Less than a month ago, Ebrahim Raisi was pulled out of the ballot box by Khamenei as the President of Iran in a sham election boycotted by the majority of Iranians. Meanwhile, the Iranian people are facing many crises, including constant power and water outages in the scorching heat of summer, as well as the staggering cost of goods so much so that people can no longer afford even the most basic necessities of simple living, resulting in nearly 80 percent of them living below the poverty line.
In a show of power, the regime's main and organized opposition, the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (July 10 to 12), held their largest ever annual gathering called the "World Gathering for a Free Iran" online, connecting 50,000 points in Iran and 105 countries.
The main speaker at the three-day gathering was Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of NCRI. In her speech, she stressed the commitment of PMOI to the struggle against the reactionary dictatorship in Iran until its overthrow and the establishment of a free and democratic Iran based on the separation of religion and state, a non-nuclear Iran that believes in ethnic and social freedoms, especially women's equality to men. She called on members of the UN Security Council to not recognize Ebrahim Raisi as the President of Iran, and not allow him to attend the next session of the UN General Assembly. She also said he should be tried at the International Court of Justice in Hague for crimes against humanity for his role in the execution of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.
In addition to Mrs. Rajavi, other key figures included former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, more than 30 current members of Congress, such as Sen. Ted Cruz and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, as well as many others.
In their speeches, the speakers emphasized their support for the resistance of the Iranian people to overthrow the dictatorship of the mullahs and establish a free and democratic republic.
During his relatively long speech, Pompeo said there should be no communication and dealing with Khamenei and Raisi, saying that any connection with him means dealing with the perpetrator of the massacre, and that we should as a first step show our interest in the Iranian people by prosecuting Raisi.
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša said; “for 33 years the world had forgotten the 30,000 political prisoners massacred in 1988. This must change. Especially since Raisi, who has been accused of crimes against humanity by Amnesty International, has now become the President of Iran.”
"Shame on any government in the world to sit down and try to negotiate on any issue with the government headed by Ebrahim Raessi," former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in his speech condemning Raisi.
Also present at the gathering were two former Italian foreign ministers, two former French foreign ministers, a former Polish foreign minister, former British, French, and Albanian defense ministers, a former Albanian prime minister and foreign minister, the son of the late Martin Luther King, Jr, Martin Luther King III and dozens of other prominent figures.
Video messages from 1,000 members of PMOI resistance cells from inside Iran were played, despite the atmosphere of repression by regime's security forces, in which they emphasized their readiness to rise up and overthrow the religious dictatorship.
On the first day, there was also a large rally by thousands of PMOI supporters in Berlin and a large gathering in London.
The Iranian regime officials were outraged by the gathering and the speeches of the participants. The Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatib Zadeh targeted Mike Pompeo with insulting words.
The regime's foreign ministry also condemned the Slovenian prime minister's speech, calling it unacceptable, and summoned the Slovenian ambassador to Tehran in protest. And in a telephone conversation with Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed his strong opposition to the Slovenian Prime Minister's remarks.
But what are the implications of this gathering in Iran and abroad?
Outside Iran and in the international community, they wanted to show that Iran has a resistance that represents and protects the interests of the Iranian people and will block the path of any deals against the Iranian people between other countries and Khamenei.
Inside Iran, they wanted to give hope to the people that PMOI in a coherent and organized manner seeks to overthrow the entirety of this regime and demonstrate to the people how to join their resistance. This is what Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards are most afraid of since they see the end of their rule in that.
Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator investigating the social issues and economy of the Middle East countries in general and Iran in particular.