On May 23, more than 100 former heads of state like presidents, prime ministers as well as a former chancellor, joined forces to address their successors in the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada to call for action and support a movement that endeavors for regime change in Iran.
The open letter that has now been signed by 115 former leaders of the free world calls on their peers to recognize the four-decades-long struggle that has been going on against one of the most pressing challenges of global security: the terrorist regime in Iran.
Forming such an international consensus knows little precedent. In historical retrospect, such global accomplishments have merely addressed topics where political disagreement was the least, like peace between nations, climate change, or handling a pandemic.
However, in this letter, these leaders who have had the experience to lead their nations through challenging times are asking the most powerful men in the current world to adopt a firm policy vis-à-vis Tehran. With successful legacies of leading millions of people in their own countries, these leaders have recognized the 10-point-plan of Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, as a reasonable answer to the potentially insecure post-revolutionary phase.
The bitter experience of two world wars has taught us that when the ambitious cruelty of a few tyrants is met with indifference by the civilized world when human lives cease to matter and moral becomes cheap, then insecurity will cross borders and eventually invades our naively taken-for-granted comfort zones.
Iran is a country with significant geopolitical magnitude. In recent history, it has triggered or spearheaded many groundbreaking changes on a global scale. The late Prime Minister Mossadegh’s nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Petroleum Company initially inspired Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt and other nations in the Middle East and beyond to combat Western colonialism and attain independence.
In the early 20th century, the country was viewed by world powers as a critical flashpoint between the West and the East (the USSR). When the popular uprising toppled Iran’s Shah in 1979, the new regime that claimed authority after that became the first substantial embodiment of an Islamic theocracy. Hence, all religious tendencies and extremist ideologies found inspiration and a material sponsor to lean on.
By: Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Last week, Iran’s democratic Resistance movement won its latest victory in court against a media outlet that had chosen to repeat false allegations against Iran’s main opposition organization, the MEK.https://t.co/ysmAOtgJ6m— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 1, 2020
Today, as the world is coping with the consequences of the post-colonialism world order, mass immigration from war-torn countries is gradually affecting the domestic complications of countries that consider themselves developed nations. The Iranian regime, directly and indirectly, is fueling many of these wars.
Europe is deeply entangled with the war in Ukraine, where the Russians, armed by Iranian drones and missiles, hold sway over energy and grain resources and thus swing world markets. Thanks to this conflict, the shadow of insecurity, mass immigration, and economic instability casts high over European lives.
By overspending and looting the country’s wealth, the regime ruling Tehran has also been supporting terrorism and Islamic extremism across the globe. Its rulers are also trying to collaborate with other totalitarian regimes to counterbalance the democratic nations.
For better or worse, the free world’s leaders now have a reason to put differences aside and concentrate on a demanding dilemma. The uprising in Iran did not start in September 2022, nor in November 2019 or January 2017. Despite the brutal crackdown that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of protesters throughout these waves of rebellions, the nationwide resistance that has aimed to topple the clerical regime has now been fighting it for more than four decades.
Yet, the movement has been suppressed, not only by the regime’s vast security and military apparatuses but also by some of the most modern Western intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and armies.
Nevertheless, the pressure failed to eradicate the Iranian Resistance. The movement rebuilt itself, expanded, and thrived inside Iran and on the global stage. Given its potential and resources, it presents the perfect option to make a change in Iran happen.
If the leaders addressed in the open letter from 115 former heads of state and government are willing to forgo a shortsighted, election-term mentality and opt for strategic thinking, they ought to look the future in the eye and choose to stand on the right side of history.
Because if the world order of the 20th century was shaped by colonial ambition and rivalry, the 21st century could be guided toward a free and democratic one. Moreover because when ambition fades, the desire for a lasting legacy remains.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a Spanish professor of atomic and nuclear physics, was vice president of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014. He is currently president of the Brussels- based International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ)
