{"id":340734,"date":"2025-12-22T18:19:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T17:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=340734"},"modified":"2025-12-22T18:25:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T17:25:03","slug":"tehrans-real-panic-an-opposition-it-cannot-decapitate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/tehrans-real-panic-an-opposition-it-cannot-decapitate\/","title":{"rendered":"Tehran\u2019s Real Panic: An Opposition It Cannot Decapitate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A member of the Resistance Units in Tehran holds an NLA banner to mark the anniversary of Maryam Rajavi\u2019s election as the NCRI President-elect \u2014 October 21, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent days, the regime\u2019s own media and judiciary have provided a revealing window into what Tehran fears most: an organized resistance that can endure repression, maintain continuity, and demonstrate its capability as an alternative center of political gravity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A telling catalyst was a December 19 opinion column by former<\/a> U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who argued that Iranians reject both clerical rule and a return to monarchy, and that the claim \u201cthere is no alternative\u201d ignores an organized opposition. <\/span>Pompeo wrote, \u201cThey do not want a theocracy or a monarchy,\u201d framing the regime as \u201con the ropes\u201d and pushing the idea that change is\u00a0feasible.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The regime\u2019s sensitivity did not show up only in predictable denunciations. It showed up in a rare act of clarity from a state-linked Iranian outlet: Asr-e Iran openly argued<\/a> that Pompeo\u2019s reference to an \u201corganized and democratic opposition\u201d points specifically to the PMOI\u2014not to other opposition currents that might want to claim the label. <\/span>In other words, a regime-adjacent platform effectively confirmed that Tehran understands the strategic implication of the phrase \u201corganized opposition\u201d: this is not about sporadic protests; it is about structure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That distinction matters because the\u00a0clerical dictatorship\u00a0has repeatedly\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0it can absorb anger when it is dispersed. Its vulnerability grows when anger becomes coordinated\u2014when networks, discipline, and messaging convert public grievance into sustained political pressure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Iranian dictatorship is in dire straits. <\/p>\n

The Iranian people deserve our support to build a better future. https:\/\/t.co\/aodxrbZ6qk<\/a><\/p>\n

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n