Ex-US officials, Iranian opposition groups see end to Tehran regime

People protest against executions and detentions in Iran, in front of the Iranian Permanent Mission to the UN in New York City (AFP)

• Summit in Washington DC attended by ex-Secretary of State Pompeo, ex-vice chief of staff of army
• Participants urge international community to support nationwide protests against regime

Washington: A gathering of Iranian opposition groups has urged the international community and the US to support protesters who are in the third month of their uprising against the regime in Tehran.
The Organization of Iranian American Communities, which is active in the US, held a summit in Washington DC attended by former senior American officials such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; retired Gen. Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the army; and former Gov. Gary Lock.
OIAC officials said in a statement that the past three months have been “unprecedented,” adding: “Over 30,000 protesters have been detained, more than 700 killed, while the regime has begun executing imprisoned protesters.”
The OIAC hopes that through the protests and opposition, Iran’s theocratic regime will be replaced by a democratic, secular, non-nuclear one.
Iran’s theocracy was established after a revolution in 1979 that toppled the pro-Western Shah Reza Pahlavi.
Massive nationwide protests were sparked in September this year by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of the country’s morality police.
According to eyewitness accounts, she was beaten inside a police van on her way to a detention center, having been arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly. Amini’s death sparked mass anti-regime protests across Iran, resulting in a brutal crackdown.
“The current uprising in Iran is one of the world’s most important developments in 2022,” said Maryam Rajavi, president of the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran, who urged Western governments to support the protesters in their quest to overthrow the regime.
“Today, we are not only saying that the world is suffering from terrorism, war and insecurity because of the religious tyranny in Iran, but that the Iranian uprising and revolution have a gift for the Middle East and the world, which is peace, friendship and peaceful coexistence.”
Pompeo criticized the administration of US President Joe Biden, saying his predecessor Donald Trump had sought to curtail Iran’s weapons programs.
Lock said the US should support the Iranian people’s desire to be free, adding: “To the people of Iran, you are waging an uprising against a brutal and corrupt regime.”
US civil rights activists also spoke at the event, expressing their support for Iranian communities in exile.
“(Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali) Khamenei and his thugs should be out and an elected leadership should be in,” a protest leader said.
Sam Brownback, a former US congressman, senator and governor, told the gathering that the regime’s days are numbered and “would soon be over.”
He added: “The idea of a religion running a government — it hurts the religion, it hurts the government and it hurts the people. And that’s what we’ve seen taking place in Iran.”