{"id":240475,"date":"2021-05-26T08:27:21","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T13:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=240475"},"modified":"2023-01-30T01:40:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T00:40:56","slug":"iran-election-2021-mohammad-mohaddessin-iran-presidential-election-is-a-travesty-a-one-man-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-election\/iran-election-2021-mohammad-mohaddessin-iran-presidential-election-is-a-travesty-a-one-man-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran Election 2021 – Mohammad Mohaddessin: Iran Presidential Election Is A Travesty, A One-man Show"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mohammad
Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), spoke about the most recent developments regarding the Iranian regime\u2019s sham Presidential election.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a news briefing earlier today, Wednesday, May 26, 2021, Mr. Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran<\/a> (NCRI), spoke about the most recent developments regarding the Iranian regime\u2019s sham Presidential election, its prospects and consequences, and the responsibility of the international community.<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Mr. Mohaddessin noted that in the past 40 years, elections in Iran<\/a> have never been about an expression of popular choice in a democratic, fair and transparent process. \u201cThey are a travesty, a selection process, by a supreme leader who is himself unelected. Khamenei controls an unelected vetting body charged with filtering candidates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman underscored that the election outcome is not decided by the people, but by the regime’s internal balance of power.<\/p>\n

Mohaddessin offered the following reasons as to why this year\u2019s election must be distinguished from the years past:<\/p>\n

\u2022 It comes after three nationwide uprisings – in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
\n\u2022 The regime is facing an explosive society. There are daily protests by virtually every sector.
\n\u2022 The economy is bankrupt.
\n\u2022 The regime is isolated regionally and internationally.
\n\u2022 Factional feuding is escalating.
\n\u2022 A very potent organized opposition has become more active inside the country.<\/p>\n

In explaining why Khamenei-controlled vetting body, the Guardian Council had to axe a loyal insider like Ali Larijani<\/a>, who had been the Parliament Speaker for 12 years, Secretary for the Supreme National Security Council, Head of the state-run radio and TV, Minister of Culture, and an IRGC Brig. Gen., Mohaddesin underscored that Khamenei<\/a> was caught between a rock and a hard place, for which reason he had to close ranks and consolidate power.<\/p>\n

The NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee Chair stressed that Khamenei dispensed with the \u201c\u2019Moderate-Hardliner\u2019 theatrics, to secure the presidency of his preferred candidate, Ebrahim Raisi, the key member of the death commission, which sent 30,000 political prisoners to the gallows in 1988 and ordered hundreds of other executions in the early 1980s,\u201d in effect turning this masquerade into \u201ca one-man show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suggesting that this inevitable contraction will backfire because it will shrink the regime\u2019s power base and make it more fragile and incapable to deal with the many crises engulfing it, Mohaddessin said, \u201cThe regime will become more vulnerable in the face of the looming nationwide uprising waiting in the wings. And when that happens, it will be far more intense and widespread than in previous years. In a nutshell, for Khamenei, this is a battle of survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohaddessin added that to compensate for domestic weaknesses and silence the disgruntled rival internal factions, Khamenei helped to prolong the conflict in Gaza. The head of a pro-Tehran Palestinian group sent a letter, thanking him, the IRGC Quds Force, and its commander for being on the \u201cbattlefield\u201d in Gaza, and providing material support, weapons, and training to carry on the deadly conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Mohaddessin said, \u201cEven this hollow show of force cannot and will not provide a way out of the deadly impasse Khamenei is facing. Because he is facing a powder keg, a society about to explode, and a resistance movement acting as the engine.
\n\u201cAll the repressive measures, arrests, executions, and restrictions on social media have failed. They haven’t prevented the spread of the organized opposition, in the form of Resistance Units,\u201d NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee Chair underlined, adding, \u201cThe nationwide call for the boycott of the sham election has gained momentum and people are openly calling for the regime\u2019s overthrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

To support his argument, Mohaddessin pointed to the fact that officials and state media were sounding the alarm. \u201cEvery single day,\u201d he said, \u201cthey are warning about the growing appeal of the Mojahedin-e Khalq<\/a> supporters and resistance units among the public, especially among the youth, and are openly speaking about their impact on the hearts and minds of the Iranian public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohaddessin said Iran in 2021 is on the threshold of a seminal transformation. \u201cWhat happened yesterday should offer a valuable lesson to world powers. They continued to pin their hopes on illusory moderates or reformers within a medieval theocracy. But a viper never gives birth to a dove. This misguided approach worked to the detriment of the Iranian people and only emboldened the regime,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

Criticizing the international community, NCRI\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, warned that the mullahs were confident that they can get away with murder. \u201cJust look at the events of the past month. From Kabul to Riyadh, from Beirut to Baghdad, and from Damascus to the Gaza Strip, killings and explosions are taking place everywhere. Make no mistake, the Iran regime is to blame,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Mohaddessin recalled the statement by the NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi<\/a> that there was no longer any excuse to appease and engage with this regime.<\/p>\n

The NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee Chair concluded by saying, \u201cAny interaction and cooperation with the mullahs will help repression and killing of the Iranian people. It will help the regime get nuclear weapons and start conflicts in the region. The time has come for the West to end its appeasement and adopt a firm approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

He laid out four specific actions that the international community should take.<\/p>\n