The Iranian opposition is lobbying the people of Iran to change the current regime under which the nation is suffering, especially economically, due to the sanctions imposed on the country. Expatriate opposition members based in London, conducted a conference during which they announced the launching of a new political party. They believe this will help in forming a transitional government to replace the current political regime in Iran, according to Al-Arabiya news website on September 30th.
London-based opponents of the Iranian regime during a two-day founding conference, announced the plan which will manage the transitional period from an authoritarian dictatorship to a democratic regime in Tehran. This movement, according to Newsweek, was echoed by another opposition group who are lobbying 3,400 Iranians living in rural areas of Albania who want to overthrow Iran’s religious regime.
Iranians demonstrated against the regime in 2009, 2017 and 2018, denouncing the deteriorating economic conditions as well as the dictatorship under which Iranians have lived since the declaration of an Islamic republic in Iran in 1979.
Abdullah Mohtadi, the leader of the Iranian Kurdish Komala Party, one of the country’s principal ethnic opposition groups, said to Newsweek that the current regime is fragile. There have been several attempts to topple it in the past, but all failed due to differences in the agenda of the different opposition parties. “We need to unite,” said Mohtadi.
Opponents hope to create a national council which will govern the country during the transitional period. Political activist Hassan Shariatmadari said that there is an urgent need to remove the current regime. “Iranians must unify in protests against the regime and break their chains.” According to Shariatmadari, “We should be mirroring Iranians. We expect Iranians to gather around us in order to succeed in overcoming this regime.”
Newsweek reported that President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudi Giuliani assured the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK) members that the United States would consider MEK a viable replacement for the current regime. “It gives us confidence that if we exert efforts to overthrow that horrible regime, sooner rather than later, we will not only save lives, but we will be able to entrust the transition of Iran to a very responsible group of people.”
According to Newsweek, earlier this year, the US announced that although it would not mind MEK replacing the current regime, the US is not seeking regime change. It is not Trump’s priority; he is focusing on ending Iran’s nuclear programme to accomplish stability in the region. The US president is considering the imposition of further sanctions to force Iran to return to the negotiating table. The US wants Iran to stop developing its ballistic missiles and to end its support for militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Spokesperson for the movement, Shahriar Ahy explained that the transitional management will follow a policy of addressing “civil resistance, and communicating with Iranians,” as well as dialogue with international parties. “Iranians’ basic rights to lead a decent and humane life have been lost between the US’s maximum pressure and the option of war,” Ahy said.
“Iranian people can get rid of the regime on the condition of supporting and recognising their representatives and their voices,” he said , adding that due to many years of suppression, hindrance of the country from making progress and deprivation of democracy, Iranians now fear attempts to change the current regime as previous attempts have failed.
Ahy believes that with proper planning and lobbying by Iranians as well as the international community, a change could happen.
The new party is formed of ten working groups and 11 secretariats. Its managing committee comprises 35 activists and opposition figures, including 14 who are in Iran. Addressing Iran’s neighbours, Ahy said, “There is no animosity between us. We want to coexist with you and reach economic and security cooperation in the Middle East.”
