International Conference under title, “Solidarity Iftar, No to Warmongering and Fundamentalism” on live communication with the MEK members in Ashraf 3 was held in London.
A group of prominent Arabic, English and European personalities attended and spoke at the conference in person or online.
Ms. Dowlat Nowrouzi, Representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran(NCRI) in the UK, started the conference and said: “The mullah regime, as the center of evil in the Middle East, is the godfather of terrorism and fundamentalism in the region, which commits any crime under the guise of religion.”
The keynote speaker at the conference was Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran(NCRI).
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
Under the name of Islam, Khomeini and his successors have oppressed and plundered. They are engaged in warmongering and in the name of Islam, they export terrorism and crimes to the Middle East countries, and this is their worst betrayal.
In fact, they have expanded Islamic fundamentalism, an ideology that is against Islam. Confronting Islamic fundamentalism requires a direct opposite cultural alternative. That powerful alternative is a democratic Islam, as represented by the PMOI.
The word of God is not one of compulsion. It is a message that you must hear, offer reason and consult. Islam is the religion of freedom of expression. It does not prohibit opposition to the rulers and even encourages it. Anything that would be against the freedom of man lacks credibility from the perspective of Islam.
On the people’s sovereignty, Khomeini, the regime’s founder, rejected it from the beginning. But genuine Islam believes that governments must be based on the people’s vote.
On the separation of religion and state, the fundamentalists say that it is against Islam. They want to preserve religious dictatorship, but Islam opposes any compulsion in religion.
As for the rights of the followers of different religions, the ruling mullahs have established religious discrimination and incited hostility among Shiites and Sunnis. However, Islam rejects war and religious hostility.
On the rights of women. In the mullahs’ view, women do not have an independent character. While Islam advocates gender equality. In contrast to the mullahs’ misogyny, we defend gender equality. Such equality is not limited to ideas and plans, but has been put into practice for nearly four decades.
Read full speech here
General Ashraf Rifi, Former Justice Minister of Lebanon, General Director of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (2005-2013)
Iran’s regime has hijacked the history and culture of Iran. The regime tries to enforce its ideas on the Iranian people.
The regime uses its Hezbollah mercenaries to take Lebanon hostage. They have occupied Lebanon as they did Iraq and other countries.
The Lebanese people have reached the conclusion that the only way to save their country is to evict the Iranian regime. Any solution that includes Hezbollah will fail.
We consider the Iranian Resistance as the true representatives of the Iranian people. In the last 40 years, the regime has tried to convince the world that there is no alternative to the mullahs. This is a lie. We know there is a serious alternative, the NCRI and the MEK.
The people of Iran want regime change. They want democracy and freedom.
The Rt. Rev. Dr Barry Morgan, The Archbishop of Wales (2003-2017)
You have a proud history. Sadly, religious extremists usurped power in your country after the popular democratic revolution in 1979. This is the worst kind of dictatorship as Europe’s history has shown, when despots in the name of God and of religion to impose their tyrannical rule on ordinary people.
Today, your country Iran suffers under religious fundamentalism and for over four decades the regime in Tehran has waged war against the Iranian people, restricting their freedoms and basic rights and robbing them of their dignity and hopes. But as we have seen and heard, the brave people of Iran have refused to give in and are challenging the regime at every opportunity with great personal cost. You have been at the forefront of this struggle. The resistance movement led by Madam Rajavi has been spearheading this struggle giving voice to the prime victims of the regime, especially women.
Being herself a Muslim, Madam Rajavi is offering a new modern, progressive Islam which totally reject the fundamentalism that is holding back your country and offering a democratic platform that offers all religious and ethnic minorities in Iran equal rights and opportunity to shape the future of your country.
I urge the UK and our Government to stand with you, recognize your struggle for freedom and democracy in Iran just as we are doing in Ukraine.
I also urge the UK Government to impose human rights sanctions on senior leaders of the regime for its crime against humanity and torture of political prisoners, dissidents and protesters.
The future of Iran is in the hand of the Iranian people and with those who advocate inclusiveness and peaceful coexistence. That is why I stand with the Iranian resistance and its president-elect Madam Rajavi.
Atta Abdah, Jordanian MP
The mullahs in Tehran have disfigured Ramadan and Islam to reach power. The only thing that matters to them is obtaining power.
We suffer from the crimes that this regime is committing. Its crimes are not limited to the people of Iran but has reached Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. We salute Mrs. Rajavi and the victorious heroes of the Iranian Resistance. We support Madam Rajavi’s ten-point plan, and the free world will always stand with you.
Major General Tariq Mahdi Abdel Tawab, Former Chief of Staff of the Air Defense Forces of Egypt
Islam is a religion of peace. In the past four decades, we’ve seen regimes such as the mullahs’ regime that have defamed Islam through fundamentalism.
We are witnessing the regime’s meddling in Arab countries and has caused bloodshed and war. These sectarian wars and violence is not part of Islam.
We believe there is a difference between the people of Iran and the regime. The people of Iran have had a major role in the history of Islam.
Hatim Elsir, Former Sudan’s minister of Trade & Transport
The violence of the mullahs against the people of Iran must end. The meddling of the mullahs in the region must stop. Yes to solidarity of the world with the people of Iran. Yes to the return of Iran to the international community.
Dr. Reyad Yassin, Former Foreign Minister, Yemeni Ambassador to France
The people of Yemen are trying to establish peace in our country. We’ve faced war by militias supported by the Iranian regime. This regime is the cause of the problems in the area. We tried a lot to create peace and stability.
The regime is using the Houthis to commit many crimes, killing and attacking to destabilize our country. We hope that peace and stability come to the people of Iran and the people of the region.
Tahar Boumedra, Chair of JVMI Foundation, former chief of UN human rights mission in Iraq
No to fundamentalism and no to warmongering. We know that the mullahs’ regime is based on creating the environment for war and interference in the neighborhood of Iran. The mullahs’ regime is based on medieval ideas and taking decisions on behalf of divine authority.
The PMOI stood firmly against tyranny and dictatorship. They worked very hard to fight for human rights. While the PMOI are fighting for human rights, the regime in Iran is executing people. They executed more than 30,000 in the summer of 1988 and they executed people just to maintain their power over the people.
The regime refuses to recognize international law while the PMOI works to establish within the international community a respectable state built on the rule of law and human rights. The regime claims to reject international law and human rights on the basis that human rights are God-given, therefore they do not recognize international conventions related to human rights and fundamental freedoms. The PMOI fights to establish equality among people, to make sure there are equal rights and opportunities between men and women.
I’m proud to have worked very closely in Ashraf with the PMOI while they were in Iraq. I’m proud of their friendship because I have learned a lot from them, from how they fought and how they extended solidarity with the people around them. We could see this solidarity all around the world. They have suffered a lot, but they have also achieved a lot.
I think the ten-point plan of Mrs. Rajavi is a plan that will establish a real, fundamentally free state built on the rule of law. I’m very proud of PMOI working toward the abolition of the death penalty, a real breakthrough in the world of Islam.
Pavlo Kukhta, Advisor to Minister of Energy, Former Acting Minister of Economy of Ukraine
The war in Ukraine is part of a broader struggle between two worlds, a struggle between authoritarianism and democracy, between tyranny and freedom. This is the war that the free people of the world must win.
Moein Merhebi, Former Lebanese Minister for Affairs of the Displaced
Today we are standing firm against the terrorist activities of terrorist regime of Iran against our people. The world knows what the people of Iran and the region are suffering from at the hands of the regime. But they are remaining silent for their economic interests. You can no longer remain silent toward this regime. This is a regime that massacred 30,000 people in 1988.
The people of Iran are living in poverty and starvation like my country Lebanon. The regime continues to expand terrorism and destruction.
In Lebanon, they created a hellish militia in Hezbollah and a mafia government that supports Hezbollah. They have hijacked the country. They have taken everything from the people, even the ability to purchase medicine.
We have to stand up against these regimes that are expanding terrorism and destruction. We must stand up to these criminals. We will not bow down to the dictatorship.
Hail to the PMOI and their leadership, especially Madam Rajavi, who are standing up against the regime and have sacrificed everything they have.
Abdul Wahab Al-Mo’avazeh, Yemeni MP
We praise the sacrifices the Iranian Resistance has made in the struggle against the mullahs’ regime. The people of Iran have suffered a lot under the rule of the mullahs. This mafia has caused tragedy to a lot of people in the Arab World. All these problems are caused by this regime. This regime supports terrorist movements in our countries. The people of Iran are paying the price of the foolishness of this mafia, which is spending their money on their agents and terrorists instead of spending it to improve the people’s lives.
We must be the voice of those who have suffered at the hands of this regime. We call for solidarity between brothers and sisters in the Arab World.
Abdessalam Ould Horma
We hope you will be freed from the mullahs’ regime, which is executing people inside Iran and spreading terrorism and sectarianism in the region. This regime is defaming Islam. I wish you victory and liberation of Iran.
Roger Lyons, former General Secretary of the MSF trade union
The struggle of the Iranian people is similar to what is happening in Ukraine. Iranian teachers are struggling to get their rights. They are being arrested and sent to prison for speaking up for their rights. It is unacceptable that the mullahs can totally defy international conventions and ignore the rights that are guaranteed worldwide and deny them to the people of Iran. I hope we can build up solidarity to break the hostility and slavery that the mullahs have imposed. We will soon have freedom and justice for all Iranian people and people struggling throughout the world.
Revd Christina Rees CBE, member of General Synod, well-known writer, broadcaster, a founder member of the Archbishops’ Council, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
I stand in solidarity with the victims of the Iranian regime in Iran and across the world. The war in Ukraine reminds us that you cannot appease dictators and reward their unacceptable behavior. The people of Ukraine have proven that they are our best allies in the struggle against dictatorship.
In regards to Iran, the UK is stuck in the appeasement policy of past decades. The Iranian Resistance deserves our support because they are at the forefront of the fight against Islamic fundamentalism. Her ten-point platform provides a roadmap to a free and secular and democratic Iran. This is the roadmap that the UK and the world should back.
The future of Iran will be shaped by the Iranian people. They have chosen bravely to step up and protest against the regime and rid Iran from religious dictatorship.
