US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo struck a chord in Poland this week when he said the US had steered clear of the region for too long, leaving Russia to fill that "void."

Warsaw sees Washington as a guarantor of security in the region. The Polish government is proud to have purchased 20 US-made HIMARS rocket launchers — a deal that was struck just before the start of the conference.

As the contract was signed — in the presence of Polish and US soldiers — US Vice President Mike Pence assured Warsaw the US would "stand behind Poland."

A Middle East conference — without Iran

US support for Poland is also the reason why Warsaw is organizing the Middle East conference — inspired by the US.

Seventy countries have been invited to the conference. Eastern and Central European countries have sent their foreign ministers; Germany has sent the deputy foreign minister, Niels Annen. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attending, but Russia is not. Iran has not even been invited.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on 'I feel nothing' On February 1, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran from exile in France. When a reporter asked him how he felt upon his return to Iran, Khomeini replied: "Nothing — I feel nothing." Some analysts interpreted his remarks as the Shiite leader's idea about embarking on a "divine mission" where emotions hardly mattered.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on The Shah ran out of time Two months before Khomeini's return to Iran, an estimated six to nine million people took to the streets in the country's major cities. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, compared to the violent September 8, 1978, protests. The Shah regime, headed by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, had realized that its time in power was over and that they could not stop Khomeini's return.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on Even women rooted for Khomeini The revolutionary mood was so intense in Tehran that even many women celebrated Khomeini's return, ignoring the fact that Khomeini had slammed Shah's measures for women's emancipation in exile. In 1963, the Shah of Iran granted women the right to vote.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on A spectacle of exuberance In 1971, the Shah and his wife Farah Diba (seen in the picture) staged a lavish spectacle on the ancient site of Persepolis to mark the "2,500th anniversary of the Iranian monarchy." Many heads of state attended the event. Khomeini, in his message from exile, condemned the monarchy as "cruel, evil and un-Islamic."

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on Exile and death Under pressure from the Islamic Revolution, the Shah (left) had left Iran on January 16, 1979. After spending time in several countries, he succumbed to cancer on July 27, 1980 in Cairo, Egypt.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on Consolidating power In the beginning, women's rights were not a major issue for the Islamic revolutionaries. They only imposed hardline Islam after consolidating their victory.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on Soldiers join the revolution Upon Khomeini's return to Iran in 1979, the military did not confront the protesters. On February 11, the army declared itself neutral. Despite that, the revolutionaries executed several generals in February and April.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on New government Soon after his return, Khomeini declared the monarchy, the previous government and parliament illegal, and said he would appoint a government "because of the fact that this nation believes in me." According to Iran experts, it was not self-deception but reality.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on The liberal face of the revolution Mehdi Bazargan, a scholar and pro-democracy activist, had campaigned against the Pahlavi dynasty, for which he had been incarcerated for several years. Khomeini appointed him as his first prime minister, although Bazargan was critical of him as well. Bazargan had called Khomeini a "turbaned Shah" after a meeting with the Ayatollah in Paris. He remained in office for only nine months.

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on Occupation of the US Embassy In November 1979, radical Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and took the embassy staff hostage. The students were fearful of Shah's return to power with US help. Khomeini took advantage of the situation. He dismissed his opponents as "US allies."

Iran's Islamic Revolution 40 years on Ali Khamenei – guardian of the revolution In 1989, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was elected by the expert council to succeed Khomeini. Khamenei, to this date, has the ultimate power over all state institutions. Although the 79-year-old does not have the same charisma as his predecessor, he represents the policies of Iranian hardliners who refuse to reform the system and continue to persecute dissidents. Author: Hans Spross



Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz insists the conference does not focus on Iran. The official agenda includes topics such as efforts to curb rocket and missile armament, cybersecurity and the fight against terrorism.

Iran's ambassador to Poland, however, said Warsaw would have to "suffer the consequences" if those attending the conference would try to "exert pressure on Iran."

Protests against the conference

Both left-wing and right-wing nationalist groups agree that no one should debate issues concerning one country without its representatives taking part.

Robert Winnicki, a lawmaker from Poland's National Movement party, met the Iranian ambassador ahead of the conference in Warsaw. He says the Polish government is organizing "a conference dictated by the US."

On Wednesday, the leftist movement Stop the War protested at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. "We are against the submissive attitude that Poland is displaying with regard to the US," the protesters said.

Read more: 1979 — A fateful year for the Middle East

"We used to have Soviet rockets stationed on our territory — why do we now have to put up with American ones? We don't want Poland to constantly be a frontier state," they complained.

Protests aimed at Tehran

Hundreds of expatriate Iranians from various European countries demonstrated against the regime in Tehran at Warsaw's National Stadium, where the conference takes place on Thursday.

The protests were organized by the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK.

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The formerly armed group, which was labeled a terrorist organization by the US until 2012, sees itself as the true representative of the Iranian people and is in favor of regime change.

Read more: Missile test: Did Iran backstab the EU?

Shahin Gobadi, who heads NCRI's international committee, told DW that the fact that Iran had not been invited to the conference was not the problem, "since Iran is the source of all the problems in the region."

Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City and personal lawyer for US President Donald Trump, was a special guest at the protests. He spoke in a personal capacity. "There is no better place to talk about freedom than Warsaw," he said, stressing that Poland had been oppressed by Russia for years.

Even though many high-ranking European politicians, among them the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, declined to attend the Warsaw conference, the Polish government has already hailed the event as a success, as it strengthened the trans-Atlantic bond, according to Warsaw.

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