Washington, DC, March 25, 2022 – Distinguished policy and national security experts called for maintaining Iran’s IRGC on the list of Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) of the U.S. Department of State, argued for no sanctions relief, and highlighted the prospects for change in Iran, during a conference organized by the U.S. Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI-US). The speakers included several cabinet members, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, U.S. military generals, academics and scientists, and experts from various think tanks including the Heritage Foundation, the Atlantic Council, the Stimson Center, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, National Institute for Public Policy, JINSA and INSA.
The NCRI-US conference held on March 25, 2022, coincided with the ancient Iranian new year, Nowruz.
One of the conference speakers was Ms. Soona Samsami. Ms. Samsami is the representative in the United States for Iran’s Parliament-in-exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Transcript of Remarks by Ms. Soona Samsami
Distinguished guests,
Dear friends,
Greetings to all of you. Happy Nowruz!
As we celebrate the advent of the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, our hearts and thoughts are with the suffering people of Iran and the war-torn nation of Ukraine. We cannot but laud the people, especially the women, of both countries for putting up a heroic resistance, the former against the ruling religious tyranny and the latter against an occupying force.
Although we are saddened by the passing of our beloved companions and vanguards like Dr. Manouchehr Hezarkhani, once again, we greet Nowruz as a sign of the end of all sorrows and pains.
Let us also express the hope that with the start of the 15th century, on the Persian Calendar, a century of monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny comes to end, and freedom and democracy flourish in Iran.
The Iranian regime has never been as weak in its 43-year rule as it is today.
The economy is bankrupt. Inflation is officially put at 41 percent and 70 percent of Iranians live below the poverty line. The institutionalized corruption that spreads from the Supreme Leader to the IRGC, and has engulfed the entire regime, has left the Iranian economy run like mafia gangs, leaving no prospects of economic improvement under the current regime.
Nevertheless, such economic malaise, ineptitude, corruption, and mismanagement have failed to erode the spirit of resistance among Iranians.
Khamenei decided to install Ebrahim Raisi, a mass murderer, as president to consolidate his regime and prevent the eruption of more uprisings. Raisi is hated by the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people for his direct role in the execution of political prisoners, especially during the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, a majority of whom belonged to the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK).
The regime’s inability and unwillingness to resolve any of the underlying economic, political, and social problems plaguing Iranian society on the one hand, and its failure to extinguish the flames of resistance, the expansion of popular protests, and the activities of the Resistance Units nationwide on the other, lead to only one conclusion: Iranian society is like a powder keg, ready to erupt at any moment with the slightest spark.
And Raisi has relied heavily on the IRGC for his cabinet, for his foreign policy teams, and for the empowerment of terror proxies abroad.
Nevertheless, Raisi has failed.
Last year, Iran was on the scene of major anti-regime uprisings every four months by farmers, workers, teachers, nurses, defrauded investors, steelworkers, and fuel porters.
This was coupled with the expanding activities of the Resistance Units, a nationwide network of mostly young activists affiliated with the MEK.
The regime’s inability and unwillingness to resolve any of the underlying economic, political, and social problems plaguing Iranian society on the one hand, and its failure to extinguish the flames of resistance, the expansion of popular protests, and the activities of the Resistance Units nationwide on the other, lead to only one conclusion: Iranian society is like a powder keg, ready to erupt at any moment with the slightest spark.
Regardless of the outcome of the Vienna talks in 2022, and regardless of the scope and extent of any sanctions relief, the mullahs will never stop their bomb-making program, nor will they abandon their terrorism, or the production and launching of ballistic missiles and UAVs against the countries in the region.
Indeed, on March 10, Khamenei insisted that he will not abandon the nuclear program even after the sanctions are lifted.
The mullahs want a nuclear deal only to secure the funds to pay for repression and warmongering, while they complete their nuclear bomb-making program. The regime’s entire nuclear weapons program must be dismantled, period. There is no halfway solution for the Iranian regime’s threats.
Instead of thinking about which designations should be removed from terror machines of the Iranian regime, including the IRGC and the Qods Force, the U.S. and western nations should look for ways to hold the regime accountable for the ongoing decades of repression, genocide, and terrorism. The regime’s leaders must face justice for four decades of crimes against humanity and genocide.
This regime is a threat to the world, and the IRGC is a tool to keep the theocracy in power. Any sanctions relief would benefit the IRGC, every dollar in the hand of the IRGC would further prolong the rule of the Ayatollahs and enables the regime for more repression at home and terrorism and mayhem abroad.
Instead, the international community should recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the clerical regime and establish a democratic, secular, non-nuclear, Republic of Iran. Nothing can stand in the way of victory by the Iranian people, who have demonstrated incredible courage, resilience, and resolve in the face of adversities.
FREEDOM WILL COME TO IRAN.
Thank you very much.
