Replace Europe’s failed Iran policy with full support for the democratic opposition

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BrusselsReport.eu
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By Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a Spanish Professor of Nuclear Physics, former Vice President of the European Parliament (1999-2014) and President of the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ)

In 2008, with two other former Members of the European Parliament, I formed the In Search of Justice International Committee (ISJ) to bring greater attention to historical and ongoing human rights abuses and acts of terrorism perpetrated by the Iranian regime. Since then, we have been working closely with the pro-democracy Iranian opposition movement to increase awareness of its plan for the country’s future, and to urge Western governments to adopt new policies toward the Islamic Republic which may aid in the implementation of that plan.

Toward that end, ISJ released a white paper last month entitled “Europe’s failed policy toward Iran”, providing concrete recommendations for how to end the clerical regime’s longstanding impunity. As conflict continues to expand across the Middle East and beyond, we believe it is increasingly imperative to act upon those recommendations, and to recognize the potential consequences of failing to do so.

I personally bear scars which serve as a testament to those consequences, being one of a growing number of survivors of Iranian terrorist plots in the Western world. Last November, I narrowly survived being shot in the face outside my home in Madrid, by a mercenary in the Iranian regime’s employ. My would-be assassin then went on to target an Iranian dissident journalist living in the Netherlands, before he was arrested by Dutch police in June.

Despite these and many other such incidents, Western policymakers persist in making concessions to the Iranian regime which give the impression that attempted terrorism, even in the heart of Europe, is essentially free of consequences. While negotiation and dialogue are legitimate and sometimes useful tools of conflict resolution, the Iranian regime is simply not an opponent with which one can engage and interact under the rules of international politics. It is a fanatical, corrupt, and terrorist state which is fundamentally incapable of internal change, and all too eager to seize upon the perceived weakness of Western adversaries.

And weakness is precisely what the mullahs see when, for instance, those adversaries sign a lopsided agreement over Iran’s nuclear program, release tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets, swap innocent European and American hostages for convicted criminals, withhold terrorist designation for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and apply it instead to opposition groups that have been targets of relentless character assassination by Iranian state media and the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

Although I believe ISJ has helped to counteract that propaganda and to convince many Western politicians and activists to recognize the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) as a viable alternative to the theocratic dictatorship, the fact remains that Western policy is still mired in false confidence about the prospects for that regime’s moderation.

Shameful EU foreign policy

Many Western leaders also seem to remain convinced that it is better to embrace that regime than to risk uncertain outcomes by supporting Iranian activists who endeavor to overthrow it. That is presumably why some of them, including Enrique Mora, the EU’s second highest foreign policy official, have made state visits to the Islamic Republic and smiled for photos while standing behind the representatives of Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the very mullahs who lie to us in negotiations, attack us in every open forum, and laugh at us while plotting further terrorism on our soil.

As a European and a lifelong advocate for democracy throughout the world, I look upon such appearances with a combination of shame, disgust, and frustration. It is difficult to believe that so many of my colleagues in European politics still insist upon outreach to the clerical regime after it has been brought to the brink of overthrow by several uprisings in recent years, including the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement that began in September 2022 and was widely recognized as the greatest challenge to the mullahs since they seized power 43 years earlier.

Those uprisings demonstrate that the Iranian people are ready for democracy, while the framework for it has been clearly laid out in a Ten-point Plan by NCRI leader Maryam Rajavi. I have become intimately familiar with her leadership, the organization, and their plan over more than 20 years, and I have no doubt whatsoever that they represent a viable alternative to the existing regime, able to lead an orderly transition from dictatorship to democracy, and the only true solution to trends of Iranian terrorism and human rights abuses.

For that reason, Western policies toward the Islamic Republic should explicitly aim to promote the alternative. But first, the EU and its member states should work in tandem to fully isolate the current regime by closing its embassies and expelling diplomatic personnel who have shown themselves to often be part of Iranian terrorist networks. Those same nations must also follow the example of the United States and Canada by designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, as part of a broader strategy of financially strangling the regime and its hardline institutions.

The international community must also continue to spread awareness of Tehran’s human rights abuses and of the imperative to counter them with full financial and political support for the NCRI and its promise of full civic freedom.

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