On June 30, The world will see an alternative Iran<\/p>\n
What\u2019s often missing in discussions of Western policy on Iran is the role of the Iranian people and their desires. A comprehensive policy must before all else take into consideration events on the ground in Iran or else it would yet again fail to address one of the most crucial foreign policy issues of recent times.The wave of protests which started at the end of last year and<\/p>\n
continued through the New Year shook not only the regime in power but the entire world. The people of Iran poured onto the streets across the country rejecting the clerical regime in its entirety. Chants of \u201cdeath to Khamenei and Rouhani\u201d and \u201creformists, hardliners, the game is over\u201d left no doubt that the people of Iran want regime change and nothing short of that. The people called for a republic and a\u00a0free Iran<\/a>. To the surprise of many Iran experts and governments in the West, the core of the people on the streets of over 140 cities were the same sector of the society which were wrongly thought to be the power base of the clerical regime. Indeed, the entire nation is demanding regime change.<\/p>\n On June 30, 2018 Iranians from across the world, free from the yoke of the mullahs, will join in Paris, in an extraordinary event \u201cFree Iran; The Alternative.\u201d Tens of thousands are expected to participate in the gathering. Each Iranian attending the rally represents dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of brave Iranians inside the country who are protesting for regime change. The event has already been publicized inside Iran through social media, and messages of support for the event are coming from civil society. The people of Iran see the June 30 event as the echo of their own cry for freedom.<\/p>\n The annual gathering of Iranians<\/a> in previous years had drawn some 100,000 participants. However, this year\u2019s event, given the domestic situation and the international developments, is unique. The event heralds the dawn of freedom for the people of Iran and an end to the nightmare of spread of Islamic fundamentalism and instability in the region.<\/p>\n Maryam Rajavi<\/a>, President-elect of the\u00a0National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)<\/a>, which includes the largest resistance force inside Iran, the\u00a0PMOI (MEK)<\/a>, said in the 2017 annual gathering that regime change in Iran is necessary and within reach. The wave of protests proved the correctness of the message which at time was confronted by some skepticism by governments and many \u2018Iran experts\u2019. The message this year is short but very precise: Iran has a democratic alternative \u2013 thus, setting aside the misguided notion, advocated by the Iranian regime\u2019s lobby, that regime change would lead to chaos.<\/p>\n For far too long, the people of Iran and their desires were ignored. For many years, the West looked at Iran from very narrow spectacles. It is time to realize that the mullahs\u2019 regime cannot exist without suppression at home and export of terrorism abroad. Silence regarding the criminal mullahs, let alone wittingly or unwittingly empowering those responsible for, and the perpetrators of, the massacre of the Iranian nation, will only embolden the religious dictatorship\u2019s warmongering, export of fundamentalism and terrorism. The end of religious dictatorship in Iran is a requisite for regional peace, democracy, security, and stability. This is the only way to end war and crisis in the region and avert a larger war.<\/p>\n