{"id":242633,"date":"2021-07-06T10:02:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T15:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=242633"},"modified":"2023-01-30T18:35:23","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T17:35:23","slug":"free-iran-2021-world-summit-highlights-historic-era-inside-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/free-iran-world-summit\/free-iran-2021-world-summit-highlights-historic-era-inside-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Iran 2021 World Summit Highlights Historic Era Inside Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Free-Iran-2018\"<\/a>
File photo: Free Iran gathering in Berlin 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This Saturday marks the beginning of a three-day Free Iran World Summit to push for more assertive global policies toward the Iranian regime, including policies that support a large and growing civilian protest movement. The \u201cFree Iran World Summit<\/a>,\u201d will link together Iranian expatriate communities throughout the world. According to the event\u2019s organizers, over 50,000 locations would be connected to Ashraf 3, home to the members of the Iranian opposition, People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In addition to ordinary participants<\/a>, 1000 political dignitaries, including 250 lawmakers from the European countries, the Middle East, and Canada, along with 30 U.S. Senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives would be joining the Free Iran World Summit.<\/p>\n

The summit will take place less than a month after Iran\u2019s latest sham presidential election<\/a>, and if current trends persist it will closely coincide with large-scale demonstrations by workers and ordinary citizens inside Iran. These protests are a continuation of the activism that was on display during the sham election, in the form of coordinated non-participation in the tightly controlled political process. The regime\u2019s new president, Ebrahim Raisi,<\/a> was effectively unopposed in the race, having been designated by the regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as the only acceptable choice and the latest instrument of Khamenei\u2019s effort to consolidate power.<\/p>\n

That project emerged in recent years as the clerical regime faced unprecedented threats from both domestic and international sources. Apart from the obvious challenges posed by economic sanctions and associated diplomatic isolation, Tehran has had to contend with the pro-democracy Resistance movement gaining momentum, to the point of clearly overcoming state propaganda that denied its very existence. In January 2018, Khamenei delivered a speech in which he begrudgingly acknowledged the social influence and organizational strength of the PMOI. His remarks to that effect were made necessary by the nationwide uprising that was then ongoing, which brought provocative slogans like \u201cdeath to the dictator\u201d fully into the mainstream.<\/p>\n

That message set the stage for countless, loosely connected protests throughout the rest of 2018, and ultimately for another, even larger nationwide uprising in November 2019. The collective rejection of both political factions also found expression in the boycott of last month\u2019s presidential election, as well as a similar boycott of the parliamentary election in February 2020.<\/p>\n

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Free Iran World Summit 2021 #FreeIran2021<\/a> #Iran<\/a> #ProsecuteRaisiNOW<\/a>
Join the 3-day Summit:https:\/\/t.co\/ZWEnkMjxck<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3c2rHBAWVl<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 5, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n