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The Iranian regime’s coordinated reaction to the massive NCRI rally in Brussels on September 6, 2025, has exposed its deepest fears: the growing influence of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) inside the country and the potential for renewed nationwide uprisings. Tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates and international supporters gathered near the Atomium landmark to mark the 60th anniversary of the PMOI’s founding, rallying behind Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for a secular, democratic, and non-nuclear Iran.
For the clerical establishment, the scale, message, and international visibility of the demonstration represented more than a symbolic challenge — it struck at the regime’s greatest vulnerability as the organized opposition networks gained strength.
A Uniform State-Media Smear Campaign
Within hours of the Brussels rally, the regime launched a centralized propaganda blitz through state-controlled media outlets, exposing clear coordination by the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS): the PMOI allegedly received $5 million from Israel to stage the rally, hired “Ukrainian refugees and European migrants” to pad attendance.
This uniformity across dozens of outlets was no coincidence. In Tehran, MOIS instructed state media to neutralize the rally’s impact by portraying the NCRI and PMOI as foreign agents detached from Iran’s population. Yet the very need for this synchronized narrative betrays regime anxiety. If the PMOI lacked resonance among Iranians, the state would not devote such coordinated resources to discrediting them.
A bold act by #MEKResistanceUnits in Yazd sends a clear message: the dictatorship’s end is near. It underscores both the courage of Iranians and the @Mojahedineng's organizational strength despite immense risk. pic.twitter.com/jJBAGxyp1f
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 2, 2025
A Regime Under Siege
The regime’s panic comes amid one of the most turbulent domestic periods since 2017. Skyrocketing inflation, rolling blackouts, unpaid wages, and worsening shortages have created an explosive society primed for unrest. In this context, the Brussels rally was more than an overseas demonstration — it signaled to millions of Iranians watching online that the organized resistance is growing and has international backing.
State-controlled Hamshahri warned in a September 7 article that Iran’s youth “lack awareness of the PMOI’s dangerous past,” lamenting that a new generation views the organization without the ideological hostility ingrained by decades of state propaganda. This candid admission underscores a deeper fear: the regime’s monopoly over narrative control is collapsing, particularly among young Iranians radicalized by years of political repression, economic hardship, and bloody crackdowns.
#Iran's Regime Admits Its Fear of #MEKResistanceUnits https://t.co/nmvFCsE6sx
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 6, 2025
Staged Trials, Weaponized Courts
In a further escalation, the judiciary announced on September 16, 2025, that four individuals allegedly linked to “Mossad and the PMOI” had been arrested and were being prosecuted in Karaj. Officials accused them of sabotage, espionage, and plotting attacks on military facilities — claims that mirror previous regime fabrications.
The timing was revealing. These arrests had originally occurred months before the Brussels rally, but Tehran repackaged old detentions into a high-profile trial to deflect attention from the NCRI’s success.
By invoking Israel and Mossad, the regime seeks to reframe a domestic political threat into a foreign security issue — a tactic used repeatedly to justify repression while trying to undermine PMOI’s image at home.
In defiance of the Iranian regime's repressive measures, Resistance Units celebrated the PMOI's founding anniversary with daring activities across Iran. pic.twitter.com/Yt1ytWEl67
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 3, 2025
The Threat the NCRI Represents
The Brussels rally carried particular weight because it showcased the NCRI’s growing international credibility. Senior European and American officials attended, endorsing the movement’s call for a democratic Iran. For Tehran, this global recognition is dangerous because it undermines years of state-driven narratives portraying the PMOI as isolated and irrelevant.
More importantly, however, the NCRI’s messaging resonates with Iranians inside the country. Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan — advocating separation of religion and state, women’s equality, free elections, and a nuclear-free Iran — directly contrasts with the regime’s corruption, repression, and costly foreign interventions.
Inside Tehran, security agencies have warned leadership circles that PMOI networks have played a role in organizing and sustaining protests since the 2017 uprising. The regime knows that economic hardship combined with growing anger over political repression creates fertile ground for PMOI recruitment — and that makes the Brussels rally more than a symbolic threat; it is a strategic one.
By responding with smear campaigns, staged trials, and increasingly desperate rhetoric, Tehran has confirmed what it hopes to conceal: that its survival is no longer guaranteed. As Iran’s economic and political crises deepen, the regime’s fear of the Iranian Resistance — and the growing possibility of a nationwide uprising — will only intensify.