Some 1,000 Iranians are expected at a demonstration in Brussels on Thursday to emphasise that regime change should be led by the Iranian people.
Coinciding with the EU summit, the pro-democracy National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) is organising a demonstration in front of the EU institutions at Place Schuman in Brussels on Thursday, from 09:00 to 11:00.
"For over two decades, the Iranian resistance has emphasised that neither appeasement will tame this regime, nor will foreign intervention bring about its downfall," Mohammed Mohaddessin, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI, said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
The NCRI is a coalition of Iranian dissident groups, which calls for the overthrow of the current Iranian regime via a democratic revolution in Iran.
It also rejects the return of the previous ruling monarchist, pro-Shah factions, which were overthrown in 1979.
According to Le Monde, the Iranian diaspora is currently torn between monarchists and republicans in their opposition to the current regime. However, support for the deposed Shah is gaining ground over a democratic Iran, as represented by the NCRI.
The NCRI is regarded by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq as a terrorist organisation.
A democratic Iran?
Ahead of the pro-democratic rally, the Iranian resistance called on the EU and its Member States to help facilitate regime change led by the Iranian people and the internal resistance movement.
Demonstrators will call on the international community and, in particular, EU Member States to recognise the provisional government based on the Ten-Point Plan of Maryam Rajavi, adopted on 28 February.
Rajavi heads the Provisional Government, an opposition government-in-exile, which would oversee a future transitional period in case the regime collapses or is removed.
The plan calls for, among other things, the rejection of clerical faith, freedom of speech, assembly and the press, as well as the dissolution and disbanding of all agencies in charge of censorship and inquisition. It also calls for a "non-nuclear" Iran.
Illustration shows a protest action outside the justice palace during a session of the trial of four persons, including a Belgian couple with Iranian origin and an Iranian diplomat, in Antwerp, Thursday 04 February 2021. Credit: Belga.
On Wednesday, the opposition also called for the EU and the international community to recognise the Iranian people’s right to resist the IRGC and to overthrow the regime. It wants the international community to adopt a policy that aligns with the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people.
It also shared videos of the acts of ongoing resistance being perpetrated by its members in recent months, involving small explosions outside institutions which oppress the Iranian people, according to the NCRI.
They further accused the Iranian regime of seeking to extend the war with Israel and the United States, as they say the growing protests, like the ones seen in January, will likely reach an "explosive" state.
"Experience in recent years has proven that illusions such as regime collapse on its own, or change through social media networks and satellite television, are baseless," Mohadessin added.
"Overthrow requires a powerful indigenous force rooted within Iranian society. Such force, at the heart of an organised uprising, can bring this regime to an end."
The rally will also take place on the eve of the Iranian New Year, known as Nowruz, symbolising renewal and the prospect of change, according to the organisers.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Belgium was approached for a comment.
