by Azita Carlson
A European Union intergroup dedicated to achieving freedom in Iran held a conference about the Iranian Regime’s destructive influence in the Middle East and egregious human rights abuses on Wednesday, December 6.
The Friends of a Free Iran conference featured many prominent figures in the European Union, including FOFI chair Gerald Deprez, the President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association Struan Stevenson, Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki, British MEP Anthea McIntyre, Belgian MEP Mark Demesmaeker, Austrian MEP Heinz Becker, and many others, along with the president-elect of the Iranian Resistance Maryam Rajavi.
They discussed past and ongoing human rights abuses under the Iranian Regime, the Regime’s destabilisation of the Middle East through proxy groups, and the Regime’s illicit ballistic missile programme.
Their overwhelming conclusion was that regime change in Iran is necessary for the safety of the Iranian people and the security of the Middle East.
Human Rights
The conference declared that the EU must condition its relationship with Iran on an improvement to human rights.
They expressed concerns over growing executions (at least 3,500 since Hassan Rouhani took office) and the fact that the Regime was not held to account for the 1988 massacre in which 30,000 political prisoners were slaughtered.
Deprez stressed the importance of condemning the Regime for its crimes, both past and present, noting that the faces may change but the Regime remains the same.
They were also disappointed that the EU refused to address the human rights situation directly.
Anna Elżbieta Fotyga said: “Why do we avoid straight words on the human rights situation in Iran in our human rights reports? We have to return to a single set of values trying to avoid hypocrisy.”
International Meddling
Regional destabilisation is one the Regime’s core tenants and can be seen across the Middle East in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon but it is nothing more than a distraction from internal strife.
They do this through their support of terrorist militias and, according to Stevenson, if the Regime falls then fundamentalist Islamic terrorism will end.
Support for the Resistance
The panel expressed great support for Rajavi and the Iranian Resistance, calling her actions “remarkable” and advising all democratic nations to support the Resistance.
On December 7, the official newspaper of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh Daily, published the full transcript of Rajavi’s speech to the conference, entitled: Make all relations with Iranian regime contingent on end to torture and executions in Iran.
In her speech, Rajavi addressed that ordinary Iranians opposed the mullahs’ rule, citing nationwide protests, and advised that others support the Resistance in order to end the Regime’s desecration of the Middle East.
She said: “The regime has already exhausted its strategic resources. Economically, they are on the verge of bankruptcy. The nuclear agreement has not solved any of their problems. Socially, they have become ever more isolated. They failed in their strategy of destroying their main opposition and could not prevent the relocation to Europe of PMOI members out of Camp Liberty prison in Iraq. In such circumstances, the regime’s solution has been more suppression and more executions… These measures, however, are no longer able to contain a nation eager for change.”
