Iranian opposition unity 'fractured' a year after riots, AFP reports

By Myriam Charabaty
Source: AFP
12 Sep 2023 16:04

The Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in Iran (ADFI) established by Reza Pahlavi, the son of the toppled Shah, has become obsolete as the alliance proved deeply divided after anti-government protests ended.

An activist holds a picture of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi during a gathering in support to Iran's anti-government protesters, in Strasbourg, eastern France, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP)

The Iranian exiles, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 successfully ended the Pahlavi monarchy, have been seeking to establish an alliance to unify the Western-backed opposition.

However, a recent report by AFP revealed that the alleged opposition which once appeared united during the recent riots has become deeply divided.

The story as it was reported: Reza Pahlavi, the son of US-backed, autocratic Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, formed the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in Iran (ADFI) earlier in February of this year. The alliance was supposed to bring together opposition figures in solidarity with the death of Mahsa Amini and rioters in Iran who took to the streets, on September 16, to denounce the Islamic Republic of Iran's government and leadership.

Soon after establishing the ADFI, the alliance released what was described as the "Mahsa Charter," which was put forward as an alternative charter of rights that would ensure the transition of Iran to an alleged secular democracy.

Among the ADFI were the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, the CIA-backed instigator Masih Alinejad, the Iranian-Kurdish figure Abdullah Mohtadi of the Komala party, and activist Hamed Esmaeilion.

According to the AFP report, Esmaeilion, left the group barely a month after the alliance was brought together despite having played a significant role in mobilizing anti-IRI Iranians across the West. The activist denounced the alliance for having "undemocratic methods" which shows the hypocrisy of the case.

In turn, other members, Ebadi, Alinejad, and Mohtadi, also denounced the alliance and argued that the "situation has made it difficult to continue our solidarity."

The deepening division, the UK-based actor and campaigner Nazanin Boniadi claimed in a piece she wrote for IranWire, was due to the fact that "old rifts –- left vs right, monarchist vs republican –- widened and deepened" adding commented that "Ultimately, the opposition proved to be more fractious than the regime. As long as the regime is united, and we are divided, they will remain in power."

The AFP report underscored that with the first anniversary coming up, "the hoped-for unity has now evaporated."

How this fits previously released information: Throughout the past year, the Iranian government and anti-US activists have released multiple reports proving foreign intervention in instigating and driving the protests across Iran.

Early in November 2022, a leaked audio recording for BBC Persian TV's Senior Presenter, Iranian-British journalist Rana Rahimpour, revealed the real purpose of provoking the recent riots in Iran.

In the recording, Rahimpour said, "Iran International [backed by Saudi Arabia] instructed its employees to only conduct television interviews with leaders of anti-regime parties in Iran."

Rahimpour added, "The disturbing news that I heard yesterday is that the directors of Iran International directed their employees to only conduct television interviews with the leaders of the anti-regime parties in Iran; I mean the leaders of the Kurdish, Lur, Arab, and other parties...this is very worrying."

In the same month, and in a bold statement, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton claimed that subversive elements in Iran, which he dubbed “the opposition”, are arming themselves with weapons stolen from Basij forces and smuggled from Iraq's Kurdistan.

Bolton made the remarks during an interview with the London-based BBC Persian TV channel.

“The Iranian opposition is now being armed, with weapons seized from the Basij, or weapons entering Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan. This reveals the perspective that the systematic effort of the opposition not only to protest but to use coercive force against the government, with the message that we are no longer unarmed, and can fight against the IRGC. This shows that the position of the Islamic Republic is more vulnerable than ever,” he said.

Elsewhere in his remark, Bolton also expressed hope the continuing riots in Iran would result in "regime change”.

At the end of that November, the CIA-backed instigator and Washington-based journalist, Alinejad, fell into the trap of her own words.

"Each video should be one minute long... I told you before not to read from a paper, so you don’t seem like you’re receiving instructions from somewhere else," is what Masih Alinejad was recorded instructing the mothers of those killed in the western-backed riots in 2019 to say.

She told them to mention that their children were killed by the Iranian security forces.

The Western tool to flare up riots in Iran was exposed in a report by the IRIB news agency, which, by means of the footage, revealed the hidden agenda behind Alinejad's role in Tehran's unrest.

The #CIA-backed instigator, #MasihAlinejad, is making a lot of money in exchange for inciting violence in #Iran and even using victims' mothers to provoke more riots in the country. pic.twitter.com/k4svccmz96
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 20, 2022

Alinejad can be clearly heard addressing the now-deceased mother of Ibrahim (who died in 2019) in the protests, "Nahid dear, if there is a black cloak behind you, your face will look better and it will be more cinematic. And instructed Bakhtiari's mother to say, "your first sentence should be: For the sake of my son, Pouya Bakhtiari."

She was instructing the mothers on what to say. Setting the scene for a Hollywood-style script, she told Nahid to say, "I am Ibrahim's mother... I came with my phone to the street to take you to where my son was killed, where my son drew his last breath. This is the street."

"Then I link these videos with Nahid's video, and I talk about Ibrahim and a word about Pouya, and the two mothers tell the story of their two sons."

In June 2023, Brigadier General Mohammad Kazemi, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps IRGC's Intelligence Organization, revealed that the intelligence agencies of 20 foreign countries were involved in the recent riots that swept over the country.