IRAN’S COUNTERFEIT CABINET

For those Western appeasers who still cling to the dream that the new Iranian President – Massoud Pezeshkian – is a moderate, his speech in the Majlis (parliament) in Tehran on 21^stAugust will have dashed their hopes. Displaying not the slightest hint of irony, Pezeshkian announced that each member of his newly appointed Cabinet had been hand-picked and vetted, not by him, but by the Supreme Leader, the 85-year-old and increasingly irrational, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His confession has caused outrage in Iran, where the sham election of Pezeshkian was based on the phony pledge that he would be a reformer, casting aside the harsh oppressions of his predecessor, the late Ebrahim Raisi, who was dubbed ’The Butcher of Tehran’ for his notorious role as an executioner. Pezeshkian has spilled the beans! It is now abundantly clear that nothing has changed. There was a widespread boycott of the presidential poll by the sceptical 85 million Iranian population and now their scepticism has been confirmed by Pezeshkian’s revelation about his counterfeit cabinet.

Under the theocratic mullahs’ regime, the institutions of governance, from the Parliament and the government itself, to the judiciary and even mechanisms like elections, law, and the constitution, are all completely bogus. There is no semblance of democracy. And yet it was Pezeshkian’s acknowledgement of this fact that has driven the mullahs and their cohorts into a frenzy. Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of Kayhan – the state-run daily newspaper, attacked the new President, claiming his remarks in the Majlis had dragged the entire regime through the mud. Appalled at the revelation of the fakery of the Cabinet appointments he fumed: “His claim immediately became a tool for the obvious enemies of the state to undermine democracy, the Parliament, and even the powers of the President.”

In a futile attempt to justify the Supreme Leader’s total command of the Cabinet appointments, the Kayhan newspaper lamely added: “The consistent practice in all administrations has been to coordinate with the Leader in the selection of the Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence, as per the constitutional duties assigned to the Leader in matters of foreign policy and defense-security affairs. Regarding certain ministries such as Science, Education, and Islamic Guidance, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has sensitivities because deviations in these areas can lead to deviations in the overall movement of the country towards its ideals and safeguarding the general direction towards these ideals is the definitive duty of the Leader.” The only flaw in this argument is that few administrations anywhere in the world, if any at all, have a Supreme Leader, who claims he is the voice of God and in whose hands all authority is maintained.

Pezeshkian’s revelation has also caused great consternation in the Majlis. The MPs were required to approve each proposed Cabinet minister. If they vetoed any, they would effectively be vetoing the Supreme Leader’s choice, a dangerous thing to do in the Islamic Republic. Inevitably, after five days of chaos, disputes and arguments and repeated warnings by Pezeshkian that Khamenei himself had agreed to all the appointments and that they had even been vetted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – the regime’s hated Gestapo, the Majlis had no option but to approve all of the proposed Cabinet ministers. It was the final seal of approval of the theocratic dictatorship.

The Iranian people have had enough of fakery, repression and injustice. Information from opposition sources inside Iran, who closely monitored thousands of polling stations, claimed the true turnout in the presidential poll in July, contrary to the regime’s inflated claims, was around 12%, meaning that 88% of voters boycotted the election, representing a complete rejection of the ruling theocracy. Fearing another nationwide uprising that could drive them from power, the mullahs have resorted to a blitz of executions, together with increased pressure on political prisoners and their families. On August 7 alone, the mullahs carried out at least 29 executions in one day. 864 people were executed in Iran last year, a 48% increase on the previous year and even that horrifying record looks set to be broken in 2024. During the massive insurrection in 2022/23 that followed the death in custody of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters led to over 750 deaths and more than 30,000 arrested, many of whom have been raped, tortured, and executed.

The wave of terror has failed to deter courageous Resistance Units of the main democratic opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran/ Mojahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK). Graffiti and posters positioned across the country by the Resistance have proclaimed messages such as: “The increase in executions is indicative of Khamenei’s fear of popular uprisings,” and “With political executions, Khamenei tries to obstruct popular uprisings.” Some posters in Tehran even stated: “We swear on the blood of our compatriots that we will stand till the end. Khamenei you murderer, we will bring you down.” Active networks of Resistance Units have defied the mullahs by carrying out anti-regime activities, firebombing IRGC and paramilitary Basij compounds, hacking into state-run TV networks to display images of Mrs Maryam Rajavi, the charismatic president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and hanging banners and placards that urge the people of Iran to rebel.

The country is now a bubbling cauldron, ready to explode. As the PMOI and NCRI gain international recognition and expand resistance units in Iran, the regime becomes more isolated and increasingly embroiled in intense internal fighting. As Mrs. Rajavi secures one victory after another in the justice-seeking campaign to hold the regime and its leaders accountable for their crimes against the Iranian people and their crimes against humanity, the regime desperately tries to escalate regional conflicts like the war in Gaza, to distract international attention from the alarming number of executions, mass arrests of protesters, and violent crackdowns intended to prevent future uprisings.

Today, a free and democratic Iran is very much within reach. The question is not if, but when the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance will overthrow the regime and establish a free, democratic, secular republic in Iran. Western appeasers must wake up to this reality and give their moral support to Mrs Rajavi, the NCRI and the brave PMOI Resistance Units.