By Published On: September 18, 2020Categories: NEWS
Iran Policy

The keynote speaker of this event is Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Maryam Rajavi: “Human rights for all the Iranian people, comprehensive sanctions against the religious dictatorship, and recognizing the Iranian people’s resistance and the struggle for freedom.”

 An online international summit, entitled “Trans-Atlantic Summit on Iran Policy, Time to Hold the Iranian Regime Accountable” was held on 18 September 2020, just as the events of the United Nations General Assembly have begun. The summit united Iranians from across the globe in 10,000 locations, alongside high-profile political speakers from the US and Europe.

The international summit was broadcasted live on social media, including on Twitter and Facebook, in five different languages, as well as by satellite in Iran. The event lasted from 17:00 Central European Time until 22:00 that night.

The political figures who addressed the summit included 30 bipartisan U.S lawmakers from the House and the Senate; Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Roy Blunt, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Bob Menendez, and dignitaries like Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, General James Jones, National Security Advisor to President Obama (2009-2010), Newt Gingrich, 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator, as well as a delegation of U.K. lawmakers, and Amb. Giulio Terzi, former Foreign Minister of Italy.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) was the keynote speaker of the summit. Mrs. Rajavi honored Navid Afkari, a national hero and martyr of the resistance who was recently executed for protesting the regime, in her speech. She said: “Faced with executions and massacres, the people of Iran urge the United Nations, and the U.N. Security Council, in particular, to restore snapback sanctions stipulated in the six U.N. resolutions against the clerical regime in Iran. Otherwise, Khamenei will continue to ravage the nation as his regime’s survival depends on murder and suppression. If Khamenei were to stop executions, he would lose control of the situation, and uprisings simmering in the depths of Iranian society would erupt and overthrow the mullahs’ religious fascism.”

Mrs. Rajavi also addressed the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei’s role in the 1,500 tragic deaths due to Coronavirus in Iran. Iran is currently ranked as having the highest number of fatalities per capita in the world. She stated “No one initially believed that the clerical regime had deliberately shot down the Ukrainian airliner when it first happened. Likewise, it is hard to believe that Khamenei and Rouhani are deliberately sending people to their deaths by exposing them to the Coronavirus. But they have, in fact, adopted the strategy of causing mass human casualties to protect their regime from the Iranian people’s protests and from the danger of being overthrown.”

She continued: “The value of assets amassed by institutions and foundations controlled by Khamenei amounts to more than one trillion dollars. All these properties, assets, and resources belong to the people of Iran but so far, not a cent of it has been allocated to their health and medical care… The Coronavirus is the mullahs’ strongest ally; imprisonment and executions are their most essential instruments of power, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is the most reliable killing machine to prop up their rule…  If you do not intend to crack down on the public, stoke wars and export terrorism, one army should be sufficient for you. Do not impose the astronomical expenses of the IRGC on the people of Iran. Dissolve the IRGC and spend the money used for its expenses on health and medical care instead, and pay the salaries of nurses, workers, teachers, and public sector employees.”

The Iran uprisings of 2018 and 2019 were also highlighted by Mrs. Rajavi. The regime is responsible for the murder of approximately 1,500 MEK supporters and protesters during the November 2019 protests. The oppressive forces of the regime are only heightening, including mass arrests, torture, and recent death sentences for detainees on charges of moharebeh (waging war on God). Mrs. Rajavi said: “The clerical regime is at war with the people of Iran and with the world community. … The wrong international policies that aid the murderers of the people of Iran, allowing the religious fascism to violate the rights of the people of Iran and spread war and terrorism in the Middle East must be stopped.”

Mrs. Rajavi described a three-part policy approach that should be taken towards the mullahs’ regime. This consisted of human rights for all of the people of Iran, comprehensive sanctions against the religious dictatorship, and recognition of the Iranian people’s Resistance and struggle for freedom in Iran.

The president-elect, Mrs. Rajavi, observed: “It is a mistake to think that a reduction of international sanctions will result in the regime abandoning its belligerence. Ironically, it was under the auspices of the JCPOA that the Iranian regime’s terrorism ravaged Europe.”

Some further political figures, who either directly addressed the summit or sent messages of support from the US and Europe, included: Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former U.S. National Security Advisor General James Jones, General Jack Keane, Senator Joseph Lieberman, Senator Robert Torricelli, Senator Kelly Ayotte, former Albanian prime minister Pandeli Majko, Chairman of Albania’s Republican Party Fatmir Mediu, Chair of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Socialist Movement for Integration and former Minister of European Integration of Albania Klajda Gjosha Ambassador Robert Joseph, former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, British parliamentarian and former Brexit Minister David Jones, senior Member of British Parliament Bob Blackman, US Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt, ranking member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez, Chairman of Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on The Judiciary and member of Foreign Relations Committee Ted Cruz, member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jeanne Shaheen, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Chairman of subcommittees such as human rights and women’s issues Marco Rubio, Chairman of Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and member of Foreign Relations Committee Rob Portman, member of Senate Armed Services Committee and Chairwomen of Subcommittee on Water and Power Martha McSally, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel, Rep. Ted Yoho, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, Rep. Tom McClintock, Rep. Raul Ruiz, Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Paul Gosar, Rep. Lance Gooden, Rep. Janice Schakowsky, Rep. Kathleen Rice, Rep. Tom Emmer, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Rep. David Joyce, Robert Aderholt, Rep. French Hill, Rep. Brad Schneider, Rep. Don Bacon, Rep. Glenn Grothman, Rep. Jody Hice, as well as representatives Mikie Sherrill Rob Woodall who sent written declarations of support for the gathering.

The speakers of the summit on Iran policy addressed the 1988 massacre of over 30,000 MEK members and other activities in 1988. They demanded justice and accountability to end the impunity of the mullahs’ regime, many of whom were responsible for the crimes of the massacre. They also called attention to the unjust execution of the 27-year-old champion wrestler Navid Afkari and highlighted the need for international intervention in order to ensure that more anti-regime protestors, particularly those detained during the November 2019 uprising, do not have the same fate.

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