiles program, openly backed the ruthless regime of Bashar Assad in Syria and further funded proxy wars in Iraq and Yemen. These regional crusades have deprived the Iranian people of dozens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars.
Rouhani’s main rival, Ebrahim Raisi, is known for his major role in the regime’s judiciary that has executed tens of thousands of people in the past three decades, as well as his leading role in the 1988 massacre of more than 30,000 political prisoners (who mainly consisted of members and supporters of the Iranian opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran [PMOI/MEK]).
To this end, any outcome of Iran’s presidential race will fail to render any meaningful change in Iran’s domestic or foreign policies. Washington and Brussels have the chance to lead the effort in making Tehran understand its previous behavior will no longer be tolerated. Leveling more sanctions based on human rights violations and support for terrorism against any new government in Iran is a dire necessity, coupled with designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization.
Considering the IRGC’s vast influence in Iran’s political and economic apparatus (see video below), all Western institutions should avoid launching business ties with this regime. Any money flowing into Iran is directly funneled into the pockets of terrorist proxies funded and supported by the IRGC.
The IRCG also great increases the Iranian people’s suffering, as the vast majority of the population is living in poverty and unemployment is running wild.
Western mainstream media should also for once begin paying necessary attention to the escalating dissent inside Iran as calls for boycotting Iran’s sham election are growing. In spite of the associated dangers, the disgruntled population is taking to the streets and putting up posters of opposition leaders while defacing those of the regime candidates.
The following video, which shows support for Maryam Rajavi, the head of the PMOI/MEK was filmed and sent from inside Iran:
This is exactly what the regime fears the most: protests and uprisings brewed by Iran’s powder keg society, especially the restive youth. The lesson of Obama’s indifference in 2009 Green Revolution should not be forgotten.
Iran’s regime has no plans for change. The international community, however, faces an opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom and democracy.
