On Friday, January 19th a conference entitled, “Change in Iran with 1000 Ashrafs.” Featured speakers were the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, and Senator Robert Torricelli. The conference was attended by representatives of the Iranian community in Europe.
Mrs. Rajavi lauded the recent uprising by the Iranian people that spread to some 142 cities across the country. She praised the courage and sacrifice of young protesters, and their struggle to achieve freedom and democracy. She said, “Without any doubt, all of us will march on together, until we overthrow this corrupt and criminal regime. Victory belongs to the people of Iran,” regarding the at least 21 people who were killed, and the thousands who were imprisoned.
Mrs. Rajavi urged assistance for the people of Iran during their uprising, as they strive to end the regime’s rule, and to establish democracy. She noted, “The people of Iran urge the UN and the world to recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the mullahs’ religious dictatorship.
This is the right of a brave people who are at the forefront of the struggle against a regime which is a threat to global peace and security.
They urge the United Nations and all governments to pressure the clerical regime to free those arrested in recent protests and hold them accountable regarding those who have disappeared.
They must form a commission of inquiry to investigate the arbitrary arrests of thousands of people and the killing of prisoners under torture.
The people of Iran expect that all governments severe their political and economic relations with the clerical regime, particularly with the IRGC which is torturing and killing the protesters.”
Noting that the recent uprising was sparked by poverty, unemployment, as well as the regime’s 38 years of suppression, Mrs. Rajavi stated, “This is a revolt for freedom and popular sovereignty to establish social justice and prosperity.
It is not a byproduct of a power struggle among the regime’s internal factions, but another nail in the coffin of the masquerade about moderation.
It showed that the billions of dollars of the windfall from the nuclear deal did nothing to cure the regime’s instability.
The uprising showed that the people of Iran detest both regime factions and want it overthrown in its entirety and that the Iranian society has a force within itself capable of overthrowing the theocratic regime.”
In his speech, Newt Gingrich said, “Moderation in the Iranian regime is an illusion. There is a bad wing and a very bad wing in the dictatorship. There is no innocent wing of the dictatorship…The MEK is a real force. The level of fear of the MEK and Mrs Rajavi is growing among the regime. You have survived, you have endured, and you have continued with your mission, and the regime has been unable to stop you. ….You, the MEK, are making a difference. You are on the side of history because you are on the side of freedom. Thank you Mrs. Rajavi for your dedicated leadership to this cause.”
Senator Torricelli told the conference’s attendees, “This is the beginning of a revolution. A regime that stays in power by killing its people has a numbered life.
When Rouhani called French President Macron and asked him to clamp down on the MEK it made one thing clear: This is not a revolution without a leader. The leader is sitting here….The only group who has never compromised with the mullahs is the MEK. I agree with Khamenei on nothing except one thing: he is putting a responsibility on the MEK and the PMOI and blaming Mrs. Rajavi. He is right about it.
This has been organized for years, the network has been created, by never compromising with the regime, never being part of it. The MEK and Mrs. Rajavi have kept credibility… So in identifying the MEK and Mrs. Rajavi, he is right because the MEK and the entire international community that supports it, we are all coming to Khamenei to end this nightmare.”
Also addressing the conference were several former political prisoners, as well as the survivors of the victims of the 1988 massacre. They testified to the human rights crimes of the regime in its prisons, the repression experienced by the people of Iran, the volatile state of Iranian society.
