OPINION: Women of Iranian Resistance Against Regime

Without a doubt, the inevitable fall of the murderous Iranian regime of Ayatollahs will be brought about by the female fighters.

The Iranian Resistance is mainly composed of women, and not surprisingly its President, Maryam Rajavi, is a woman. This is a thorn in the side of the cruel religious regime, and which is why they have further exacerbated the repression of women.

It is of high symbolic value that in a country which has always prevailed in Shi'a and Sunni values of mandatory obedience, the resistance movement is headed by a woman, and this conflict may lead to civil war.This is a serious challenge to a regime that wants the rule of religious men.

In this regard, on Sunday December 16 we witnessed the implementation of another law targeting Iranian women, under which the granting of passports to women will be given only with the authorization of a male guardian, grandfather or husband, or through the decree of a Shariah Judge.

As President Maryam Rajavi stated: A resistance with the widespread presence of women, supported by men who have taken a step back, and leaving all of the leadership responsibilities to women who were harassed by the Iranian regime - first by Ayatollah Khomeini and now the Ayatollahs - is a thorn in the side of this suppressive clerical state.

The systematic restrictions of the regime on the freedom and rights of women are designed to destroy their determined will to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Unfortunately the silence of the international media is complicit in this phenomenon by not covering the great job that Iranian women have been carrying out for years for the democratization of Iran, the separation of state and religion, religious freedom, political and human rights and building a true democratic and secular society.

The recent removal of the People's Mojahedin organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from the "blacklist" of international terrorism by the United States in November that took place after years of struggle, has forced the Iranian clerical regime to increase its suppression of the people, dissidents and especially women. This is because this was a mortal blow from a Resistance, which for years has fought to
overthrow the regime.

On November 13, the Iranian authorities hanged 45 people in public. There were at least 440 executions carried out in the Islamic Republic last year.

Besides many prisoners who are killed in custody under torture, including a blogger identified as Sattar Behesti, who was killed while in police custody, a mass execution of 35 people took place in the prison of Mashhad, in the northwest of Iran. The 35 detainees were taken from section 101 of the Vakil-abad prison.

As Mr. Aboulghassem Rezaee, the representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said, the removal of the Resistance from the list of terrorist organizations in the United States on September 28, 2012 has changed the balance of power of the Ayatollahs, scoring a point in favour of the Resistance.

At this point, the dictatorial regime, embroiled in a serious crisis and internal strife, crushed by economic sanctions, increased repression on the people, which is at a record high: in the last two weeks at least 100 people have been hanged, and the barbaric torture and killing of blogger Sattar Behesti has finally begun to shake international public opinion. The UN special envoy confirmed that the human rights situation in Iran is deteriorating severely.

The President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, Maryam Rajavi, said in an international conference in Paris on November 17 that the regime of the Ayatollahs is embroiled in four critical factors: the uprising of the Syrian people, the internal fighting within the regime itself that is tearing apart the government apparatus, the stalemate over its nuclear program and economic bankruptcy.

The return of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 imposed a fundamentalist regime based on a single party that blocked any possibility of reform or the ability of secular leaders to be able to hold power, and gave the authority to "Velayat-e faqih" which imposed the suppression of "corrupt" customs, the restriction of "press freedom", and the fight against "moral corruption".

We can certainly say that the regime of the Ayatollahs will be overthrown by the struggle of these women, and this will not only be an Iranian victory, but an example and an inspiration to women all over the world.