The President elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, appeared at the European Parliament in Brussels on December 10th, commemorating international human rights day, and calling on the international community to act on the ongoing human rights crisis in Iran.
Ms. Rajavi, who addressed a major conference at the European Parliament, noted that the rise in executions during the first year of Hassan Rouhani presidency, and called for the world to take note of the crisis in the country, saying; “There is no such thing as human rights in Iran…The mullahs’ constitution; the penal code; the civil code; the laws adopted by the regime’s parliament are all based on the violation of human rights.”
A number of senior members of the European Parliament from various political parties addressed the conference, and called for a tougher stance towards the Iranian regime. A number of MEP’s condemned the human rights violations in Iran, and urged the EU’s newly elected foreign policy chief, Ms. Frederica Mogaherini, to prioritize a response to the human rights crisis in Iran.
International guests at the conference included former US Presidential candidate and former Chairman of US Democratic Party Howard Dean, who addressed the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, and the growing concern over the human rights situation inside the country.
In regards to the nuclear issue, Mrs. Rajavi noted that the Iranian nuclear issue cannot be separated from the issue of democracy and human rights in Iran, and called on the West to adopt a
tougher stance on the matter. She noted that the nuclear program has no legitimacy in the face of ongoing demands for freedom and economic opportunities in the country.
She noted: “The nuclear talks with the mullahs in the past year continued in parallel with the rise in executions in Iran.To ensure the success of the talks, Europe and the United States not only remained silent vis-à-vis the human rights tragedy in Iran they also offered further unjustified concessions to the regime. Despite all these, the negotiations failed and left the world living in fear of a barbaric fundamentalist regime obtaining nuclear bomb.”
She added that the West cannot adopt a policy which seeks a solution towards the nuclear issue at the expense of the rights and freedoms of the Iranian people who continue to suffer at the hands of this regime.
Mrs. Rajavi said: “The nuclear talks with the mullahs in the past year continued in parallel with the rise in executions in Iran.To ensure the success of the talks,
Europe and the United States not only remained silent vis-à-vis the human rights tragedy in Iran they also offered further unjustified concessions to the regime. Despite all these, the negotiations failed and left the world living in fear of a barbaric fundamentalist regime obtaining nuclear bomb.”
She highlighted the dire situation faced by the regime, and the need for the West to stand firm in regards to the issue of sanctions and pressure. “This regime has no capacity to accept a deal which would guarantee abandoning nuclear bomb. The regime is facing an impasse. It wants to end the international sanction but at the same time it fears the consequences of abandoning its means of survival… Now is the time to intensify the pressure on the regime. Mullahs agreed to negotiate due to mounting pressure. They stalled on signing agreement due to concessions. The only way forward is more pressure and more sanctions.”
Ms. Rajavi also pointed to the ongoing crisis in Syria and Iraq, which have been caused by Iranian intervention and interference, and given rise to fundamentalist groups like ISIS. In particular she noted that the West should not only confront ISIS, but also the regime which has enabled such a group to gain a foothold in the region, namely Iran and the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Mrs. Rajavi strongly condemned the inaction of the European states in this regard, and warned that they should not make the mistake of allying with Iran in order to fight ISIS, and must stand firm against all forms of fundamentalism in the region.
Finally, Mrs. Rajavi spoke with dismay in regards to the continuation of the six-year siege against members of the principal Iranian opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camp Liberty in Iraq. She called on the European Union to “change its policy with respect to the savage tyranny ruling Iran and to show resolve”.
