Why a bipartisan majority supports Iranian opposition to regime

May 18, 2025 by Saeid Sajadi; MSN

A bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives recently supported the 10-point plan of Maryam Rajavi for a free Iran with HR 166, led by Reps. McClintock, R-California, and Brad Sherman, D-California.

The resolution acknowledges the legitimacy of the rebellious youths — led by MEK, i.e., the main democratic opposition — confronting the repressive forces of IRGC inside Iran. The support for the resolution transcends party lines and ideological leanings.

 From Kansas, conservative Republican Rep. Derek Schmidt and Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids are among the co-sponsors.

It is evident that the legislators have closely monitored Iran’s scene and they respond with laser precision to the dynamics of the forces on the ground in Iran — the goal being a free Iran. A viable change, however, has to come from the Iranian society.

The wave of major uprisings since 2017 — the last being in September of 2022 — indicates that the Iranian people won’t settle for anything but a regime change by the people. They are ready to pay the price it takes to free Iran.

Toppling the most active regime sponsor of terrorism is not a cakewalk. It requires a vast network of resistance units to pave the way for the uprisings and to defend the people against the repressive forces. The strategy needs to be rooted in reality and confront the repressive apparatus of the regime so that the people can take the ownership of streets. However, the change would be possible if led by a battle-tested political alternative, competent leadership and thousands of devoted 24x7 members inside and outside Iran.

The above alternative is in existence and led by Maryam Rajavi. Her political platform stands for complete gender equality, freedom of expression and assembly, separation of religion and state, secular democracy, and a non-nuclear Iran.

Mullahs know very well that a viable political alternative is a game-changer for intensifying the momentum for change and leading the people down the right path. To curb the alternative, for three decades the Mullahs’ propaganda was that the regime bears the solution: reform through its so-called reformist faction.

The recent uprisings, however, ended the mirage of reform from within the regime. As a result, today the focus has become the alternative to the entirety of the regime. As a result, the regime’s misinformation campaign has adjusted accordingly.

The H Res 116 targets the propaganda of mullahs’ regime, which through its cyber-army and political affiliates attempts to deviate attention to the phony alternatives such as remnants of the monarchy, which was abolished through the 1979 revolution.

The resolution emphasizes that a free Iran is possible through “a secular democratic republic” — a clear no to the dictatorships under monarchy and Mullahs. In his speech on Oct. 6, 2023, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conveyed the same meaning: “Iran will never return to the dictatorship of Shah ... the remnants of the past monarchy failed to gain any traction during the uprising over the past year. Shah’s supporters were exposed for heavily relying on collaboration with IRGC.”

The resolution is seen as an advocacy for an open dialogue with Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran for the transitional period after the fall of Mullahs’ regime. Such a dialogue would send a strong message to the people of Iran that the U.S. is ready for a genuine change in Iran.

Saeid Sajadi is a practicing physician and a representative of Iranian-American Community for a free Iran.