On Saturday 13 july 2019, a large crowd gathered in Ashraf 3, Albania, home to Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), to hold the annual Free Iran rally of the Iranian resistance. The event was the fourth installment in a series of events held at Ashraf 3. MP Matthew Offord gave a speech in this gathering.

MP Matthew Offord– Member of British Parliament

MP Matthew Offord:  resistance movement led by Madame Rajavi are at the forefront of the struggle for a free and democratic Iran. And you are a beacon of hope for millions of oppressed people in Iran. And for that, we are thankful.

We can feel it in the air, the hope of so many people, through the construction of this camp. Yesterday, many of my colleagues and I were given a tour of the museum and we saw the evidence of the regime’s vicious persecution of so many of you, human rights violations and acts of terrorism across the world. And we heard firsthand testaments from any of those victims. These stories touched us. But we are already aware of who is responsible for this. We are aware of the IRGC, the Supreme Leader, the judiciary, and the Intelligence Ministry are all responsible for your persecution. But we need the world to be aware of that as well.

Your story must be heard. And through initiatives like the museum it will be. Your story will not be silenced. That is why my colleagues and myself in the UK Parliament have in a cross-party effort urged our government to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

That is why I support the American sanctions against the Supreme Leader’s office and urge our government to follow this step as well as to increase the number of people, number of officials, on its sanction list over human rights violation in Iran.

I can assure you that the cause of human rights, freedom, and democracy in Iran has widespread support amongst all my colleagues here from the Houses of Parliament. And that support also includes support for Madame Rajavi’s 10-point plan. This is a plan that gives a future for Iran, which provides a clear and viable alternative to the current theocratic regime.

Madame Rajavi, your platform abolishes the death penalty. It prohibits torture and other barbaric punishments that the regime uses today such as murder of young people, gouging out eyes, and systematic torture amongst so many people. But your plan also signs up Iran to the UN Charter and establishes an independent judiciary.

These are all values that are close to our hearts, all of us here today. And they are at the center of our democracy in the United Kingdom. And that is why I call on our government in the United Kingdom to recognize Madame Rajavi’s 10-point plan. We want the UK government to recognize the democratic platform of Madame Rajavi, and we want the Iranian people’s right to change the regime for a better future.

Now I could speak for the next hour about this issue. And indeed, each and every one of my colleagues could do the same. But there’s only one thing that we need to say. (Hazer,Hazer,Hazer).