MEF-Sponsored Iranian Oppositionist on Capitol Hill: 'Overthrow the Iranian Regime'

PHILADELPHIA - March 29, 2024 - Declaring the Iranian regime a "paper tiger" ripe for overthrow, a London-based Iranian opposition leader continued his round-the-world campaign calling for removal of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), this time on C-Span.

In a Middle East Forum-sponsored talk yesterday on Capitol Hill, Vahid Beheshti warned the U.S. government not to focus on Tehran's proxies - Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis - but to go for the source in Tehran. "Ninety percent of Iranians are against the regime. The moment Americans and their allies hit the Iranian regime, the people of Iran will rise and finish the job."

Beheshti also warned that a nuclear IRI poses an existential threat to America and the West. "If we don't defeat [the IRI] now, soon it will be too late when they gain nuclear power. They will use it."

Beheshti has an established record of reaching Iranians. As MEF's guest at the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus in Jerusalem on January 2, 2024, he pleaded, "Help us overthrow [Iran's] government" and two weeks later, dissidents hung banners in Tehran that read "We stand with Israel" and "Vahid is our voice." Also, earlier this month, banners unfurled from a pedestrian bridge in Tehran called on Israel to attack the regime to help Iranians overthrow it.

MEF's director Gregg Roman said, "In Jerusalem, Vahid Beheshti called on Israel to help Iranians overthrow their oppressors, and dissidents in Tehran responded. In Washington, he warns that self-preservation requires the U.S. and its allies to help Iranians overthrow the IRI. Americans must show the same resolve as those brave Iranian dissidents and act before it's too late."

The Middle East Forum, a non-profit organization, promotes American interests in the Middle East and protects Western civilization from Islamism. It does so through a combination of original ideas, focused activism, and funding allies. For more information, visit www.meforum.org.

For immediate release
For more information, contact:
Gregg Roman
[email protected]
+1 (215) 546 5406