Supporters of the Iranian Resistance held a large rally at Brussels on Monday where foreign ministers of the European Union convened to meet and discuss the situation in Iran, among other topics. The participants called on EU leaders to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization because of its involvement in the spread of terror across the globe and its role in the brutal suppression of protests in Iran.
The rally was held hours before Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and against the backdrop of seven months of ongoing protests in Iran that have continued despite a violent response by the regime. Lawmakers in the U.S., UK, and European Parliament have called on world leaders to take a firm stance against the regime, including the proscription of the IRGC.
Members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Ashraf 3, Albania, joined the rally through video conference.
In her keynote address to the rally, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that the answer to the regime’s brutality “lies in the organized protests, demonstrations, and uprisings, led by the Resistance Units, and the Iranian people’s great Army of Freedom.”
The regime has tried to counter these efforts by propping up “the pseudo-solutions arising from reactionary and foreign interests, namely, the remnants of the toppled dictatorial regime, and those defecting the regime ranks,” Mrs. Rajavi added.
“This political and social bankruptcy, as well as international disgrace, which has gripped the front of tyranny and dependence, is a result of the achievements of the Iranian people, uprising, and the Resistance movement,” she said. “Neither these charades, nor compromises with the regime, nor attempts to appease them will save Khamenei from being overthrown.”
Mrs. Rajavi stressed that refraining from designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization will not result in the mullahs abandoning their nuclear bomb-making project.
“The IRGC is the clerical regime’s main tool for implementing its criminal policies both domestically and abroad,” she said.
Mrs. Rajavi warned that today, the IRGC’s terrorist activities have reached Europe and the U.S. “Delaying [the terrorist designation of the IRGC] will only provide more opportunities for the mullahs to continue and escalate their suppression and belligerence,” she said.
Mrs. Rajavi called on the EU to stop sending political and financial aid to the enemy of the Iranian people instead of verbal expressions of sympathy with the people of Iran.
“It is time to take action and shut down the regime’s embassies. The EU must end its deals with the regime and expel the operatives of the mullahs’ IRGC and MOIS from its borders,” she said. “The Iranian people and their courageous youth have the right to defend themselves against the IRGC and to overthrow the regime. The international community must recognize this right.”
Belgian MP Latifa Aït Baala pointed out in her speech that the protest movement in Iran started with the struggle against the shah’s dictatorship. “The people of Iran don’t want tyranny. The regime is a danger to its own people as well as a threat to peace and stability across the globe,” she said.
Aït Baala warned that not only does the regime suppress its own people but its also takes other nationals as hostages to use as bargaining chips. She also stressed that lawmakers in different countries are calling for the terrorist-designation of the IRGC.
“The people of Iran have been deprived of the freedom we enjoy today. It has been confiscated by the mullahs’ regime. And we’ve gathered here to reclaim this freedom,” she said.
Former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli called on the international community to “be on the right side of history.”
“Be on the side of the Iranian people, not of the mullahs. Be on the side of freedom, not short-term economic opportunity. Be on the side where you can be proud that at this decisive moment in the history of the Iranian people, you stood with the Iranian people in the fight for their freedom,” he said.
Torricelli stressed that the right policy toward the regime is to shut down their embassies and declare them as terrorists.
He also emphasized that while everyone is welcome to join the struggle, as the four-decade fight for freedom nears fruition, the people of Iran will not accept “to exchange one dictator for another.”
“If you believe in Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan, a republic of gender equality, a non-nuclear Iran, Iran at peace, an Iran that does not execute or persecuted people, a democratic free Iran, if these are your principles, whether you are always with us or you’ve never been with us, but you join us now, you are welcome,” he said.
Patrick Kennedy, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, described the IRGC as “nothing more than a modern Gestapo.”
“Europe and the United States and countries around the world stood up against Adolf Hitler because he was a threat to democracy and freedom all around the world. And today, we are seeing that same fight from the people of Iran, but also people from around the world, to stand up against the mullahs’ brutal dictatorship,” Kennedy said. “We must understand that this is not merely an Iranian issue. This is a world human rights issue. I may not be from Tehran. But I am standing with all of those in Iran who want the same freedom that I enjoy in the United States.”
Kennedy stressed that Iran’s regime is the largest state sponsor of terrorism around the world.
“The IRGC is a tool of the mullahs, just as the embassy here in Brussels, in Germany, and in Austria is nothing more than an arm of the mullahs’ dictatorship,” he said. He also emphasized that Belguim must not hand over the terrorist Assadollah Assadi over to the regime. Assadi, an Vienna-based Iranian diplomat, was arrested while trying to bomb an Iranian Resistance rally in France in 2018. He was tried in a Belgian court and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mark Demesmaeker, member of the Belgian Senate, said, “The people of Iran have shown the whole world that they want regime change, that they reject the current religious dictatorship of the mullahs, and that they don’t want to go back to the dictatorship of the Shah.”
Demesmaeker stressed that the mullahs’ regime is a threat to Europe and is sponsoring terrorism through its embassies in European countries.
“The European Union and its member states must take a firm position against the Iranian regime by designating the IRGC in the terrorist list of the European Union. What are they waiting for?” he said.
Els Ampe, Member of the Belgian Senate, said, “Let us celebrate the courage of Iranian women who have shown the world that the human spirit can never be broken.”
Ampe also expressed her support of MEK members in Ashraf 3 and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.
“Thank you for standing up for gender equality, freedom of speech, the separation between religion and state, and economic freedom for all Iranians,” she said.
Belgian MP Françoise Schepmans voiced her support for the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and a secular, democratic republic.
Manel Msalmi, international affairs advisor at the European Parliament, said, “The people of Iran have paid a heavy price for their freedom. We must support them and let them know that you, Europe, and the international community do care about human rights, about their freedom, about a democratic, secular republic that respects human and women’s rights.”
Msalmi highlighted the leading role of women in recent protests despite the regime’s brutal response.
“It is no coincidence that women have such an active role in the protest in Iran for a secular and democratic republic. It is four decades of struggle, led by the Iranian democratic opposition and Mrs. Rajavi,” she said.
Msalmi also reiterated the call to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Mehdi Same, Spokesman for the Iranian People’s Fedayian Organization and NCRI Industry Committee Chair, said that Khamenei is using all his tricks and agents to suppress the revolution but the people have continued their uprising and are determined to overthrow the regime.
“The people of Iran have the right to live in democracy and freedom. This is the duty of the Iranian people and the Resistance Units to achieve it,” he said. “We don’t demand any state to do this for us. We are against foreign intervention. Our only demand is for the international community to respect UN and human rights principles and stop aiding the regime and its suppressive apparatus. The IRGC must be listed as a terrorist organization.”
Baba Sheikh Hosseini, Secretary General of the Iranian Kurdistan’s Khebat Organization, said that the people of Iran are sacrificing their lives to achieve their rights, to put an end to tyranny, as they did in 1979 and put an end to the shah’s dictatorship forever.
“Our struggle is legitimate because we are fighting the most criminal regime, a regime whose atrocities are evident across the world,” he said. “We ask the international community to stop appeasing this regime and to put the IRGC on the terrorist list.
“If the IRGC is not put on the terror list, it will be a disaster for the international community. We ask once again from the European Council to put the IRGC on the terror list, shut down the regime’s embassies, and expel its agents.”
