Firm policy towards Iran is needed

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), reported that there are calls from all over the world for more pressure to be put on the Iranian regime faced with its continued belligerence at home and abroad.

The Iran threat has been very real for years, but the regime has become emboldened because of the lack of attention brought to its actions.

There were hopes that this would change with the conviction of Assadollah Assadi last month. A Belgian federal court sentenced him to twenty years imprisonment (the maximum sentence possible because there were no deaths) for his role as mastermind of a terrorist plot against the regime’s opposition.

Had the plot not been foiled by European authorities, a bomb would have been detonated at the Iranian Resistance’s Free Iran gathering just outside Paris. There were tens of thousands of people in attendance at the event, many of whom were foreign policymakers, politicians, and lawmakers from around the world.

During the trial, the role of the Iranian regime became clear. There was no doubt that very high-level regime officials knew about and authorized the plot. It was a huge blow to the regime and there is no doubt that it was weakened as a result.

However, European countries have still failed to take concrete action in the wake of the Belgian court’s verdict. Many are continuing to trade and negotiate with Iran as usual and there was not a mass closure of the regime’s embassies in Europe. These terror centers have been allowed to remain open and European leaders are quite frankly not doing anything to prevent future attacks.

This is what allows the regime to carry out such brazen activities in the first place. The regime needs to be treated with more firmness and it must be made clear that its belligerence will not be tolerated.

If the European leaders cannot push their trade negotiations with Iran to one side, it should perhaps look at the consequences of the regime’s belligerence in Iran. The domestic situation there is very concerning and there is more and more discontent in society.

An increasing number of protests have been taking place across the country and the people are determined to see the regime collapse. More and more Iranians are falling into absolute poverty and the gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider with every day that passes. The regime has decimated the middle class and the people watch the regime officials plunder the nation’s wealth.

European leaders should show the same courage as the people of Iran. They should make it clear that its belligerence and malign actions will not be accepted and not tolerated. This is the only way the regime will actually be forced into changing its actions. Otherwise, it will never abandon its terrorist activities and its brutal suppression of the people.

In any case, the regime is going to collapse. It would be to the benefit of all parties that this happens sooner rather than later so that the world can move on in peace and security.