Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian opposition, arrives at the main conference hall in Tirana, Albania. Rajavi greets distinguished speakers of the conference before joining them on the panel.

On Saturday, December 15th, the Iranian Communities, supporters of the MEK, held a joint video conference in 42 cities across Europe, North America, and Australia. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the ongoing popular protests in Iran and the regime’s terrorist actions against the MEK and the Iranian opposition.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi gave the keynote address. Speaking to the Iranian communities, she said:

“The regime’s recourse to terrorism is not a transient or tactical reaction, but a strategic outlet for it to confront the uprisings and its overthrow. Today, the regime makes use of terrorism to confronting the Iranian people’s uprisings. The arrests and expulsions of the regime’s diplomat-terrorists and terrorists with ties to their embassies show that the regime’s Supreme National Security Council, the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the terrorist Quds Force, the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS), the Foreign Ministry, and the regime’s embassies are all parts of the clerical regime’s terrorist network.”

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Mrs. Rajavi called for the international community to adopt a firm approach toward the Iranian regime. She said:

“The IRGC, the MOIS, and the regime’s state propaganda machine must be placed on the U.S. List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations and the terror list of the European Union. The regime’s financial lifelines which fund Khamenei’s apparatus, the IRGC and the terrorist Quds Force must be blocked. And the dossier of the regime’s continuing crimes against humanity must be referred to the UN Security Council, and Khamenei, Rouhani and other regime leaders must face justice.”

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Rajavi then urged the international community to end the policy of appeasement toward the Iranian regime.

“If you don’t want to stand by the people of Iran, at least do not victimize your own citizens’ security. Why do you aid a regime that poses threats to European capitals? This is our word: Respect the Iranian people’s desire to overthrow the regime and establish freedom and democracy. Let the hands of this criminal regime be cut off from Iran’s oil revenues which is our national asset. Every barrel of oil the regime sells is a lash on the back of the people of Iran and a bullet piercing the heart of the people of the region. The regime’s successive missile tests aim at nothing but blackmailing and threatening regional and global peace,”.

Mrs. Rajavi directly addressed the MEK resistance units who have organized and led the protest movement in her speech, saying:

“Today, the regime’s existence is more than ever in danger. Iran’s society is also more prepared than any other time and simmering. The establishment of a free Iran is on the shoulders of the Iranian people and Resistance. It is your willpower that is going to determine how the present volatile conditions will evolve into the overthrow of the mullahs’ dictatorship. The secret to victory is the united struggle of the people of Iran and the evolution of uprisings pioneered by resistance units and councils.”

Mr. Patrick Kennedy has been a longtime supporter of the MEK and the Iranian Resistance. In his speech, he spoke about the bipartisan support for the Iranian Resistance within the United States. He said:

“Contrary to the Iranian regime’s propaganda, both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. are united in supporting a firm policy on Iran and to stand with the Iranian people in their desire for change and to have a republic based on free election, separation of religion and state and gender equality. It is within this context that we support Maryam Rajavi and her ten-point declaration for a free Iran. The regime’s propaganda against the MEK, echoed sometimes in the Western media, is the best sign of regime’s fear of the MEK’s popularity in Iran and its role in the anti-regime protests. It is time for Europe to also stand up to regime’s growing terrorism in Europe and its malign activities in the region.”

Former Colombian Presidential Candidate, Ingrid Betancourt spoke about the need for European governments to adopt a firm approach toward the Iranian regime in light of its terrorist activities, saying: “Over the past year the Iranian regime has increased its terrorist activities in Europe and simultaneously, intensified its propaganda against the MEK. This clearly shows the fear of the regime from the MEK and its decisive role in the continued anti-regime protests in Iran and their desire for regime change.  It is time the European governments adopt a firm policy against the regime and side with no ambiguity with the Iranian people. Finally, free Western media has to be alert in order to avoid spreading the dictator’s propaganda against democratic opposition.”

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Representatives from over 300 Iranian associations across the world also spoke at the conference in order to reaffirm their support for the NCRI, the MEK, and Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-point Plan for re-establishing democracy in Iran after the fall of the mullahs’ regime.

In declaring their support for the MEK and its goal of restoring democratic rule to Iran, they said: “The Iranian Resistance, led by Mr. Massoud Rajavi, enjoys a broad social base of support in Iran, has a strong organization, offers a clear platform and has adopted progressive and democratic plans for future Iran. It is able to bring about regime change and is capable of transferring the sovereignty to people. They have unique capacities and potentials for rebuilding future Iran, offer social justice, and returning hope and trust to a nation which has suffered numerous treasons over the past 100 years and has been viciously suppressed and discriminated against under the dictatorships of the shahs and the mullahs.”

They went on to say: “It is because of these capacities that the clerical regime considers this Resistance as its only existential threat, and in addition to brutal suppression inside Iran it is resorting to terrorism and carrying out extensive demonization and misinformation campaigns against the Iranian Resistance to justify and prepare the grounds for domestic suppression and terrorism abroad.”

Speakers and participants at the conference included President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Mrs. Maryam Rajavi; former member of the U.S. House of Representatives Patrick Kennedy; Minister of State for Diaspora and former Prime Minister of Albania Pandeli Majko; Republican Party Leader and former Albanian Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu; former Algerian Prime Minister Syed Ahmad Ghozali,; former Colombian Presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt; Deputy Leader of the U.K. Liberal Democratic Party Lord Navnit Dholakia; French Governor and former Director of DST Yves Bonnet; Chair of the Committee on Equality of Men and Women in the Parliament of Romania Christina Luristina; Deputy Chair of the Financial Committee in the Senate of South Ireland Gerry Horkan; Member of Italian Parliament Antonio Tasso; and Member of the Norwegian Parliamentary Judiciary Committee Peter Eide. A number of other politicians, legal, and religious figures also attended the conference, as well as members of the Iranian communities.

The conference was held in 42 cities including Ashraf 3, the MEK camp in Albania; Brussels, Belgium; Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, Canada; Copenhagen and Arhus, Denmark;  London, Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield and Birmingham, U.K.; Helsinki and Turku, Finland; Paris, France, Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt, Germany; Rome, Italy; Luxembourg, Luxembourg; The Hague, Zwolle, and Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Oslo and Kristiansand, Norway; Bucharest, Romania, Zurich, Switzerland; Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo, Boras, and Solleftea, Sweden; Washington, D.C., Berkeley, Orange County, Atlanta, and Dallas, U.S.; Vienna, Austria; and Sydney, Australia.

Staff Writer