At the invitation of Judy Sgro, a member of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party, and Mike Cooper, a Conservative Party MP—co-chairs of the Canadian Committee of Friends of a Democratic Iran—a parliamentary session titled “Iran at a Crossroads: Geopolitical Changes and Human Rights Realities” was held. The meeting was attended by Canadian MPs, senators, and representatives of the Iranian-Canadian community.
Judy Sgro spoke about her support for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), saying that the council “provides accurate and comprehensive information about Iran—whether on human rights, nuclear issues, or regional destabilization.” She added that this credibility has allowed the NCRI “to unite a broad spectrum of political voices around this goal.”
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our powerful parliamentary briefing on Iran at the Crossroads.
The testimonies shared by victims of the Iranian regimewere deeply moving and a stark reminder of the ongoing persecution faced by countless Iranians today. pic.twitter.com/fRGS21ZXGW— Judy Sgro (@honjudysgro) November 4, 2025
Opening the session, Michael Cooper noted that recent months had seen both a sharp increase in executions and a significant weakening of Tehran’s regional influence. He referred to new United Nations sanctions and the reactivation of the “snapback” mechanism by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom under the JCPOA framework. At home, he said, decades of corruption and mismanagement had pushed millions of Iranians below the poverty line, with inflation and power shortages now part of daily life. More than a thousand executions have reportedly taken place in the first nine months of 2025.
Guest speaker Senator Robert Torricelli, a former U.S. senator and long-time advocate for human rights in Iran, gave an extensive overview of Tehran’s domestic repression, its international posture, and the shortcomings of Western policy. He said Western governments bore historical responsibility for supporting the Shah’s dictatorship, which paved the way for clerical rule, and now had a duty to help end this cycle of despotism.
Torricelli recalled that the 1979 revolution had been intended to establish democracy and improve living standards but was “stolen” by the clerical establishment. Today, he said, the Iranian Resistance has become a global movement committed to democratic values, including gender equality, free elections, and peaceful coexistence with neighboring states. He warned against efforts to promote monarchist restoration as an alternative, arguing that portraying the choice as “mullahs or monarchs” serves only the interests of the current rulers.
“The NCRI and the PMOI,” he said, “have articulated a non-nuclear, democratic vision that aligns with universal principles of governance and human rights — the very outcome the world should support.”
