Nationwide
protests put pressure on Iran’s religious dictatorship Exclusive by Greg Russell
@MediaNetScot Journalist
Exclusive
Mehdi Baraie, a senior member of the PMOI,
spent six years inprison under the Shah
IRAN’s economy is suffering after
President Donald Trump pulled the US out of an international nuclear deal with
Tehran and re-imposed sanctions.
Entry to Camp Ashraf 3 is over a hill past
a recently erected statue of three red tulips
This has hurt the oil industry in
particular, but the country’s currency has been fluctuating wildly leaving many
unable to make ends meet, triggering sporadic protests involving lorry drivers,
farmers, merchants and teachers.
READ
MORE: Daughter’s
anguish at father’s Camp Ashraf ‘hostage’ claims
Now a senior member of the People’s
Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK) has predicted that the end is
“very close” for the country’s theocracy.
Mehdi Baraie spent six years in prison
under the Shah and has been active in the PMOI since 1979, the year of his
downfall.
Speaking exclusively to The National from
Camp Ashraf 3, in Albania, he said the people’s demonstrations against rising
prices, unemployment and inflation, had played a major part in weakening the
clerical regime.
He said: “What’s happening now is
interesting – 2018 was a very important year because the uprising continued
despite the regime trying everything they could to stop it.
“As [Supreme Leader] Ali Khamenei has
said, 2019 is vital. Nobody believed the uprising could continue the way it
has.
“It started late December 2017, covered
all over the country and it showed that people are determined to overthrow the
mullahs. Now every day they have demonstrations everywhere. More articles
“It’s obvious that the Iranian regime will
not be able to continue and will be overthrown.”
Baraie said the regime’s true nature was
now laid bare to the world: “It’s terrorist regime and, as the US said, it’s
the main country supporting terrorism and threatening international peace.”
He said government attempts at ending the
demonstrations had failed, so it had turned to demonising the opposition.
“They moved to demonising the PMOI trying
to give a bad name to the resistance and to convince the community that there
is no alternative to the regime.
“In March 2018 they tried in Albania and
in June they tried to attack the resistance gathering in Paris. Fortunately
both plots were foiled and the European community imposed new sanctions.
“The international community should put
the Iran intelligence and [Republican Guard] IRGC on the terrorist list.”
Some English media had spoken of the
“mafia” that was running Ashraf 3, but Baraie dismissed the allegations as part
of the bid to discredit the opposition by media which had been infiltrated by
Iranian intelligence: “Even some of the Albanians with them were also employed
by the regime to advance their demonisation campaign.”
“The clerical regime is very worried as
expressed by various officials, such as Khamenei, who admit it is weakened.”
He added that he thought a free Iran was
very close: “Nobody thought the resistance would be at this point in 2018 and
the regime’s situation is now critical.
“They have no answer to these political
and social crises. Poverty is prevalent throughout the country, unemployment is
very high and there is no way out.”
https://www.thenational.scot/news/17363192.nationwide-protests-put-pressure-on-irans-religious-dictatorship/
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