Rajavi: Freedom in Iran is answer to crisis in Middle East

At a conference held at the French National Assembly on October 27th 2015, and sponsored by the Parliamentary Committee for a Democratic Iran, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, Maryam Rajavi, delivered a rousing speech condemning the persistence of human rights abuses under President Hassan Rouhani. In a conference led by Mr. Dominique Lefebvre, member of the French National Assembly, Rajavi argued that the Iranian regime has maintained its grip on power in “two pillars” – suppression of freedoms at home and in the exportation of terrorism beyond its borders.

Firstly, an upswing in the number of executions (annually, it is estimated that an average of 1000 executions take place, a figure notably higher than under Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), arbitrary imprisonments, instances of free speech suppression and the targeting of women’s rights are all symptoms of a deep insecurity within Iran. The imprisoning of many bloggers, journalists and filmmakers is a symptom of a paranoid leadership, said Rajavi.

Secondly, Iran’s warmongering in Syria and its exportation of terrorism in the Middle East has had enormous geopolitical consequences, she added. The rise and spread of ISIS and its fundamentalist Islamic ideology – inspiring terrorist attacks on European soil such as in the Charlie Hebdo assassinations earlier this year – is a direct outcome of Iran’s meddling in Syria and support for Bashar al-Assad. She declared: “If it were not for the mullahs’ support for Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his criminal policies, there would have been no opportunity for the ISIS to grow and expand”. Similarly, the thousands of refugees fleeing Syria and seeking asylum in Europe are the product of Iran’s continued interference in the conflict.

Rajavi added that continued diplomacy between the Iranian government and foreign powers – exemplified in the recent nuclear-deal between Iran and the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany (P5+1) on 14th July this year – only undermines the continued calls for democracy and liberation of Iran. Further negotiations with Rouhani’s government would not result in a more peaceful Middle East as intended, but instead would worsen the current turmoil. In fact, she argued, the nuclear deal, taken from a position of weakness rather than power, has only encouraged the regime to ramp up their repressive tactics in a bid to maintain internal control.

Finally, Rajavi called for Western governments, but particularly the European Union, to exert pressure on Rouhani’s regime to put an end to executions, arbitrary imprisonments and to release all political prisoners. Whether these issues will be raised to the Iranian President during his visit to France in November is not yet known.

The Parliamentary Committee for a Democratic Iran (CPID), which hosted Tuesday’s conference, announced that 70 cross-party French lawmakers had issued a declaration calling on the Government of France to make its diplomatic relations with the Iranian regime contingent upon improvement of human rights, halt to executions, freedom of political prisoners and respect for democratic freedoms in Iran.

The signatories believe that a democratic Iran is the essential prerequisite for regional stability, and to this end, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and Rajavi’s 10-point plan for a democratic, non-nuclear Iran based on separation of religion and state and women’s equality must be supported.