BEHIND THE IRAN HEADLINES Series, October 9, 2024, Alireza Jafarzadeh, NCRI-US Deputy Director
On October 7, 2023, the Iranian Resistance reiterated that the clerical regime is the “head of the snake” when it comes to terrorism and warmongering in the region, stressing that any genuine pursuit of peace must focus on the need for dismantling this regime—an objective that lies in the hands of the Iranian people and their organized resistance.
A year later, it is clearer than ever that the religious dictatorship is the primary instigator of regional conflicts and wars. The mullahs have used warmongering and the export of fundamentalism as essential tools to maintain their grip on power. Their strategy is simple: by creating chaos abroad, they distract from their illegitimacy at home, where brutal repression and human rights violations continue unabated.
For over four decades, Western appeasement policies have emboldened this regime by turning a blind eye to this reality by constantly dishing carrots to the ayatollahs. Rather than effectively curbing its aggressive behavior, these policies have only strengthened its domestic repression, terrorism, and destructive influence throughout the region.
Western appeasement has also provided fertile ground for the regime to demonize the most prominent organized opposition, the MEK, through its influence networks abroad.
The Iranian Resistance has long maintained that the path to peace and stability is through the overthrow of this regime by the Iranian people and the recognition of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) as a viable democratic alternative.
For over forty years, NCRI has been at the forefront of the struggle against the clerical regime inside Iran and exposing its malign agenda as the driving force behind war and terrorism in the Middle East. Its Resistance Units continue to take on the IRGC’s centers of terror and suppression within cities across Iran.
Today, a democratic, secular republic in Iran is essential not only for the Iranian people but also for peace and security in the Middle East. The fight against this regime is a fight for freedom, justice, and the end of terrorism and warmongering—principles that the Iranian Resistance has upheld for decades.