The Iranian Opposition and the Disinformation War (Part 4)
An opposition fighting on multiple fronts
Due to the absolute necessity of writing this in the interests of the Iranian opposition and their allies throughout the world, I had to break this into four parts. This will be a summary and conclusion, with numerous points to be made.
Researching the Iranian opposition and getting to know about its figures can be an arduous task, but it is also a joyous task knowing you are giving support to a worthy cause. What I intended to do here was provide a guide to the forces working to undermine and suppress the Iranian opposition’s voice in the Western and wider international arena.
Firstly, I covered the network of regime lobbyists in the West and their allied Western politicians, media outlets and NGOs who form part of the “progressive movement” in the West. The Islamic Republic’s agents, mindful of the West’s vulnerabilities, have been working on this for a long time and coordinated them for action. The disinformation by regime lobbyists is aided and abetted by Western progressives, and often filters down to politicians, journalists and business elites who seek accommodation with the regime at expense of the Iranian people. These people are the main reason the Islamic Republic is still in power.
It is not difficult to identify the pro-regime actors, many of whom have verified social media accounts, as well as the patterns of action on social media against the Iranian opposition by pro-regime trolls who very likely are coordinated by the regime’s intelligence agencies. The look, feel and pattern of these accounts are consistent. I also note how similar MEK and ethnic separatist actors behave to these regime apologists, as they have the same targets.
While the dangers of these people should be obvious to most concerned with Iran, the other dangers mentioned here - the dangers associated with the MEK and ethnic separatist movements - may not be immediately obvious to those outside of the Iranian Diaspora and their friends and allies who have been well versed in this. The problem is that the MEK and separatists have tailored their messaging towards certain actors in order to win their support, often with little in a way of scrutiny or criticism offered.
Iranians are more united than ever before in their struggle. More than anything there is a unity of purpose and spirit unprecedented in four decades of fighting the regime. It is grossly irresponsible for anyone to seek to incite divisions which damage the struggle in favour of the regime.
In addition to the genuine Iranian opposition stepping up its game in activism and advocacy, a broader campaign is recommended on the following fronts:
a campaign to raise awareness of the goals of the Iranian opposition, its support among Iranians, and the unequalled popularity of Reza Pahlavi as a unifying leader for the nation
exposing the Islamic Republic’s disinformation networks, highlighting the ties of major players in this network to the regime agencies and their role in repression of the Iranian people
exposing the ties of the Western Left with Islamists and other unsavoury actors who work against Western freedom and civilisation while also helping keep the Islamic Republic in power
calling out politicians, businessmen and media outlets who effectively “normalise” the regime through their actions
highlighting the dangers of the MEK political cult and underlining that they do not represent Iranian opposition and have had no role in the struggle, continuing to expose the sinister nature of this group
aggressively pushing back against ethnic separatist narratives which have gained traction among Western, Israeli and Arab analysts, exposing the networks involved in its promotion
These undertakings will be considerable and are more urgent than ever. The liberation of Iran from the Islamic Republic is crucial to the chances of peace in a region where this has been elusive.