Jailed dissident warns of state collapse, calls for abolition of theocracy

Jailed Iranian politician and prominent dissident Mostafa Tajzadeh warned on Monday that relentless price hikes and the collapse of the national currency are pushing Iran rapidly toward “statelessness and chaos.”

He called for the abolition of clerical rule and a democratic overhaul of the system.

“Now the time has come for all those who want a prosperous, free, and independent Iran to speak with one voice and call for the separation of religious institutions from political institutions, for the clergy to hand power back to the people, and to return to their traditional base in the seminaries,” Tajzadeh posted on Instagram.

“The logical outcome of the Leader’s destructive approach has been the sidelining and exclusion of the competent, and the elevation of the inept to the top, Tajzadeh said.

“The safest and most reliable way out of the crises is to convene a constituent assembly and amend the constitution in line with the will of the nation,” he added.

“Peaceful protest is the inalienable legal right of citizens, and its suppression by the government is entirely unjustifiable and, if it occurs, must be firmly condemned by all political forces and currents.”