7,000 Iranians staged a rally outside the United Nations in New York on Wednesday, to protest against the presence of the Iranian regime’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the United Nations. The participants declared their support for recent uprisings in Iran and the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq, home to members of Iran’s main opposition.
The protesters said Ahmadinejad and the regime lacked any legitimacy in the eyes of the Iranian people, who through their uprisings during the past three months showed that they want the mullahs out.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, told the rally through a video message that the West’s policy of appeasement was completely out of touch with the reality of today’s Iran.
“The policy of ‘direct negotiations without precondition’ that intended to miraculously end nuclear tensions has failed. Once again I reiterate that thwarting this regime’s nuclear threat has one and only one solution and that is democratic change in Iran. The Iranian people through their uprising and resistance will eventually determine the fate of this regime. But the backward policy of appeasement has not only failed but is ethically wrong,” Rajavi stressed.
Speakers said the Iranian people have demonstrated that they have the will, the courage and the capability to bring about democratic change in Iran. The world must stand with them. “Instead of addressing the UN, Ahmadinejad must face an international tribunal for crimes against humanity and his regime be compelled to accept free elections under UN supervision,” they added.
The Iranians emphasized that the U.S. must guarantee the rights of the Ashraf residents in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law in order to prevent violence against them and their forcible displacement. They also called on the U.S. to take immediate measures to secure the release of the 36 residents abducted by the Iraqi agents of the Iranian regime.
They called on the UN to make necessary arrangements for deployment of a UN supervised monitoring team in Ashraf and to ensure that the fundamental rights, safety and security of the residents of Ashraf are protected.
Several members of Congress, including Carolyn Meloney (D-NY), Ted Poe (R-TX), and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) send messages of support for the rally’s objectives.
SOURCE Association of Iranian Americans in New York
