During the difficult years that PMOI members in Iraq were under a full siege and were facing bombings and attacks by allies of Iran’s regime, the mullahs in Tehran were celebrating because the primary threat to their despotic rule was struggling for survival. At the same time that PMOI members in Ashraf were under pressure, the Iranian Resistance also came under attack in France and had to prove their innocence by going through severe trials. Twelve governments were making large-scale economic deals with the Iranian regime at the expense of the PMOI. They were targeted by the worst demonization plots, and the regime was manipulating human rights organizations against them. Nouri al-Maliki, then Prime Minister of Iraq and a close ally of the Iranian regime, set multiple deadlines for them, and they were often exposed to bloody attacks, defenseless and weaponless.
In those exhausting desperate times, who would have thought that this organization could quickly return to its previous peak? Let alone one day having a far more extensive and stronger organization with a global reputation, capable of holding major conferences and gatherings for three consecutive days in Europe. Who would have thought a vast network of the organization’s supporters would be established inside the occupied country, named and known as “Resistance Units” in Iran, conducting 20,000 activities within a short period? Who would have imagined that this organization’s struggle would reach a level of legitimacy and acceptance that many leaders, former presidents, prime ministers, and Nobel laureates would call on the world to support this progressive resistance’s plan for the future of Iran? And above all, who would have thought that the regime’s demonization plots and propaganda would become so exposed that the most prominent foreign political figures would consider it an “honor” to be in solidarity with the Iranian Resistance and be proud to stand alongside the PMOI?
Yes, now this achievement, once deemed impossible, has become possible. Supporting the PMOI and standing with them and attending their ceremonies in Free Iran 2024 World Summit has become an “honor.” It was at this very gathering that fomer US Vice President Mike Pence emphasized, “It is an honor to be with you all.”
Mr. John Bercow, the former Speaker of the UK Parliament, went further and said about the six times he had attended these gatherings, “I can tell you from the head but also from the heart that attendance upon the sixth occasion is every bit as much a privilege and a source of inspiration for me as was the first.”
Mr. Alain Vivien, a former French government minister, shared his “honor”, saying, “We are proud to have such a gathering here in France.”
Mr. Gilles Paruelle, former president of the Bar Association of Val-d’Oise in France, with a 40-year history of supporting the Iranian Resistance, said, “I’m really proud to be here and stand before you.”
Indeed, it was not only the mentioned individuals who considered supporting the Iranian resistance an “honor” for themselves. Others, such as Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association; former US National Security Advisor John Bolton, Carlo Ciccioli, member of the European Parliament from Italy; Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister of Italy; Niels Geuking, member of the European Parliament from Germany; General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe; and Nargis Nehan, former Minister of Mines and Petroleum of Afghanistan, also shared similar sentiments during their speeches at the Free Iran World Summit.
The pride and honor are mutual and it is the result of decades of struggle and sacrifice by the people of Iran and their Resistance movement.