Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent meeting in Albania with Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi looks to be a significant political step at a time when Iran’s nuclear talks have stagnated and its regime is facing major demonstrations in its cities.

“In the end, the Iranian people will have a secular, democratic, non-nuclear Republic. I pray that this day will come soon and with the support of Iranians living all around the world—and those who resist from within—that day will come sooner. I am committed to this cause; I know you all are too,” Pompeo said on May 16 when he met Mrs. Rajavi at the Ashraf 3 complex in Albania, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

In this round of nuclear talks, Iran and its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have reached a fork in the road. Its choice is to pursue Islamism—that is, to continue attempting to build a nuclear bomb while engaging in terrorism and regional influence over its neighbors—or to prioritize the interests of Iran’s people over Islamism, reviving Iran’s collapsed economy and eradicating the poverty that affects more than 80 percent of the country’s population.

So far, the Iranian leadership has chosen the first course, and it is naïve to believe that the Iranian dictatorship would abandon its efforts to develop an atomic weapon. Khamenei and regime officials are attempting to deal with their economic crisis by removing subsidies to finance terrorism and their militias overseas, such as Hezbollah, which continue to be paid in dollars. They are distributing funds to the needy, but by creating unsupported currencies, they have caused unprecedented inflation and exorbitant prices, making it impossible for millions of people to buy a loaf of bread.

Poverty in Iran has reached unparalleled proportions. At least 80 percent of the population lives in poverty. Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi argues that oil sales have more than quadrupled, therefore there is no need to be concerned about foreign exchange reserves or commodity hoarding. Khamenei has also used different techniques to avert a revolt like the one that occurred in mid-February 2019, claiming that inflation is the consequence of the mafia, wayward individuals, and—as some clerics say—”bad hijab,” or inadequately covered women.

Pompeo’s visit to Ashraf 3, the Iranian opposition’s headquarters, might be seen as a support of Mrs. Rajavi’s democratic option. Furthermore, the possibility of Republican triumphs in forthcoming US elections cannot be overlooked. Let us not forget, however, that the Iranian dictatorship was the first to “provide the address of”—identify—its alternative.