The human rights situation in Iran has deteriorated since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has come to power, criticized Maryam Rajavi.
Berlin – Maryam Rajavi, the President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran warns: the mullahs in Tehran will not give up the bomb. The exiled politician sees a growing Iranian influence in neighboring Iraq.
Maryam Rajavi is the President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the largest organization of Iranian exile politicians. On Saturday Rajavi appeared at a conference of their organization in Berlin on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
Other speakers were the former President of the Bundestag Rita Süssmuth (CDU), the former Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP), former Vice-President of the European Commission, Günter Verheugen (SPD) and former Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Wolfgang Huber. The exiled politician warns that the mullahs in Tehran will not give up the bomb and is set against a growing Iranian influence in neighboring Iraq.
Maryam Rajavi said; the mullahs’ regime has never been and cannot be a trusted interlocutor. This has been proved. We look back at 30 years of secrecy and deception. During the current negotiations, the Iranian Resistance has revealed another secret nuclear facility of the regime. The regime has not presented any part of its nuclear program voluntarily.
Rajavi added: Under the impact of the current Western policy, particularly the United States, the mullahs will not give up the bomb. They keep working on this program because the price they have to pay for the violating of international law is small. The regime must be forced with pressure and international sanctions, to comply completely with UN Security Council resolutions, completely cease uranium enrichment and accept snap inspections. “The Iranian regime is the godfather of IS,” she added.
Regarding the Iranian regime goal in the neighboring Iraq, Rajavi replied: The mullahs do not want to fight and destroy IS, but strengthen fundamentalism and bring the entire region under their suzerainty. Iraq is the ideal springboard for that. The Iranian regime is the godfather of IS and was the most important factor in the conditions of its formation and propagation. To give the regime a free hand under the pretext of fighting ISIS is extremely dangerous for the region and the world.
Mrs. Rajavi continued to say the wrong policy of the US and the West as a whole following 2003 has gradually turned the region’s hegemony over to the mullahs’ regime. After the fall of Maliki this influence somewhat weakened, but under the pretext of fighting the ISIS, the mullahs are now trying to gain back their lost influence and cement their dominance over Iraq. The only solution to the problem is now facing Iraq and as the first step in solving the problem of fundamentalism, is to expel the Iranian regime from Iraq.
According to Mrs. Rajavi as a first step to rid the fundamentalism is to evict the Iranian regime from Syria and Iraq. This will give the democratic and tolerant Islam recognition and prestige and would be a cultural response to this ominous phenomenon. The solution of the fundamentalism and terrorism in the region is to replace this regime with the democratic popular government.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran who believes in a democratic and tolerant Islam and is led by women who resist fundamentalism, are the antithesis of this phenomenon in Iran.
Mrs. Rajavi corroborated on the human rights in Iran and charged that since Rouhani has been in power, the number of executions in Iran has increased. On Wednesday, 21 prisoners were executed, six of them Sunni political prisoners. The human rights situation has deteriorated dramatically during his tenure. Toward the end of last year dozens of women were acid attacked in the street. This was in response to the a government sanctioned bill in the parliament allowing and empowering criminal Basij forces to act indiscriminately and boldly without the fear of being prosecuted to splash acid at the face of women who in the mullahs’ view were not properly covered under their Islamic code.
Iranian people oppose the mullahs’ government and demand their fundamental rights. The public opposition to the regime is growing. %70 of the population live below the poverty line. 12 million people suffer from malnutrition. Despite the regime’s ignorance and failure to admit, the rate of inflation is on rise, the unemployment has reached unmanageable proportions. The condition in the country is ripe for a change. The mullahs are trying to prolong their survivor by resorting to extreme violence and repression to hold back the explosive situation in the country.
Mrs. Rajavi said there is no freedom in Iran. The regime only survives through torture and execution. However, we have a strong network in Iran, which is active in many areas. It organizes protests against the government collects findings revealed violations of human rights and the nuclear program of the regime.
Asked about the proper German policy in Iran, Mrs. Rajavi replied: Germany cannot remain silent about the increasing killings and human rights violations in Iran and Iraq as well as the interference of the Iranian regime in Iraq. The activities of front organizations of the Revolutionary Guards in Germany must end and their agents must be expelled from the country. The interests that Germany can share with the Iranian people, would go much further than short-term political and economic interests. For Germany peace and security in the world that threaten the mullahs must be more important than short-term goals.
