By Pooya Stone
At least 5,000 supporters of the Iranian people and their resistance took part in a major demonstration in Stockholm, Sweden, on Saturday.
The crowd, which gathered in Kungtärgården Square to listen to speeches from allies and activists, urged Europe to adopt a solid policy on the regime, institute comprehensive sanctions, designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Intelligence Ministry (MOIS) and Khamenei’s Beyt (House) as terrorist groups, and recognised the Iranian people’s right to overthrow the clerical regime.
They also threw their full support behind Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, and her ten-point plan for a future Iran, condemned any relationship between Europe and Iran’s clerical leaders, and called on European governments to prosecute, punish, and expel Iran’s intelligence agents and terrorist Quds force mercenaries.
Rajavi, who addressed the crowd via video message, praised the demonstrators for amplifying the voices on the Iranian people and said that the time for appeasement of the regime must come to a close. She said that the mullahs, much like the Nazis, will not moderate and must instead be forced out, saying there was no reason to pretend that the regime did not have an alternative and no reason why Iran should not be free.
Rajavi then urged the governments of the Scandinavian countries to pressure the Iranian authorities into opening their prisons to visits by an international fact-finding mission and to recognise the Iranian people’s right to overthrow the regime in order to establish democracy.
Also addressing the conference was the former French Minister of Human Rights Rama Yade, who praised the Resistance, saying they were more than “an opposition”, arguing that they were actually “a state that is ready to save Iran from the destruction that the religious dictatorship has brought”.
Italian Senator Luci Malan said: “Today, the pursuit of this [appeasement] policy is betting on a dead horse. The regime is on the verge of collapse. Even if we are thinking of our own interests, we must support and recognize the powerful National Council of Resistance alternative. This not only changes Iran’s future but also the future of the region and is very influential in securing global peace and security.”
While Mahnaz Salimian, Senior Secretary of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said: “This regime is trapped in a dead-end and has no way out. The people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance are ready to answer to this situation. We tell European countries and the Swedish government that we don’t want anything but ending the appeasement policy and standing on the side of the Iranian people.”
Other speakers included: Swedish MP Magnus Oscarsson, Irish Senator Gerald Michael Horkan, former Irish Minister John Perry, former Icelandic Minister of the Environment Edward Julius Solens, and former Finnish MP Kimmo Sasi.
