Maryam Rajavi, president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
One of the unique characteristics of this year’s annual rally of the Iranian opposition was the participation of hundreds of prominent politicians, lawmakers, and dignitaries from five continents of the globe. The guests included former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, former General Attorney Michael Mukasey, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Minister John Baird, and many more.
2,000 members of parliament from different countries expressed their support for Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan for the future of Iran.
Other dignitaries, parliamentarians, and organizations voiced their support, either by addressing the tens of thousands of people who had gathered to attend the meeting or by issuing statements of support.
They all had one message: The regime of Iran must go, and the only viable alternative to its tyrannical rule is the main Iranian opposition group NCRI and MEK.
Following are excerpts from speeches and declarations in the Free Iran gathering in support of the Iranian opposition and the uprising of the Iranian people.
The German Solidarity Committee for a Free Iran
The German Solidarity Committee for a Free Iran (GSCFI), consisting of members of the Bundestag and state parliaments acknowledges that the Iranian regime's plot to bomb an Iranian convention in Paris on June 30th is a vivid sing and a signature to identify the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its cornerstone member, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as its sole viable and powerful political alternative that can actually realize regime change in Iran and guarantee a smooth transition of power to the Iranian people based on a 10-point plan presented by NCRI president, Maryam Rajavi as a basis for what a future government in Iran should look like.
The Iranian regime views the PMOI/MEK as one of the prime challenges to its authority and the only realistic alternative to its medieval regime.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph “Rudy” W. Giuliani:
You’ve got an alternative that’s built on a solid foundation of 10 principles. Democracy, human rights, a non-nuclear Iran, separation of church and state, and the rights of women and of all minorities to be protected. My goodness, that sounds like a full-fledged democracy. That’s what the NCRI stands for. That’s what Madame Rajavi stands for, and that’s what your martyrs died for.
You’ve been able to form resistance units all over Iran. Those protests are not happening accidentally. Those protests are happening because they’re being coordinated now, unlike in 2009. And what it says is we have an alternative...
"Suppose the face of Iran was a brave woman in a country that recently has had a history … of treating women inhumanely. And this brave woman will be the face of the new, modern, liberated Iran."
Former Speaker of U.S. House of Representative and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich: And the work each of you is doing — I encourage you, not just the folks who’ve done a great job and it is always amazing to come here and see just the scale of production and to listen to Mrs. Rajavi’s speech and realize how much thought she has put into preparing for a description of where we need to go….
If you go back and look once again at the remarkable speech that Mrs. Rajavi gave, and you think about the years that she and all of her compatriots have put in, the risks they’ve run, the tragic, personal losses they have suffered, freedom will come. It has been paid for by the blood of patriots. It has been paid for by the sweat of patriots. It has been paid for by those willing to stand up to the dictatorship. You are a key part of that.
I want you to know that all the Americans who were up here a few minutes ago are committed to communicating in our country that there is a movement, there is an opportunity for freedom, for democracy, for equal rights, and that movement is meeting right here today and it is vastly larger than any other movement trying to help Iran. And I believe this meeting, combined with what’s happening inside Iran, combined with the toughness of the Trump administration, gives us a genuine opportunity to really move much more dramatically, and to move in the right direction.
Robert Torricelli, former U.S. Senator from New Jersey and
U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District: So to the mullahs, let’s make the situation clear — you are in the fighting ring of history. We stand with the people of Ashraf. We stand with the MEK. We stand with the people in the streets of Iran fighting for freedom. You stand to defend your corruption, your oppression, the denial of freedom. One of us will win. One will lose.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Iran is ruled by a regime of cruel and tyrannical mullahs that represent the opposite of the best of human values. That is why our government took a strong stand against the regime. We sponsored annual resolutions at the United Nations against Iran’s human rights abuses. We used sanctions to cut off the flow of funds to the Revolutionary Guard and other regime entities. We formally listed the regime as an international state sponsor of terrorism. We passed legislation to allow victims to sue the regime for its atrocities. And, friends, we closed the Canadian embassy in Tehran and told the mullahs to get out of Canada.
The mullahs’ prisons continue to overflow with people jailed not for their crimes but for their consciences. And the executioners work relentlessly. Women and girls are still treated as property, not people. Religious minorities are still repressed. And as much as the mullahs repress them, the protests for change rise in the streets, and they will keep rising until the regime is gone.
The 2015 nuclear deal has not moderated the regime. It has made it more belligerent than ever.
Former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird: We come
together to support the people of Iran in their great struggle. For years, far too many Western governments have tried to find a moderate faction within the regime in Tehran. This conciliatory approach has failed, and it has been nothing short of appeasement. We must not ignore the people of Iran, and we must not ignore their desire for change. Over the past six months, the people of Iran have shown great courage in protesting on the streets in more than 140 cities. They are desperately fighting for regime change. And friends, it is time to stand with the people of Iran and to give them our full support. Today, we join Madame Rajavi, a woman of great courage and of great determination. And we gather in Paris to stand with the people of Iran, to support them in their quest for freedom, for equality, and for democracy.
Bill Richardson, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, former Energy Secretary and governor of New Mexico: There are a lot of distinguished leaders here, but do you know what this event is about? This event is about you. You are the source of change in Iran. The young people, the women, the resistance, the youth, the young people here. And I want to tell you a lot of people ask, “Is there an alternative to the mullahs, to the dictatorship?” And the answer is, “Yes, it’s the resistance. It’s the MEK. It’s Mrs. Rajavi. But it’s you.”
And I say to you, “Why?” Because you’re the ones that have fought against the Shah. You fought against the dictatorship, and against the religious dictatorship. You were there in the trenches, fighting and dying. And you represent a platform, a democratic platform of freedom and democracy. You stand for gender equality. You stand for the U.N. Charter of Human Rights. You stand for free and fair elections. You stand for the private sector. You stand for the end of Sharia law. You stand for democracy and young people having an opportunity for a future with jobs.
So I say to you here, as your friend, the power is with you. The power is with everyone in this room and each one of you represents thousands in Iran that are saying, “No dictatorship.” The end is near. The end is near.
Theresa Villiers, Member of UK Parliament: Let us all hope
that one day Mrs. Rajavi is able to put into effect her 10-point plan, and finally we will see an Iran that is free of the brutal repression of the mullahs, free of the cruelty and human rights abuse to which it’s been subjected for far too long, and free at last to pursue a democratic future where men and women have an equal chance to follow their dreams, make their own choices, and succeed in whichever field of life they want to.
Former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi: We bring our unswerving support to you, Madame Rajavi, and to all freedom fighters in Iran in the fight for regime change in Iran. We are here to tell you of our profound admiration for the values you are defending, not only in the interest of the Iranian people but in the interest of all humanity. Our unconditional support to President-elect Rajavi and to PMOI is even more determined now.
A large part of Italian society is convinced that being with you is to be on the right side of history. Thirty-eight Italian senators have issued a declaration of support of the Iranian people for the uprising, for the resistance against the regime, and for the fight for freedom and democracy.
Sir David Amess, Member of UK Parliament: I have the honor
to be here with an even larger delegation from Britain than last year. We represent not only the UK Parliament in a cross-party fashion but also Scotland, the Law Society of England and Wales, the unions, academia in the UK and Scotland, as well as religious leaders. You know many of us on this stage, as we have been supporting the NCRI and promoting democracy and human rights in Iran for many years. Our delegation this year consists of over 50 prominent people.
Former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner: We are all in agreement, we are all with you. We are all on your side of the new battle. I’m in complete agreement with Maryam Rajavi when she was talking about the very fantastic perspective of democracy and freedom.
These people [here] certainly have listened to Madame Rajavi’s program I repeat, we are all in agreement to be with you, to follow you, to back you on the very clear program to get rid of the mullahs and to prepare and set up and build up a real democracy.
Dr. Matthew Offord, Member of UK Parliament: I commend Madame Rajavi for her 10-point plan for showing the world and the mullahs that not only is a plan available but that it can be achieved by her. The plan offers the people of Iran a free democratic and secular Iran based on freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and respect for religious ethnic minorities, gender equality, rule of law, and peaceful coexistence in the world. So today our voices must go out through the media, our word through social media, and let the mullahs know that there is a plan and there is an alternative to their regime.
Roger Godsiff, Member of UK Parliament: The United Kingdom and the EU must recognize the NCRI and Madame Rajavi’s 10-point plan for the future of Iran. And they must also initiate a process of accountability at the U.N. to hold the regime and its leaders to account for decades of human rights abuses and for the massacring of thousands of political prisoners.
Former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Douste-Blazy: The situation in Iran is changing. Yes, the Iran situation is no longer in favor of extremists. Yes, the wind is rising in favor of people. Yes, people don’t want factions in power. People want democracy, peace, without corruption.
Ingrid Betancourt, former Senator in the Republic of Colombia: Since last December 28th, we are witnessing how Maryam Rajavi has been delivering what she promised. Here in this same forum some years ago, she announced a thousand Ashrafs to topple the corrupt theocratic dictatorship in Iran. And that is happening right now. Maryam Rajavi’s determination has brought this thousand Ashrafs to life inside Iran.
