Tehran at a Geneva Impasse: National Wealth Auctioned Under the Authority of an “Alternative Voice” S. Rouzbeh ۱۴۰۴/۱۱/۲۸ As Islamic Republic envoys in Geneva desperately seek a “trade for survival”, the cries of hundreds of thousands of protesters in Munich, London, Los Angeles and Toronto have shaken the regime to its foundations. The central presence of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi in the heart of Europe and the unprecedented response to his “Global Day of Action” call showed that Tehran’s era of “one-sided representation” on the international stage is over, and that the world is now facing a “government in waiting”. S. Rouzbeh – As Islamic Republic envoys in Geneva desperately seek a “trade for survival”, the cries of hundreds of thousands of protesters in Munich, London, Los Angeles and Toronto have shaken the regime to its foundations. The central presence of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi in the heart of Europe and the unprecedented response to his “Global Day of Action” call showed that Tehran’s era of “one-sided representation” on the international stage is over, and that the world is now facing a “government in waiting”. Why has Tehran resorted to “pleading diplomacy”? An examination of the underlying layers of the Islamic Republic’s conduct shows that the regime has concluded that the “bulwark of resistance” has fallen. The main reasons that have brought Tehran to the negotiating table go beyond a simple nuclear agreement: - Empty coffers and a livelihood impasse: The proposal for “co-operation in the energy and mining sectors”, revealed by Reuters, is an attempt to pre-sell the assets of future generations in exchange for “hard dollars” to keep the machinery of repression afloat. - Fear of “maximum pressure 2”: Trump’s return and the deployment of a second aircraft carrier, reported by The Guardian, have made the spectre of war more real than ever. Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi in Munich: the emergence of the “true representative of the people” The 14 February demonstrations (25 Bahman 1404) were more than a simple protest; they were a referendum on “political representation”. Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s presence at the Munich Security Conference and his speech amid the surging crowd shifted the balance of power in favour of the national opposition. The Munich epic: The people’s epic turnout, estimated at around 250,000 by the Associated Press and Deutsche Welle, was centred on support for the Prince’s strategic vision. This mass gathering in the heart of European diplomacy proved to the world that the “real alternative” is in the streets, not in the corridors of Geneva. And the people of Iran, too, declared their solidarity on 18 and 19 Dey this year, with more than 40,000 slain, eternally honoured victims. Global echo: The Prince’s persuasive voice and political programme also drew crowds in key cities around the world, with numbers recorded by police: Toronto: Police in the city reported a turnout of 150,000, with many of the slogans centred on the need for national leadership. London: According to Iran International, London police reported a gathering of 50,000. Vancouver: Preparations for 30,000 protesters to attend demonstrate the international scale of this movement. A deal on the brink: enrichment or regime survival? By insisting on the condition of “zero enrichment”, Washington has placed the regime in a “death or suicide” situation. While Reuters reports that Tehran is ready to dilute its uranium stockpiles, the truth is that Tehran is facing a “crisis of representation”. When the opposition leader, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, speaks to hundreds of thousands in Munich, the legitimacy of any signature the regime puts to paper in Geneva is called into question. Conclusion: Geneva’s final gamble under the authority of national resolve By offering major economic concessions, the Islamic Republic has in effect admitted that the “ideology of resistance” has reached an impasse. But the reality on the ground shows that Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s powerful presence on the international stage has narrowed the room for manoeuvre of the Islamic Republic’s lobbyists. The 14 February demonstrations proved that the opposition, with a clear centre of gravity, has reached organisational maturity and will no longer allow Iran’s national wealth to be spent in Geneva’s dark rooms on buying time for a government whose legitimacy has expired. Western governments should understand that their real interlocutor is not the occupiers of Tehran, but the will that found expression in Munich and in Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s words. Any agreement that ignores this great reality is doomed to fail, because the people of Iran will not accept any agreement without broad public approval and recognition of the blood shed on the path to freedom. Source: https://srouzbeh.com/en/posts/archive-3c411b92-29e0-ad38-49cf-6103cded3b9b Please credit the author and link to this edition.