Your gathering today, this roaring sea of humanity, represents the progress of the Iranian people towards achieving victory.
Here, today, the world sees in you and hears from you the voice of the Iranian people.
Here, today, the world sees in you and hears from you the voice of the Iranian people.
The text of speech by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of resistance of Iran (NCRI) in the gathering of more than 70,000 Iranian exiles in Paris on June 28, 2008:
TEXT OF SPEECH BY
MRS. MARYAM RAJAVI,
PREIDENT-ELECT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN
MRS. MARYAM RAJAVI,
PREIDENT-ELECT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN
JUNE 28, 2008
In the name of God,
In the name of Iran,
In the name of Freedom
Greetings to the people of Iran,
Greetings to the people of Iran,
Greetings to the students, workers, teachers, and courageous men and women who have rebelled against the mullahs’ evil rule;
Greetings to Ashraf City, an inspiration to the women and youth of Iran who have risen up against this regime;
And I salute the 120,000 martyrs who have given their lives for the cause of Iran’s freedom, from Ashraf Rajavi and Moussa Khiabani to Sedigheh Mojaveri, Neda Hassani and Hojjat Zamani.
Greetings to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the sole democratic alternative to the ruling theocracy.
And greetings to Massoud Rajavi, who founded the resistance against the mullahs’ regime,
And who will undoubtedly continue to guide our crisis-ridden homeland towards the shores of liberty.
And who will undoubtedly continue to guide our crisis-ridden homeland towards the shores of liberty.
I hail each and every one of you and your magnificent gathering which demonstrates the splendor of the Iranian people’s resolve;
And I salute the elected representatives, and citizens of other countries, and human rights advocates who have come to the aid of the Iranian people.
Hail to all those who have arisen to overthrow the velayat-e faqih regime.
Eager and defiant we all stand
Onward to victory and freedom’s land
Onward to prosperity and
A proud anthem for our homeland: Victory
Onward to victory and freedom’s land
Onward to prosperity and
A proud anthem for our homeland: Victory
My fellow compatriots,
Your gathering today, this roaring sea of humanity, represents the progress of the Iranian people towards achieving victory.
Here, today, the world sees in you and hears from you the voice of the Iranian people.
An outcry that resonates across the globe,
An outcry that upsets the appeasers and the reactionaries.
The voice of 80 million Iranians who cry out loud: “The mullahs must go.”
Yes, the mullahs must go.
“Every soul will know what it has brought.
[81:15] I swear by the stars which appear in dark skies, shine and then run their course,
A shining that breaks the darkness that has overwhelmed the face of the Earth,
And I swear by the brilliant morning, which blows like a fresh breeze around the globe and heralds life, and certainly freedom.”
(THE HOLY QURAN)
(THE HOLY QURAN)
Dear friends,
Five days ago, the freedom-seeking Resistance movement created a magnificent moment in Iranian history: The unanimous passage in both Houses of the British Parliament of the draft Order to remove the name of the People’s Mojahedin from the terrorist list.
The move heralds a new enlightenment and an astounding transformation in the world’s legal history, turning the dark pages of the past.
As such, shock waves were sent through the regime and the religious dictatorship’s defensive lines crumbled.
The parliamentary sessions in the Houses of Lords and Commons when the order was ratified was truly an unprecedented event in developments concerning Iran. The Iranian people saw an adamant defense of the Iranian people’s Resistance against religious fascism being presented in both Houses of the Parliament in one of the world’s five major powers.
A large number of MPs and Peers spoke to the need to end a disastrous policy of appeasement and recounted the suffering of the oppressed people of Iran, with admirable passion, sense of responsibility, noble humanity, dignity and sense of justice.
With unwavering confidence and courage, Lord Slynn spoke of the soundness of the judgments of the Courts in Britain and Luxembourg in invalidating the terrorist charge against the PMOI.
Lord Corbett lamented the execution of 120,000 sons and daughters of the Iranian people at the hands of the mullahs’ regime.
Lord Waddington followed by insisting that the last page had to be turned, namely that the EU must revoke the designation of the PMOI.
Lord Archer said, “This marks the beginning of the end to the pain and suffering of the Iranian people.”
Lord Clarke added that a long chapter of shame and disgrace is about to end.
Baroness Harris lauded “the brave Iranians” in Ashraf City who “are fighting for the liberation of their country.”
Andrew Mackinlay said that he hoped for the day that the regime in Tehran is overthrown.
Indeed, as they defended the Iranian Resistance, they represented the conscience of people in the West that is against the policy of appeasement, connivance and humiliation.
The Iranian people hail these people’s representatives who are the symbols of peace and democracy.
The unjust terror label against the PMOI brought with it much calamity for us, our nation, the
people of Iraq and the Middle East. Not least were the cranes, from which Iranians were being hanged in cities, and the onslaught of terrorism and bloodshed in Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, we transformed the injustice committed against the Resistance movement into a global campaign in defense of the right of the Iranian people to achieve freedom and democracy.
In the course of a seven-year battle we demonstrated to the citizens of Western nations that their governments, contrary to public claims, have been aiding and abetting the greatest sponsor of state terrorism in the world.
For years, these governments invoked the terror label to block the path of the Iranian Resistance movement.
We, however, proved that this Resistance is legitimate, just and supported by the Iranian people.
Citing the words of the British Parliamentarians, the UK Court emphasized that the PMOI’s military activities against the Iranian regime had been the last resort to oppose tyranny and oppression.
The government had claimed to have classified documents which implicated the Resistance movement.
But, in this campaign, we shed light on the dark and secret chambers of classified documents to the point where the UK Court proclaimed that the classified documents ironically further vindicate the PMOI.
We pushed aside the thick curtain of lies, deception and demonization.
And today, we are proud that the suffering of our people and the members of our Resistance has led to such enlightenment and truth in the world.
Those in the West who conceive that fundamentalism only threatens the people of the Middle East and Muslim nations should glance at the history of these designations and fabrications. They will see how the mullahs ruling Iran have taken law, justice and democracy in important European countries hostage under the pretext of terrorism.
Indeed, how are those who acquiesce to a reactionary and murderous dictatorship, qualified to defend justice and law?
For this reason we say that the removal of the PMOI from the terror list not only opens the way to democratic change in Iran, but it also distances Western governments from a betrayal of democracy, justice and human rights. Removing this tag could mark an end to a chronic idiocy which has afflicted Western policy.
Indeed, after the ratification of both Houses of the British Parliament, new horizons loom.
Now, we must act to return Iran to the community of nations. But the first step must be to transform Iran from being the central banker of terrorism to the central banker of democracy and peace in this region of the world. And this would only be possible through changing the regime in power.
A nuclear-free Iran could be within reach now, but only after pushing back against religious fascism, namely the velayat-e faqih regime.
A peaceful Iran which values coexistence and peace with her neighbors instead of intervention and terrorism is possible, but in the course of a struggle to uproot religious dictatorship.
Indeed, the time has come.
And as the eminent author Victor Hugo has written, “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.”
Indeed, the time has come to march forward and to triumph.
In recent weeks, the clerical regime, through blackmail and deception, has tried to coerce France into supporting the maintaining of the PMOI on the terror list.
The pretext for this unlawful effort is the June 17 dossier. Everyone recalls that this episode, the sweeping raid on the offices of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in 2003 was the result of a direct deal between the Chirac-Villepin government and the clerical regime. The subsequent dossier was essentially empty and unfounded. Because it lacked any credible evidence, it had been formed on the basis of the EU’s blacklisting of the PMOI. That listing no longer has any legal basis and citing it is unlawful.
If this dossier is not empty and invalid, as you claim, then why do you not resolve it five years after it was initiated? And if this case is without merit and your conduct appears to confirm this view, then why are you invoking it to justify the terrorist tag?
I therefore caution that any effort to support the maintaining of the PMOI on the EU terrorist list amounts to a despicable scandal for French policy and is contrary to France’s international obligations in the fight against terrorism and fundamentalism, particularly since in two days France will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union.
I caution that complying with the demands of the mullahs constitutes the greatest treachery to the laws of the French Republic and the European Union. And the anti-Islamic Ayatollahs in Tehran will be emboldened.
From this platform, I call on the Council of Ministers of the European Union to abide by the legal ramifications of the vote in both Houses of the British Parliament, and remove the PMOI from their terrorist list.
The only competent national authority that sought to include the PMOI has now bowed to the decision of its own courts and Parliament and has stepped aside. The EU Council of Ministers no longer has any excuse to continue this listing.
Put an end to this designation.
Indeed, the force of justice and conscience will compel you to abandon this unjust designation.
Indeed, the force of justice and conscience will finally compel you to accept the rights of the
Iranian people to attain freedom and abandon fueling the mullahs’ murder machine.
Let’s turn to the United States of America now. It is common knowledge that from day one the inclusion of the PMOI [the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)] on the State Department’s blacklist was a concession to Khatami and his entourage.
That day, on October 8, 1997, a senior U.S. government official said, “The inclusion was a goodwill gesture to the newly-elected Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.”
They expected that offering ransom and sending goodwill gestures to those who massacred political prisoners would moderate the velayat-e faqih regime. They contended that a viper will give birth to a dove. But that viper gave birth to Ahmadinejad.
Isn’t a show of goodwill towards the mullahs and religious fascism in Iran ultimately a show of ill-will towards the people in Iran, the Middle East and democratic forces in this part of the world?
I must therefore ask, after all this experience, why are you still pursuing the legacy of giving in to the mullahs’ blackmail?
After the terrorist designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Qods Force, why should the demands of the mullahs to designate the PMOI [MEK] continue to be met?
Why should the mullahs and their agents in Iraq be allowed to continue the intolerable restrictions placed on the “protected persons” in Ashraf City?
Earlier this month, three million Iraqi Shiites demanded the expulsion of the Iranian regime and its operatives from Iraq and the removal of the restrictions imposed on the PMOI[MEK].
A majority in the U.S. Congress have voiced support for the PMOI [MEK] and the NCRI on five different occasions and described it as the only solution to fundamentalism. On the other hand, you
bomb the PMOI [MEK] camps in Iraq under the pretext of the terrorist label.
A 16-month investigation by nine different agencies of the U.S. Government into the status of the PMOI [MEK] confirmed that there was no basis to charge any member of this movement with terrorism.
If you stand with the Iranian people as they stand for liberty, then end the terrorist designation of their Resistance movement. This is a resistance with 120,000 martyrs lost to the cause of freedom.
Do not deprive the world of the most effective counterweight to fundamentalism and terrorism.
The third president of the United States, and author of the US Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, eloquently described the state of oppressed people. It could well be a description of the Iranian people and Resistance today. He said, “When patience has begotten false estimates of its motives, when wrongs are pressed because it is believed they will be borne, resistance becomes morality.”
And I quote the Declaration of Independence, “Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.”
Today, many American thinkers, parliamentarians and personalities acknowledge that the policy of rapprochement with the mullahs’ regime has been quite harmful to U.S. national security.
Of course, we have always said: “Go ahead and negotiate with the mullahs as much as you want.”
Today, there are many in the U.S. and Europe who have recognized that investing in dialogue with the mullahs’ regime is a waste of time, as if one were to cook a piece of rock.
I must remind you that the Iranian Resistance has never asked the U.S. or any other country to send their men and women to war in order to confront the mullahs.
Today, there are many in the U.S. and Europe who have recognized that investing in dialogue with the mullahs’ regime is a waste of time, as if one were to cook a piece of rock.
I must remind you that the Iranian Resistance has never asked the U.S. or any other country to send their men and women to war in order to confront the mullahs.
We only ask that you remove the shackles of your terrorist list from the hands and feet of the Iranian people.
We are telling you:
After marching down a long path riddled with errors, in search for moderation and ways of changing the behavior of the velayat-e faqih dictatorship, the time has come for you to stand on the side of history. Stand on the side which heralds freedom for the people of Iran.
Look at the experience of the UK government: If resistance and sacrifice for freedom against religious fascism is righteous and just, if this is the course of history, two important lessons of this experience must be learned.
The first is that designating just resistance to dictatorship and religious fascism that pays no heed to the people’s will and opposes free elections is not a source of honor. It only brings shame.
The second is that the force of justice and good conscience, and those who advocate it, will ultimately triumph. Indeed, freedom is within reach, and we will ultimately achieve the goal of freedom.
Amid the horrific killings and tragedies that rock Iraq everyday, two weeks ago, we were witness to the blossoming of a stunning political, social and cultural movement against the influence and interference by the Iranian regime in that country, manifesting itself in the declaration of three
million honorable Shiites of Iraq.
Three million grievous Iraqi Shiites demanded a halt to the Iranian regime’s meddling and crimes and called for its expulsion from Iraq. They demanded an end to the injustice and restrictions against the Mojahedin [PMOI/MEK], who are themselves Shiites.
The called for an end to scenarios similar to the killing of workers going to Ashraf when their bus was bombed.
They called for an end to the bombing of a water pumping station serving Ashraf [home to the members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Iraq], and which also provided water to 20,000 Iraqi inhabitants in 60 to 70 degree weather.
They called for an end to abductions of the Mojahedin, two of whom have so far been kidnapped in Baghdad.
They also called for an end to missile attacks on Ashraf, one case of which happened as recently as May 26th of this year.
The mullahs falsely claim that the Mojahedin had massacred Iraqi Shiites. But now, three million Iraqi Shiites emphasize in their declaration, “The PMOI… acts as the counterbalance to this regime and is a strong bulwark against the regime’s meddling in Iraq, and has always stood with the Iraqi people.”
The declaration shook the foundations of the mullahs’ rule in Tehran. The regime recognized the threat this posed to its influence, meddling and crimes in Iraq. There was nothing better than this that could have pushed back the mullahs who were exploiting the credibility of the revered Shiite Imams. The mullahs and their policy of sowing discord by taking advantage of Shiites’ grievances were dealt a strategic blow. It was obvious that the mullahs’ Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei] feared for his investments in Iraq. This was particularly the case because those who drafted this historic declaration chose to announce it in Ashraf City.
Immediately after the declaration, paid agents of the IRGC’s Qods Force in Iraq mimicked the mullahs by condemning millions of Iraqis who voiced support for the Mojahedin. So furious were the mullahs that they made no effort to disguise their intention to export their inhuman punishments to Iraq to be meted out to anyone who had supported this declaration.
They declared, “Any individual, party, organization and institution in Iraq that would cooperate with the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq, whether Iraqi or otherwise, would be subject to anti-terrorism legislation and will be handed over to the judiciary.”
In the mullah’s book, the three million Iraqi Shiites who signed this declaration are guilty;
135 parties, groups and associations which sponsored the declaration are guilty;
Any association which procured medicine, food or clothing for the Mojahedin in Ashraf has committed an offence;
In addition, all dignified and free-thinking representatives and spokespersons of the Iraqi people who are present here are guilty;
And those courageous and heroic deputies in Iraq’s National Assembly who said they are proud to stand with the victim, no matter what the cost, are guilty;
And Paulo Casaca who was in Ashraf when the declaration was announced is guilty and must be handed over to the Judiciary.
In addition, Lord Slynn and many jurists as well as European and American personalities and Members of Congress who have gone to Ashraf, are guilty;
Even Dr. Vidal Quadras, the European Parliament’s Vice President, who has sent many video messages to Ashraf, is guilty.
135 parties, groups and associations which sponsored the declaration are guilty;
Any association which procured medicine, food or clothing for the Mojahedin in Ashraf has committed an offence;
In addition, all dignified and free-thinking representatives and spokespersons of the Iraqi people who are present here are guilty;
And those courageous and heroic deputies in Iraq’s National Assembly who said they are proud to stand with the victim, no matter what the cost, are guilty;
And Paulo Casaca who was in Ashraf when the declaration was announced is guilty and must be handed over to the Judiciary.
In addition, Lord Slynn and many jurists as well as European and American personalities and Members of Congress who have gone to Ashraf, are guilty;
Even Dr. Vidal Quadras, the European Parliament’s Vice President, who has sent many video messages to Ashraf, is guilty.
Lord Corbett begins his message with saluting Ashraf. So he too is guilty! Our neighbors in Auvers-sur-Oise who have been to Ashraf are also guilty! From time to time, our compatriots chant we are Ashrafi! I have heard Raymond Tanter say the same thing! So all of us are in one way or another guilty! Because all of us are Ashrafis.
Indeed, we are all Ashrafis and are proud of it.
Yes, this is the nature of religious fascism. It considers anyone who dissents as being guilty and deserving of being handed over to the mullahs’ judiciary so that their heads could be punctured with drills and their unidentified mutilated bodies buried in mass graves.
The International Committee of Jurists in Defense of Ashraf has in official letters to U.S. and Iraqi officials, repeatedly declared that the PMOI and residents of Ashraf welcome the opportunity to appear in any international court in Europe or North America to defend against any allegations levied against them by the Iranian regime and its proxies in Iraq.
The International Committee of Jurists has emphatically stated that it recognizes the International Fact Finding Commission, a credible international agency affiliated with the United Nations, as the competent authority to engage in an impartial examination of any allegation against the PMOI [MEK] and accepts its arbitration so as to dismiss the misguided information and demonization campaign of the mullahs’ regime.
Let me return to three million Iraqis and their declaration:
The hysteric reaction by the regime and its agents in Iraq demonstrated, above everything else, the importance of the declaration by 3 million Iraqi Shiites.
Indeed, this was a turning point in the struggle of the people of Iraq in rejecting the fascism of the velayat-e faqih in their country.
Indeed, this was a turning point in the struggle of the people of Iraq in rejecting the fascism of the velayat-e faqih in their country.
It was a turning point in the expression of support by Iraqis for the Mojahedin [PMOI/MEK] as a bulwark against the regime.
And a turning point in shedding the dark stain Khomeini has placed on the visage of true Shiism and Islam.
The velayat-e faqih regime, having reached an impasse in Iran, was determined on dominating Iraq as a way to continue its survival.
But, today, its policy of meddling and terrorism in Iraq is backfiring in the face of the mullahs’ regime in its entirety.
We can imagine a day when the disintegration of the pro-regime front in Iraq will herald the shattering of the bastion of velayat-e faqih in Tehran.
When the UK Court of Appeal revoked the terrorist label against the PMOI [MEK], Ashraf City came under the mullahs’ missile attacks. And now that the Shiites have rebelled against this regime, Ashraf is again the target of vengeance. Why it that?
Because Ashraf is a bastion of resistance with deep roots among the Iranian nation.
Ashraf is present in the unrelenting protests of young Iranians and workers’ uprisings and students’ strikes.
Greetings to the heroines and heroes in Ashraf City. As Massoud Rajavi said, “Ashraf is the symbol
of perseverance and inevitable victory.”
Today, the Iranian people and people in countries that are the targets of terrorism and fundamentalism are suffering from the policies of Western countries, which have emboldened the religious fascism. Their policies, according to the British courts, are perverse. It is treachery because it undermines global peace and security.
Look at the nuclear file.
The Iranian Resistance exposed the mullahs’ nuclear sites in the summer of 2002.
In the past six years, this movement has acted as the biggest factor in alerting the world to the dangers of a nuclear-armed religious dictatorship by making no less than 80 revelations about different aspects of the mullahs’ nuclear weapons program.
Western governments, however, have done nothing but waste the international community’s time and buy the mullahs more time instead.
Indeed, four years of negotiations, two years of incentive policy and altogether, six years of continuous retreat.
When the mullahs unilaterally broke the seals of their nuclear facilities, and resumed uranium enrichment, Western governments retreated by offering an incentive package.
When the regime refused to permanently suspend enrichment, the 5+1 retreated by conceding to suspension only during negotiations.
And when the mullahs rebuffed even this offer, Western governments accepted a nominal suspension.
And in the next step, the 5+1 retreated from suspension to the request that the regime not install any new centrifuges. This is the essence of Javier Solana’s package offered to Tehran two weeks ago.
And in the next step, the 5+1 retreated from suspension to the request that the regime not install any new centrifuges. This is the essence of Javier Solana’s package offered to Tehran two weeks ago.
At one time, they were insisting that they are not prepared to offer the Iranian regime security guarantees. But, then again, they retreated from that position as well.
Ironically, while Ahmadinejad’s train to nuclear weapons has no gears or brakes, his foreign interlocutors seem to only have a reverse gear.
In Security Council resolutions, they give the regime two or three months to comply. But then again they take a year to pass each resolution.
In all these years, Western governments have always acquiesced to the mullahs’ demands to crackdown on the PMOI [the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)]. In the words of diplomats engaged in these talks, this has been on top of the regime’s priorities.
And after moving along and encouraging the long path of negotiations, they gave so much leeway to the mullahs’ deception and concealment that the Americans suddenly discovered that the mullahs had stopped the production of nuclear weapons five years ago.
Was this really an intelligence report or some sort of magical act?
These incentives and concessions have so emboldened the mullahs that three days ago, Majlis
Speaker Ali Larijani implicitly warned that the regime will pursue the bomb. He said that if the West does not tolerate the regime, it might face a fait accompli. Earlier this month, IAEA Chief El Baradai was given the same message from Iran’s rulers that if they are given sufficient incentives, they can build the bomb in the near future.
Indeed, why is it that the greater the incentives the more the mullahs’ appetite for building the bomb?
You may have heard of the fable by the famous Iranian poet Obeyd Zakani about the mice and the cat six centuries ago.
One day the mice decided to change the behavior of a wild cat by offering him incentive packages.
But the more incentives they offered, the hungrier the cat became.
As Zakani put it:
“Seven bitten mice courted the cat, each with a colorful gift …
“The mice pleaded with the cat, ’Your highness, we offer our servitude to you’….
And, you know the rest of the story. The cat, which previously could only catch one mouse a year, got emboldened by the colorful gifts …
“The mice pleaded with the cat, ’Your highness, we offer our servitude to you’….
And, you know the rest of the story. The cat, which previously could only catch one mouse a year, got emboldened by the colorful gifts …
‘He used to catch a single one of us every year,
But now with a lot more appetite, the numbers have grown to five’.”
But now with a lot more appetite, the numbers have grown to five’.”
One should not be under the illusion that incentive packages are a novelty.
In Iraq as well, these gentlemen have followed the strategy of incentive packages to the letter.
Of course, through the mediation of Mr. Jack Straw, the camps of the Iranian opposition in Iraq were bombed and then Iraq’s borders with Iran were left open and unguarded to the mullahs’ infiltration.
In the next step, the mullahs’ regime murdered Iraqi men, women and children in cold blood, and destroyed the country by exporting its bombs to it. It did not even spare mosques and the holy shrines. But officials refrained from admitting the obvious fact that all the bombings and the killings were being carried out on the orders of the Iranian regime’s leadership and its Supreme Leader.
In the next step, the mullahs’ regime murdered Iraqi men, women and children in cold blood, and destroyed the country by exporting its bombs to it. It did not even spare mosques and the holy shrines. But officials refrained from admitting the obvious fact that all the bombings and the killings were being carried out on the orders of the Iranian regime’s leadership and its Supreme Leader.
And now as you look at Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan, you notice that the policy of incentives and appeasement has swung open the gates to the regime’s infiltration and intervention everywhere.
The mullahs boast of this brutality before the Iranian people in order to conceal their utter weakness. They say brazenly that we have Islamicized the Middle East and turned it into our strategic depth.
But, there is hardly anyone who does not know that the onslaught by Khamenei and Ahmadinejad is beholden to appeasement and the pathetic weakness of the West.
Indeed, the evil of fundamentalism has been riding on the shoulders of the guardians of appeasement from one corner of the world to the next.
And it is even more astonishing that some have not realized that religious fascism cannot change its behavior because that would immediately and inevitably lead to its overthrow.
They opine that they are paying a lesser price today. But all the while they are actually imposing war and catastrophe on the world.
We tell them that instead of appeasement act firmly and recognize the Resistance movement working to change the Iranian regime. As such, change would be within reach and the specter of war will dissipate. This is to your own advantage.
We say, “Do not invest in the continuation of the mullahs’ rule.”
We say, “Do not continue the futile effort to ignore the Iranian people’s Resistance.”
This Resistance movement cannot and will not be intimidated.
We are the voice of the voiceless in Iran. We are the voice of those who want us to represent their hopes, ideals and dreams.
To those who have accepted to deal with and appease this regime, or are afraid of changing it, we say:
You are suffering from four major miscalculations.
First, you have believed the mullahs’ posturing. They are selling their terrorism and brutality as a sign of strength for their faltering regime. You have been intimidated by that.
Your second major mistake is that you either have no understanding of the extent of the Iranian people’s resentment towards the regime or you are deliberately covering it up.
The Iranian regime’s lobby propagates the belief that the Iranian people would unite in support of the regime in the face of the world community’s firmness, such as that exuded by international sanctions. And, you are repeating these absurdities.
Do you not know that the Iranian people, more than anything else, despise the ruling mullahs, who ravage, pillage and raise cranes to hang people in the streets?
And your third mistake is that you ignore the explosive potential of Iranian society.
The mullahs and their spin doctors are bent on covering up the Iranian people’s yearning for democratic change. They are bent on using the services of the international movement for peace in favor of making peace with and appeasing religious fascism.
And your fourth error is that you ignore the real solution to the Iranian problem, which is the people’s Resistance.
By demonizing the Iranian Resistance, the mullahs are trying to distort its credibility and its deep roots in Iranian society, in order to suggest that there is no force which could overthrow them. But, this is a mistake.
The Iranian crisis is a major one. But there is a force that can resolve it and that force is the Iranian Resistance.
This is a Resistance movement which will stir social uprisings and major movements by the Iranian people.
This is a Resistance movement, which by virtue of the PMOI [MEK], is the antithesis to fascism under the banner of Islam and Shiism, and has in the past three decades discredited the so-called Islamic foundations of the ruling regime in the eyes of the Iranian people and exposed its demagoguery.
This Resistance movement is the standard bearer to the Third Option. And, the struggle and the sacrifice of its members and supporters will render the Third Option victorious.
This Resistance enjoys the leadership of Massoud Rajavi, who has symbolized the ideal of the Iranian people’s freedom in the context of a deeply-rooted and capable movement and has preserved and strengthened it in the midst of storms. He has plucked much good from much evil and amid the most complex circumstances in the past three decades has advanced a principled strategy. And through painstaking patience and great sacrifice, he has brought victory into the horizon.
Truly, he has given hope amid hopelessness.
Here let me say a few words to our non-Iranian friends, particularly our French friends, who have stood by us in the widespread campaign against fundamentalism.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted that you have joined us here today.
Your message to the people of my country is that you support their struggle for democracy.
Your message to them is that the people of Europe are opposed to appeasing religious fascism.
The Iranian people will always remember you, for your sincere support during the June 17, 2003 incident and for your support in the campaign against the terrorist designation.
We have chosen resistance against religious fascism just like France when it chose to resist Hitler. Ours was a Resistance, the sacrifice of whose members allowed France to reclaim her love for freedom and democracy. The likes of Charles de Gaulle, Jean Moulin, Manouchian, Lucie Aubrac, Germaine Tillon, Danielle Casanova and many other famous or nameless members of the Resistance.
I salute them and all of you here. I salute the elected representatives of the people of Europe and France. I salute political personalities, advocates of peace and human rights and countless women and men who have come here from all over France, especially from Saint Denis and Val d’Oise, who have rushed to support and advance the Resistance’s cause.
I must tell you that all of your efforts have been effective in advancing the struggle of the Iranian people against the mullahs’ regime.
Your endeavors dashed the propaganda by Ahmadinejad and revealed that he is the main enemy of the Arab, African and Muslim peoples because he sows the seeds of discord and civil war.
Your solidarity delivered a blow to the policy of appeasement. You are our friends during the dark times. You showed that solidarity and generosity is effective.
Through your efforts, you created an international front against fundamentalism. And this is a novel phenomenon.
When our Resistance eventually triumphs, it is not only Iran that will be free. Our triumph will save human society from the dangers of the ogre of fundamentalism and revive such values as human solidarity.
I thank you again. Please allow me to continue in Farsi.
Dear Compatriots,
The ruling mullahs cry out that they will forever safeguard and maintain their absolute rule embodied in the velayat-e faqih.
Appeasers tell us that freedom is nothing but mere hope worthy of being forgotten.
The regime’s apologists claim that the people are too fatigued by experience to rise up once again and change the ruling regime. Using a taunting tone, they say that sacrifice and love of freedom are ancient relics. And, they say that those fallen flowers running with the wind all sacrificed themselves in vain.
But, we say that there is a certain energy and force in the Iranian society and its history. We say that there is a never-ending thirst in the oppressed, which is foreign to a world outlook of surrender, shame, and disgrace.
This explosion of locked energies and shackled dreams, and this irrepressible love for freedom will tear asunder and form a thunderous outburst, capable of shattering all barriers.
We believe in a power that no other power in the world can withhold.
Indeed,
We are certain of a great dawn.
The sky is lightening up bit by bit
And we see the birth of a sun which speaks of freedom.
The day will come when every Iranian will enjoy the right to freedom and security and all citizens are equal before the law.
The day will come when the exhilarating dawn of freedom will embrace the lives of the Iranian people: Freedom of expression, freedom of belief, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom of clothing.
The day will come when life in the hell the mullahs have created will give way to life in a democratic society, so that everyone would have the right to part take in decisions about the most important political affairs of society; And, when the right to change the government is respected.
The day will come when instead of this scorched land, hundreds of flowers will blossom in Iran with the freedom of thought, parties, assembly, organizations and syndicates.
The day will come when cranes, from which people are hung, torture chambers and torture acts are all but frightening tales of the past.
The day will come when the horrific abyss of bigotry will give way to tolerance and understanding.
No religion will be privileged. No one will be denied his/her right because of the belief or non-belief in a religion; And there is the separation of church and state.
The day will come when the world of suppression and discrimination against Iranian women will crumble and gender equality will steer the Iranian society towards a new world.
And that day is very close.
So,
“In the name of the Iranian people’s happiness and prosperity and in order to contribute to world peace…”
To realize the ideal of June 20, 1981 and Operation Eternal Light in 1998,
I call upon everyone to expand the struggle for the overthrow of the ruling religious fascism.
The glimmer of dawn is before our eyes
We are advancing to toward the peaks of victory
Toward my homeland, Iran
This is the voice of the Iranian people
The mullahs must go,
They must go,
They must go.
