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U.S. lawmakers join Iranian dissidents in France for giant regime change rally


The Washington Times reported on the Iranian opposition taking part in  an annual rally in Paris, France on Saturday, June 13, 2015 calling for regime change in Iran, and condemning Western powers’ concession to the Iranian regime in a futile hope of keeping nuclear bomb out of the reach of the mullahs.
The gathering, led by the an influential Iranian exile organization — the National Council of Resistance of Iran — featured speeches and appearances by dozens of current and former officials from the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, all of whom joined in the call for Iran’s Islamist government to be overthrown.
Among the more high-profile was Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who told the massive crowd in a pre-recorded video message that “the Iranian regime [is] the true epicenter of Islamic extremism in the world.”
Despite participating in nuclear negotiations with Western powers, Mr. McCain said, Iran’s leadership “continues to fund terror and incite chaos and in its campaign for domination in the vacuum of American withdrawal.”
Several U.S. lawmakers were there in person. Among them, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, drew large cheers by declaring that he wanted to “remind the brutal mullahs in Iran that their day is coming and it will come soon!”
“I see a day coming when thugs riding motorcycles will not beat people up in the streets in order to silence them in Iran,” Mr. Rohrabacher said. “I see a day when women asking for rights will no longer be thrown in jail and beaten and raped in Iran. I see a day when the mullahs will not be choosing the candidates.”
He also slammed the nuclear negotiations with Iran, claiming they distract from what should be a Western policy backing the Iranian government’s overthrow.
The rally was organized by the exiled National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) — an umbrella organization that members claim includes more than 300 opposition groups peppered across 24 nations.
A large screen behind Maryam Rajavi broadcast the slogans: “Regime Change in Iran” and, “We can and we must.”
“Look at today’s Iran, do you see any Iranians not longing for change? All of them feel the same pain and demand for change,” she told the crowd, asserting that her organization stands for “freedom, democracy and equality.”
Ahead of Saturday’s rally, Mrs. Rajavi claimed in an interview with The Washington Times that the “circumstances are ripe for regime change” in Tehran, and blamed Washington and other Western governments for standing in the way by legitimizing the regime of Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei through the pursuit of a nuclear deal.
“Through their policy of appeasement and giving concessions to the regime, Western governments have served as an obstacle to the regime’s overthrow,” she said. “In the absence of Western assistance, this regime would have fallen by now.”
Few dispute the organization is massive — some even describe it as the largest Iranian dissident group in the world.
Saturday’s gathering brought together a bipartisan who’s who of former and current political players from both the U.S. and Europe.
Former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was there, as was former CIA Director James Woolsey, American power lawyer Alan Dershowitz and a host of others.
Like Mr. McCain, Reps. Edward R. Royce and Eliot L. Engel — the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, respectively — recorded video messages expressing their support for the rally.
Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat and the House Minority Leader, penned a letter of support calling the “a vital part of our shared efforts to support democracy, human rights, and justice in Iran and throughout the world.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani went further. Appearing on stage on Saturday afternoon, he slammed the Obama administration for pursing a nuclear deal with Iran and ignoring the possibility of regime change.
“We’re told there is no alternative,” Mr. Giuliani said. “Wake up! How Many people are here today? 100,000, 110,000?”
Several former U.S. officials who spoke with The Times during the rally in France last year asserted that their support for the group’s core message was real and passionate.
Former Democratic National Committee Howard Dean, who has attended for the past several years, told The Times that he was there Saturday because of concern over the fate of MEK “dissidents in Ashraf and Camp liberty.”
“I feel that when the United States makes a commitment they have to keep it and the U.S. has not kept our commitments to the 2,400 people that are still in Ashraf,” said Mr. Dean. “In fact, we have barely lifted a finger.”
Some at the rally said they had deep personal ties to Camp Ashraf. Fahali Lafzya, 58, said her daughter was stuck at the camp and died after becoming ill and not being allowed by Iraqi authorities to leave.
Mrs. Lafzya said also decried the government of Iran. “There are so many executions and torture in Iran,” she said. “At least there is someone here to raise the flag and gather people, to back us, because the regime kills and tortures.”
Another high-profile American on hand Saturday was P.J. Crowley, the U.S. State Department’s spokesman during the early years of the Obama administration.
In an interview, Mr. Crowley acknowledged that the NCRI and MEK have a “controversial” history, but said it was far less relevant than the message of democracy and freedom projected by Saturday’s rally.
“In the U.S., the Tea Party is controversial,” said Mr. Crowley. “There is a history with this group. There is no question about it, but again, political groups evolve. This group has embraced a democratic agenda, it is an organization with diverse perspectives and ultimately for the opposition here — they will have to find a way to compete inside Iran.”
Former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, who was also on hand, said the “main goal here is to make sure that this very important issue stays on the radar of our political leaders, especially [President Obama].”
“I don’t propose or pretend to forecast what the government [will be] in Iran after the current regime is replaced – and they will be replaced either by a popular uprising or external factors or collapsing on the weight of their own activities,” Mr. Freeh said in an interview. “What I do propose a fair and open process of choosing the successor to this regime. If it’s to be the MEK that’s fine. If it’s to be another group, that’s fine too.”

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