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Jordanian MP Expresses Support For Iranian Opposition, Criticizes West For Letting Iranian Regime Oppress Its Own People
In an article published June 24, 2025 on the Saudi website Elaph, titled 'The Iranian People's Struggle for Freedom and Justice,' Jordanian MP Isma'il Al-Mashaqbeh voiced support for the Iranian people's struggle for democracy and against the oppression of the Iranian regime. Al-Mashaqbeh also criticized the West, accusing it of supporting and appeasing the Iranian regime and of curbing the people's resistance against it in order to ensure the regime's survival. It is this appeasement, he argued, that has enabled the Iranian regime to suppress its people and threaten regional stability. To support his claims, he cited statements by Maryam Rajavi, head of the Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI),[1] who underscored the Iranian people's aspirations and the vital need for regime change in the country.
This is not the first time a Jordanian politician has expressed support for the Iranian opposition. In June 2024, amid Iranian regime efforts to destabilize Jordan and the region at large,[2] Jordanian MP Aisha Al-Hasanat published an article on the Elaph website in which she called for supporting opposition groups in Iran to help them bring down the regime.[3] A few months prior to that, Jordanian diplomat and politician Bassam Al-Amoush – formerly Jordan's ambassador to Iran and minister of parliamentary affairs and administrative development – published an article on the Jordanian website Ammon News in which he criticized Iran's subversive activities in the region, particularly in Jordan. He called on the Jordanian government to establish ties with Iran's ethnic minorities and opposition groups, such as Mojahedin Khalq, in order to pressure the Iranian regime.[4]
It should be noted that the Saudi website Elaph is a major platform for articles supporting the Iranian opposition, especially the NCRI, headed by Maryam Rajavi.[5]
Isma'il Al-Mashaqbeh (Image:
The following are translated excerpts from Al-Mashaqbeh's article.[6]
"The Iranian people have suffered for decades under the yoke of tyrannical regimes, first the dictatorship of the Pahlavi dynasty [1925–1979], which was imposed [on Iran] by the West to protect its own interests, and later the mullah regime, which persists [to this day] with similar Western backing. These regimes, which ignored the will of the Iranian people, sparked popular discontent [within Iran] and caused the peoples of the region to feel aversion to a policy that is devoid of wisdom and justice and disregards human values.
"Today, the Iranian people persists in its struggle for freedom and democracy, refuses to submit to oppression, and insists on its right to self-determination. This aspiration is manifested in the Iranian people's ongoing uprisings against the mullah regime with the aim of overthrowing it and establishing a democratic national regime that guarantees peace and a dignified existence.
"In her June 18, 2025 speech in Strasbourg before the European Parliament, NCRI President Maryam Rajavi presented a clear vision for Iran's future, emphasizing that 'Iran is on the brink of historic change'… and noting that the Iranian people 'is now more committed to change than ever before.' Addressing demonstrators in Berlin and Stockholm, Rajavi stressed that 'our message is clear: the resistance of the Iranian people must be recognized as a liberating force. We say no to negotiations and to leaving the mullah regime [in place], and no to war. [There is] a third option: change led by the Iranian people and its resistance.' She added that 'the prerequisite for peace and security in the region is regime change [in Iran]...'
"The Iranian resistance, led by Maryam Rajavi, aspires to establish a democratic republic anchored in the separation of religion and state, gender equality, respect for the rights of ethnic groups and minorities, an independent judiciary, the abolition of the death penalty, and political pluralism. This [vision] also includes a commitment to keeping Iran free of nuclear weapons. Rajavi stressed: 'No one can stop the change and the revolution. The Iranian people's democratic revolution will prevail'…
"On the ground, the resistance units have carried out more than 3,000 protest actions over the past year, while the number of executions [carried out by the Iranian regime] since August 2024 exceeds 1,350, which is the highest rate in the world...
"The mullah regime has drawn its strength from the support of the West, which not only adopted a conciliatory approach toward it but actively curbed the Iranian resistance in order to ensure this regime's continued survival. This support enabled the regime to suppress the Iranian people and to threaten regional stability. Referring to the war that broke out in the region on June 13, 2025, Rajavi said: 'It is the policy of appeasement that imposed the war. The real solution is regime change by the people and the organized resistance.' She called on the international community to recognize the resistance, comparing its struggle to the Europeans' fight against religious fascism."
