A conference held on Wednesday, January 30, in the Victor Hugo Hall of the National Assembly of France, discussed the Iranian regime’s policy of repression at home and warmongering abroad. During the conference, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and French politicians discussed the need to confront the Iranian regime’s provocative behavior and to support the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom.
The session was presided by Mrs. Cécile Rilhac, the head of the Parliamentary Committee for Democratic Iran in the National Assembly of France. In her speech, Mrs. Rilhac announced that the National Assembly’s 2023 declaration calling for the proscription of the IRGC received substantial support from French legislators, including a majority of 295 French representatives, including five group presidents, three political party leaders, and over 130 senators.
Reading the text of the 2024 declaration, Mrs. Rilhac said, “We strongly condemn the destructive role of the Iranian regime in the Middle East and its bellicose policy, calling for the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as the main terrorist entity, destabilizing the region.”
Patrick Hetzel, the Vice President of the Republican group in the National Assembly of France, described the overwhelming support of French legislators for the Iranian Resistance as “a symbolic gesture indicating France’s strong backing for the cause.”
Hetzel reiterated the collective aspiration for a democratic Iran and emphasized the urgency of achieving freedom for the Iranian people.
While condemning the appeasement policy of the West and emphasizing that the time has come to change strategy towards Iran, former Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said, “It is time to begin to recognize that the Iranian people, the Iranian resistance, have the legitimate right, I would say, to resist against the mullah regime. And therefore, to begin to prepare with the Iranian opposition and with the Iranian Resistance the future of the country to demonstrate that there is indeed an alternative to the mullah regime. And personally, I believe that Mrs. Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan would be a good basis for this alternative in the future.”
André Chassagne, President of the Democratic and Republican Left group (GDR) in the National Assembly, said, “We were not wrong to say that the solution to all the threats from Iran against Europe, against our world today, in terms of security, exports, terrorism, support for Islamist extremism, and even threats against our own citizens, was to make democracy triumph in Iran, a real democracy.”
Drawing parallels with France’s revolutionary history, MP Chassaigne continued, “Iranians have the right to protest. They have the right to freedom of expression. They have the right to freedom of assembly. And if denied, they then have the right to revolt and resist.
“I say this with strength, but also with emotion: The Iranian Resistance of the PMOI in Iran only embody this right that our ancestors recognized two centuries ago and that our parents exercised in the face of Nazi occupation and atrocities.”
One of the vice presidents of the parliamentary committee, Philippe Gosselin, called for the international community to support the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom. He said that the Iranian people are “capable of achieving this change” and that “the flame of resistance must never be extinguished.”
Former French MP Jean-Pierre Brard expressed support for the Iranian Resistance and by pointing to the Iranian regime’s assassination attempt on the former EU Parliament’s Vice President Dr. Alejo Vidal Quadras in Madrid, he highlighted the dangers faced by supporters of the Resistance.
Former mayor of the first district of Paris and head of the Middle East Studies Foundation, Jean-François Legaret, said, “The whole world must see that this resistance exists, and it must be understood that for the mullahs’ regime, the opponents, the PMOI, are the main threat, I would say the existential threat against the Iran of the mullahs.
“The mullahs are right to be afraid. With the Ten-Point Plan for Iran of tomorrow, the NCRI presents in every respect the only democratic alternative and the assurance of finally achieving in Iran a regime of freedom.”
In her speech at the event Mrs. Maryam Rajavi emphasized the urgent need to address the clerical regime’s role as the main perpetrator of conflict in the Middle East and its continuation of executions
She also said that the continued uprisings in Iran underline two important realities:
“Firstly, the unwavering determination of the people to bring an end to the religious dictatorship.
“Secondly, the vulnerability of a regime on the brink of being overthrown.”
She said that the current situation in the Middle East underscores the urgency of a collective effort to stand up to this regime.
“The appropriate response should be to recognize and support the Iranian people’s struggle for the overthrow of the clerical regime,” she said.
She laid out four key pillars that can shape the correct policy toward Iran:
- Placing the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the list of terrorist entities, in line with the National Assembly’s declaration of last June and the European Parliament’s resolution in January 2023.
- Activating the “snapback” mechanism as outlined in the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, enabling the reactivation of sanctions resolutions against the regime’s nuclear project.
- Placing the Iranian regime under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which addresses regimes posing a threat to world peace.
- Recognizing the Iranian people’s ongoing struggle to overthrow religious fascism.”
