Former French FM Michèle Alliot-Marie addressed the first day of the Free Iran World Summit on July 1, 2023.
Michèle Alliot-Marie: We Have a Responsibility to Act for Iran
The full text of Former French FM Michèle Alliot’s remarks is as follows:
Maryam, thank you and welcome. Welcome to France, the land of liberty, the land of democracy, the land of fraternity.
Thank you, Maryam Rajavi, for once again choosing Paris for us to gather and allowing me to meet many friends here, Iranian friends, and friends from all countries who have come to show their support and commitment.
It’s true, many things have been said, and very well said, by all those who will follow me. Today, I have come simply to bear witness. To bear witness to my gratitude, to bear witness to my recognition for the action that you have undertaken with such courage and determination for such a long time. My presence is also a testimony of loyalty to what you represent, to your unwavering commitment to values that are universal values, let us never forget, and that, as such, deserve to be respected and implemented for everyone in the world.
We have a responsibility, and we also have a lot of work to do in this regard. What I also wanted to do is to testify to what I know about Maryam Rajavi since we have known each other for a few years now.
I was still in office at that time, by the way. I want to tell you, dear Maryam Rajavi, that I have observed that your commitment to democracy and its values has never changed. Your commitment to freedom, your commitment to equality, and your commitment to fraternity are still there, and you continue to defend them with as much strength and conviction.
Your speech has never changed since we have known each other. Your commitment has never weakened. Your attitude has never changed. And your determination has not changed either. What may have changed, however, is perhaps the world in which we live. This change is not always for the better.
And I heard General Jones, whom I knew in another life, indeed, remind us that there are threats to freedom and democracy worldwide. And that, in the end, we are witnessing what we never believed would happen, which is the questioning of the very principles of democracy, freedom, and equality by certain countries or more precisely, by certain governments. And let’s not deceive ourselves, this exists on all continents. We see more and more regimes, sometimes even on the European continent, which, in one way or another, are nibbling away at a little of this freedom and the idea of democracy.
So, dear Maryam Rajavi, and all of you who are committed to democracy and freedom in Iran, know that you are working not only for yourselves, and you certainly need our support in this matter, but you are also working for more than that. You are working for more than Iran, you are working for the whole world because the whole world needs us to reaffirm what the values of democracy are and the right of every man and every woman to benefit from them. I may be going a bit fast for the translators, I apologize.
What I also mean to say is that your country is a symbol, a symbol of what can be done and a symbol of what must be done. Liberties are threatened there, we know it well. Whether it is freedom of expression, freedom of movement, or simply the freedom to be who one is, which is threatened by imprisonment, and even the threat of losing one’s life. And then there is also the right to justice, which itself is called into question. It’s the right to vote, it’s equality between men and women.
As you rightly say, it is indeed the separation between church and state. So yes, your compatriots on the ground have the courage to oppose the perils to their lives, and the attempts made by the government to prevent them from accessing these fundamental rights.
And Masha Amini is a tragic symbol of this. Her fate saddens us. What happened to her saddens us, but at the same time, it obliges us, it creates a responsibility for us. Those of us who have the chance to live in democratic countries, and I address all those who have spoken before me, we also have the responsibility to not settle for mere words, to not simply say from our comfortable homes in our countries that things must be done in Iran.
Of course, it is you who will do them. It is not we who can do them for you, but it is evident that we must go beyond mere words to finally take action. I believe that we have a duty, the duty to speak, the duty to be consistent in our positions, between what we say in our diplomatic speeches and what we actually do on the ground and how we can support the inspiration for freedom and democracy.
Yes, I think our countries, our institutions, and first and foremost, European institutions have a duty to show more determination at a time when things indeed seem to be moving. Never forget that, and I would like to conclude that. It is always said that where there is a will, there is a way. What I believe is that the path to democracy is ahead of you, it is ahead of us, and it is our responsibility to take this path and to help others join us in this direction.
With a courageous heart, nothing is impossible, as the saying goes in our country. You have the courage. So, I am sure that for you, nothing will be impossible.
