Newt Gingrich: The Iranian regime is doomed to fall and the resistance is having an impact

In a meeting in Paris on Friday, January 19, 2018, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich expressed his support for the Iranian people’s uprising to unseat the clerical regime and specifically for the organized resistance under the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

The prominent Republican and former presidential candidate was addressing a meeting with representatives of Iranian communities from Europe, which was held at the NCRI’s headquarters in a northern suburb of Paris. 

Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, addressed the meeting, titled “Regime change in Iran.”

The meeting took place in the wake of a popular uprising that erupted in Iran on December 28. According to the network of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), the NCRI’s main constituent group, the protests rapidly spread to 142 cities across the country. The MEK network reported that some 50 protesters were killed and at least 8,000 were detained. A growing number of are found to have been tortured to death.

In his speech on January 9, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said, “These incidents had been organized.” The MEK implemented the plans. He added, “The MEK had prepared for this months ago” and “the MEK’s media outlets had called for it.”

Gingrich said: “The current dictatorship in Iran has been clearly sustained by fear and torture…Khamenei has suffered a tremendous moral defeat…The level of discontent in Iran and the level of rejection of the dictatorship is deeper today than any time before.

“The US administration has no illusion that there is a moderate wing in the dictatorship. There is an evil wing of the dictatorship and there is a pretty evil wing of the dictatorship and there is no innocent wing of the dictatorship.”

He went on to add “The governments of countries that have a sense of decency have to be called upon to condemn and to refuse to tolerate this kind of behavior (by the Iranian regime). For the first time in the last couple of weeks, I have seen European governments who historically would have done nothing finally feeling embarrassed and compelled to say something.”

Gingrich stressed: “When the Iranian dictatorship urged the President of France to restrict one person, Maryam Rajavi and the President of France said no, I don’t think the dictatorship singled out Mrs. Rajavi just as an exercise. The level of the regime’s fear from the resistance is growing for a practical reason. The resistance has survived. It has endured. It has continued with its mission and the regime has not been able to stop it…

“The resistance is making a difference. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) is making a difference. I have no doubt that in the long run you are on the right side of history… The resistance is knitting together both in the country and in the world a tremendous force that is sustaining the right to believe that you can be free.”

Regarding the outlook and the future, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives said: “My prediction is that you will see more demonstrations. You will see waves of outbursts. …I suspect this spring and summer could be a very very important time.”

Maryam Rajavi said “The uprising showed that the Iranian society is in an explosive state, simmering with discontent. It showed that the regime is much weaker than perceived. It showed that the billions of dollars of windfall from the nuclear deal did nothing to cure the regime’s instability, and finally, the uprising showed that the people of Iran detest both regime factions and want it overthrown in its entirety.”

According to the Iranian opposition leader the uprising emanated from three major changes: “First, the wall of fear in Iranian cities suffered cracks. It is now the mullahs who are shaking in fear. Second, the myth of the invincibility of Khamenei’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has been proven false. And third, a new force with a fighting spirit, demanding freedom and equality arose from the heart of Iran’s long-suffering cities. “

Rajavi stressed “the mullahs cannot prevent the resurgence of the uprisings, because they only depend on their deeply-hated repressive organs. They have lost the most important component of their power to enchain the society… The Iranian society will not return to the conditions preceding the uprising, nor is the religious dictatorship capable of regaining its previous balance. This means that the confrontation between the people of Iran and the ruling regime will intensify and the power struggle within the regime will aggravate…The question is not whether the ruling theocracy will be overthrown. The question is how we can reach that goal more quickly.”  

Regarding the role of the international community, Rajavi said “Our people urge the United Nations and all governments to pressure the clerical regime to free those arrested in recent protests and hold them accountable regarding those who have disappeared. The United Nations must form a commission of inquiry to investigate the arbitrary arrests of thousands of people and the killing of prisoners under torture….The people of Iran urge all governments and businesses to cut their trade and commercial relations with the IRGC, which is torturing and killing the protesters. They urge the UN and the world to recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the mullahs’ religious dictatorship.”

Former Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli was also in attendance at the NCRI gathering.

“To those who are hearing our voices today there may be some confusion as to what is happening, young people on the streets across all cities of Iran, people being jailed and tortured, confusion reigns, it’s not confusing at all, we have seen it so many times, her is what is happening; This is the beginning of a revolution,” he said.

“It didn’t begin yesterday, its seeds were planted a long time ago in repression, the first shots were fired at Ashraf and at Liberty (place of residents of Iranian resistance in Iraq for years before being transferred to safety), and the regime is in power today by killing its own people is in power today by killing its own people has a numbered life. Those same shots are now being fired at people for the same reason no longer at Ashraf but at cities across Iran.”

Torricelli went on to say “To my government, the governments of Europe, 8000 arrested protesters, the bodies of young people are being dumped at the doors of their parent’s home, unspeakable torture, here is your Rouhani moderation, this is what moderation looks like in a dictatorship, do you like it? Stand up to it, let’s accept the reality, this revolution is won now or the world will live with this oppression, and its nuclear weapon and its war, and its terror and its poverty for another generation, this is the moment, Mrs. May, Macron, Merkel, Trump: this is the moment, seize it, and end this nightmare now.”