On January 17, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) hosted a conference in Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris, entitled “Holding the Mullahs’ Regime Accountable for Genocide, Terrorism, and Nuclear Defiance.
The NCRI’s President-elect, Maryam Rajavi, and several senior former European officials attended and addressed the conference.
Mrs. Rajavi began her address touching on the crises that Iranian citizens are currently facing, as regards their livelihoods, welfare, health, education, employment, and housing. She explained how the Iranian regime is refusing to improve conditions for the Iranian people, further stirring up the discontent within society, while the regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is more focused on reinforcing his security forces to deal with the unrest, and cling onto his draining power in a regime that is on the verge of being overthrown.
She said, “There is an openly hostile relation between the ruling regime and our people. The existence of an organized and widespread resistance against the regime attests to this truth,” adding, “Western governments have long paid the price of appeasing the religious fascism from the pockets of the Iranian people. But now, beyond the interests of the people of Iran and the Middle East, the security and vital interests of Western countries and societies are at stake.”
The future of Iran is ultimately to be determined by the Iranian people and their Resistance unit network across the country. Resistance groups carry out daily activities against the regime’s repressive forces, standing shoulder to shoulder with the people fighting for their rights.
“As a result, the existence of an alternative is of crucial importance. But such an alternative is not just a theoretical solution. Rather, it must rely on a movement that has risen up against the fountainhead of fundamentalism, paid the price of its struggle, and enjoys the capacity to bring about change in society,” Mrs. Rajavi emphasized.
The NCRI President-elect stressed that the international community must reinstate the six UN Security Council resolutions on the regime’s nuclear projects because that would bring the regime’s uranium enrichment program to a close, and finally shut down their nuclear sites.” She also underlined that the brutal violation of human rights in Iran be placed high on the UN Security Council’s agenda, reiterating that “The regime’s leaders must be brought to justice for four decades of crimes against humanity and genocide, especially the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, and the killing of at least 1,500 protesters in 2019. I urge all governments and parliaments, especially in Europe, to recognize the 1988 massacre as a crime against humanity and genocide.”
In Monday’s conference, Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, MEP, and Former Prime Minister of Belgium referred to the systematic impunity in this regime and remembered the obligation of the Western countries to confront the regime and said:
“We must discuss the systematic impunity of the regime of Iran. It’s our common duty to denounce violations of democracy and human rights. It is our duty to stand up for democracy and fundamental freedoms.
“The regime’s answer to the people’s demands is to strike them instead of solving their problems. The impunity crisis in Iran reached a peak in June when Raisi was appointed as the regime’s president. He is one of the main perpetrators of the 1988 mass murder of more than 30,000 political prisoners. Instead of being tried for crimes against humanity, he is occupying the post of presidency. This shows that impunity is rampant in Iran.”
As for the regime’s illegitimacy Mr. Fredrik Reinfeldt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, said: “It’s very popular nowadays for rulers to say they were elected. Democracy means freedom of speech, media, the right to assemble and campaign, to stand as a candidate. If you don’t follow these rules, you are not a democracy. Raisi is not in support of the Iranian people. He was chosen among a few men to keep control.
“The situation in Iran is especially worrying. There is a very dangerous combination. It brings together authoritarianism and religious dictatorship.”
John Bercow, the former Speaker of the British House of Commons referred to the Iran nuclear talks currently underway in Vienna and said:
“The nuclear issue is being focused on to a certain degree. Democracies must recognize that there is a key difference between dealing with other democracies and dealing with other countries whose regimes are non-democracies. The regime is spending vast sums of money on weapons of mass destruction that they do not need and should not be allowed to obtain.”
And Franco Frattini the former Foreign Minister of Italy, pointed to the regime’s and its lobbies’ insistence on, and in the Western countries to lift the sanction while making the excuse that these are hurting the people.
“Another argument is that we must lift sanctions because the sanctions are affecting innocent people. This is absolutely not true. As a matter of fact, the more money they have the more money the regime will spend on its nuclear program and not on improving the quality of life in Iran. I support the idea of a stricter policy toward the regime regarding sanctions. No complacency. We have to know every dollar spent for improving and strengthening the nuclear and military apparatus against the people, increasing the nuclear capacity to intimidate and dominate not only the people of Iran but also the region against the countries of the Middle East, and contributing greatly to destabilizing the Middle East,” he said.
