{"id":26439,"date":"2019-07-09T09:22:54","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T08:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/statements\/iran-resistance\/26439-iran-s-people-oppose-the-theocratic-regime-ambassador-ken-blackwell"},"modified":"2023-01-20T11:51:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T10:51:57","slug":"iran-s-people-oppose-the-theocratic-regime-ambassador-ken-blackwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/iran-s-people-oppose-the-theocratic-regime-ambassador-ken-blackwell\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s People Oppose the Theocratic Regime \u2013 Ambassador Ken Blackwell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Ken_Blackwell-1000\" class=\" size-full wp-image-53422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Ken_Blackwell-1000.jpg\" alt=\"Iran\u2019s People Oppose the Theocratic Regime \u2013 Ambassador Ken Blackwell\" width=\"1000\" height=\"606\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Ken_Blackwell-1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Ken_Blackwell-1000-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Ken_Blackwell-1000-768x465.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Ken_Blackwell-1000-696x422.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s wrong to turn a blind eye to the Iranian regime\u2019s domestic repression and its propensity for mischief-making beyond Iran\u2019s borders. It\u2019s also wrong to assume that anyone who recommends a decisive alternative policy to appeasement of the regime is a warmonger. That\u2019s according to Ken Blackwell, a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.<\/p>\n<p>Such a \u201cfalse narrative\u201d serves the interests of the Iranian regime and has roots in its own propaganda networks, Ambassador Blackwell argues.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran\u2019s advocates and apologists in Washington have amplified and repeated that narrative as part of an effort to dissuade the current U.S. administration from following through with the policies it has already undertaken, Ambassador Blackwell <a href=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/columnists\/kenblackwell\/2019\/07\/08\/iranians-oppose-their-theocratic-regime-creating-an-opportunity-for-americas-mi-n2549627\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote for Townhall <\/a>on July 8, 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Blackwell added:<\/p>\n<p>The fact is that in the past 40 years, there has never been a serious risk of war with Iran. Unfortunately, this fact has been reinforced by widespread commitment to a policy of appeasement. Previous American presidents, both Republican and Democrats, chose to forestall conflict by working only with the ruling regime while ignoring an essential factor in Iranian affairs: the Iranian people and the organized opposition to the clerical regime.<\/p>\n<p>This approach has, at times, involved both the carrot and the stick, but it has only served to embolden the regime and prolong its rule, to the detriment of the Iranian people. Washington\u2019s persistent refusal to endorse or support that opposition is based in large part on the futile hope that given sufficient incentives, the existing regime will moderate or change its behavior.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, nothing of the sort has happened throughout four decades. Instead, the regime continued its quest for nuclear weapons, advanced its ballistic missile program and fomented a growing number of proxy conflicts in the Middle East region, not to mention the brutal suppression of its own citizens.<br \/>Even though no real change has come to that regime during that time, there have been very recent and very significant changes to the circumstances that might determine the country\u2019s future. As a result, it is now time for the international community to consider a new and effective approach to the regime. The Trump administration has taken some steps in this direction by withdrawing from the fatally flawed Iran nuclear deal, re-imposing sanctions the Obama administration had removed, rescinding waivers for importers of Iranian oil, designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and sanctioning Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his office.<\/p>\n<p>But more needs to be done, and Iranian expatriates have tried to point the way toward a more comprehensive policy. Thousands of them were joined by political supporters last month at a march in Washington, D.C., which caught the attention of the White House and particularly Vice President Mike Pence. It demonstrated that there is a vibrant, active, cohesive, and well-organized opposition to the regime throughout the Iranian diaspora, with its roots inside Iran.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranians declared their support for an uprising that marked the beginning of 2018 and spawned a wide variety of anti-government demonstrations that continue to this day. The Washington rally also expressed support for the opposition leader <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/blog\/middle-east-watch\/making-sense-mek-65496\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maryam Rajavi\u2019s<\/a> ten-point plan for the future of Iran, which calls for the establishment of a democratic, secular and non-nuclear state in place of the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration should take note of this message in expanding upon its defined strategy of \u201cmaximum pressure.\u201d In an <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FaceTheNation\/status\/1142873880417189888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview<\/a> with CBS\u2019s &#8220;Face the Nation,&#8221; Pence affirmed that the United States stands with \u201cthousands of [Iranians] gathered outside of the White House and tens of thousands who have taken to the streets last year in communities in Iran.\u201d This is a good step in the direction of returning the Iranian people to their appropriate place in discussions of Iran policy. But the U.S. should go further by explicitly recognizing the legitimacy of those people\u2019s opposition and providing political support to its standard-bearer, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).<\/p>\n<p>As if that show of strength was not enough, this past weekend, no less than 15,000 NCRI adherents rallied and marched in the German capital, Berlin. Ironically, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/26421-live-coverage-huge-march-in-berlin-for-regime-change-in-iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Kennedy<\/a>, whose uncle, President John F. Kennedy, had spoken in West Berlin 56 years ago, was the keynote speaker and the historic Brandenburg Gate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are at a historic point in history when it comes to the freedom of the people of Iran. This is not just a problem for Iranians to solve, it\u2019s a problem for anyone in the world who cherishes freedom and who hates the tyrannical regime of the mullahs in Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The NCRI and its main constituent group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), have demonstrated their capacity for effective resistance over more than three decades, culminating in a leading role in the planning and execution of last year\u2019s nationwide uprising. This only accelerated the expression of paranoia among Iranian officials, as it concerns the NCRI\u2019s domestic popularity and organizational strength. This goes to show that, contrary to the assumptions underlying Western narratives about a choice between engagement and war, there is a viable alternative to the existing regime, and thus a viable alternative to either tolerating that regime or throwing it out by force of a foreign military intervention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&rsquo;s wrong to turn a blind eye to the Iranian regime&rsquo;s domestic repression and its propensity for mischief-making beyond Iran&rsquo;s borders. It&rsquo;s also wrong to assume that anyone who recommends [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[178],"class_list":{"0":"post-26439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-resistance","8":"tag-save"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Iran\u2019s People Oppose the Theocratic Regime \u2013 Ambassador Ken Blackwell - NCRI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s wrong to turn a blind eye to the Iranian regime\u2019s domestic repression and its propensity for mischief-making beyond Iran\u2019s borders. 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