Former Vice President Mike Pence Attends the 2021 Free Iran Summit in Washington D.C.

On Thursday, October 28, supporters of the People’s Mujahidin ‎Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council of ‎Resistance of Iran (NCRI) held a large conference in Washington ‎DC. The conference, titled, “2021 Free Iran Summit: Holding ‎Ebrahim Raisi Accountable for Crimes Against Humanity, ‎Genocide, Regional Meddling, and Nuclear Defiance,” ‎ This conference, however, was significantly different from similar ‎meetings that were previously held in the United States. In this ‎ever-important gathering, in addition to distinguished American ‎personalities such as Senator Joe Lieberman, US Vice President ‎candidate (2000), Senator Torricelli, U.S. Senator (1997-2003), ‎Honorable Judge Michael Mukasey, 81st U.S. Attorney General, ‎General James Conway, the former commander of the US ‎Marine Marines, etc., who have already attended such meetings ‎many times in the past and expressed their support for the MEK ‎and the NCRI. the presence of former Vice President Mike ‎Pence, at the meeting, magnified the importance of this ‎conference.‎

In his speech, Vice-President Mike Pence, who has rarely ‎appeared in public since the November election, stated that he ‎was attending the meeting as his first opportunity after leaving ‎office to talk in detail about Iran. He mentioned that although he ‎was no longer talking as part of the U.S. government, he assured ‎the audience that he was expressing the views and longings of ‎the tens of millions of Americans who strongly support the ‎establishment of a democratic republic, based on the separation ‎of religion and state in Iran. He continued his speech by ‎condemning Ebrahim Raisi and calling for his trial for crimes ‎against humanity and for the massacre of 30,000 political ‎prisoners in 1988, saying that the election of Ebrahim Raisi as ‎president of the Iranian regime was a sign that the regime is in a ‎state of desperation and weakness. ‎

All indications are that the authoritarian regime in Iran knows that ‎the days of its life are numbered, but one of the great lies that the ‎mullahs are trying to convince the world is that there is no ‎alternative to them, and therefore the current situation must be ‎accepted.

In response, Vice-President Mike Pence mentioned ‎that on the contrary, there is an alternative, and it is well ‎organized and well-prepared. This alternative has all the ‎competencies and enjoys the support of the Iranian people. The ‎name of this alternative is MEK, meaning the People’s Mujahedin ‎Organization of Iran. Pence said the organization is committed to ‎freedom and human rights for all Iranians and is led by a great ‎woman named Maryam Rajavi, who inspires the world. Her ten-‎point plan for Iran’s future guarantees freedom of expression. It ‎also establishes freedom of assembly and freedom for all ‎Iranians to elect their own leaders and coexist peacefully with all ‎independent countries in the region.

‎ It seems that Mike Pence’s full support for the Iranian people’s ‎quest for freedom and democracy, led by the People’s Mujahedin ‎of Iran and Maryam Rajavi, reflects a profound understanding ‎and recognition of the vulnerability and unpopularity of the ‎regime in Tehran, on the one hand, and the presence and ‎existence of a viable alternative to the mullahs’ regime, on the ‎other hand, among the politician and media in the United ‎States. ‎ It is worth mentioning that last July, the former secretary of state ‎Mike Pompeo, participated in an online conference and spoke at ‎a three-day meeting organized by pro-resistance Iranian ‎American communities in the US. In his speech, Secretary ‎Pompeo also expressed his support for the resistance of the ‎Iranian people and pointed out that the time for the possible ‎establishment of another monarchy in Iran is over. ‎ Prior to Secretary Pompeo’s speech at the online conference, ‎dozens of senators and members of Congress from both political ‎parties in America, as well as a large number of American ‎generals, expressed their full support for the establishment of a ‎democratic republic led under Ms. Maryam Rajavi’s leadership.‎

In Iran, however, the reaction of the regime media to Vice-president ‎Pence’s speech was very hostile, as expected. Almost all the regime’s ‎media covered this meeting and Mike Pence’s presence and his ‎support of MEK and Ms. Rajavi and their opposition to the JCPOA ‎agreement employing, of course, using their own language and ‎culture! Because, on one hand, they do not want to spoil the morale ‎of their precarious forces by publishing such news of their dire ‎situation, and on the other hand, they are worried that under the ‎pressure of the opposers of JCPOA, such as Pence and Pompeo, the ‎US government and the British, France And Germany, that want to ‎continue negotiations and reach a new agreement, conclude that ‎negotiations are useless and a waste of time and only buys time for ‎the Iranian regime to advance its nuclear program to acquire a ‎bomb, and consequently start an alternative plan B. That is, to refer ‎Iran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council, re-imposing all UN ‎sanctions, and implementing chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which ‎authorizes military operations against the regime’s nuclear facilities, ‎which will certainly accelerate the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime.‎

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.‎