Site icon Iran Freedom

Remarks by Dominique Attias at the Free Iran 2024 World Summit

Iran Freedom

Dominique Attias, Chair of the Board of Directors at the European Lawyers Foundation

On June 29, 2024,  at the Free Iran 2024 World Summit hosted at the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) headquarters in Paris, Dominique Attias, Chair of the Board of Directors at the European Lawyers Foundation, delivered a passionate speech. She condemned the Western policy of appeasement towards the Iranian regime and expressed strong support for the Iranian Resistance led by President-elect Maryam Rajavi.

A translated version of Dominique Attias’s speech follows:

Dear friends, what a joy it is to be here. Thank you, Madam Rajavi, but you know, I also wanted to march in the streets of Berlin. I also wanted to be in Ashraf 3 with my sisters—yes, I consider them my sisters. And thank you to the politicians for their speeches, but I must say, I am still angry.

As a member of civil society, I am angry, and I say to you, “halt” to the blackmail, “halt” to the terrorism of the mullahs, and “yes” to the determination and courage of the NCRI members in the face of the Western political world’s spinelessness, which continues to discredit itself. We are all here to say “stop” to our current Western leaders. “Stop,” put an end to this blackmail, stop giving in to these threats, stop giving in to fear.

Finally, show some courage, political courage, demonstrate that you have a modern and brave vision for a free world. You, leaders of the European Union, stop making us ashamed. The youth and the people are turning away from Europe, why? Because of your lack of courage and political vision. How can you think that appeasing a hyena or a jackal by bowing before them will work? Do you believe that resisting terrorism means giving in?

As Kathleen Porter said earlier, is it enough for the mullahs to kidnap a Belgian or Swedish citizen for judicial decisions to no longer matter, for all the dead to receive no justice, for them to go to Iran and strut around, like the recently freed citizen from Vienna?

Now, he’s a hero in Iran; he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It’s a disgrace, this weakness is a disgrace. By behaving this way, gentlemen—because there are still many men here—you encourage Iranian terrorism, you become accomplices, accomplices of those who kill, who sow chaos, accomplices in the attempted assassination of the former Vice President of the European Parliament, Mr. Vidal-Quadras, a faithful supporter of the Iranian resistance.

Because of your cowardice, yes, cowardice, he narrowly escaped death. When will you finally decide to place the IRGC on the list of terrorist organizations, as the United States and Canada have done—bravo to the United States and Canada.

Mr. Pompeo had already said it, and I quote him: “This measure of putting the IRGC on the terrorist list deprives the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, Iran, of the financial means necessary to spread misery and death around the world.”

What are you waiting for? How many more attacks? How many more deaths do we need? What are you waiting for to take inspiration from the women of the Iranian resistance? Their courage and unwavering determination do not waver.

A hundred years ago, an American woman, a simple woman, Rosa Parks, through her sheer determination, abolished segregation in the United States. And Iranian women are echoing her words today: You must never be afraid of what you are doing when you know it is right. It is right for you to allow Iranian men and women to free themselves from the yoke of terror, torture, and death. It is right to listen to this resistance that speaks out and fights, paying the price in blood, which neither screams nor capitulates. It is right for the Iranian people to choose their future without foreign interference. It is right not to turn a blind eye to all these women persecuted, imprisoned, tortured for more than 40 years, who pay the high price for wanting freedom for themselves and their children.

Yes, a thought for Maryam Akbari Monfared, who has been in prison for 15 years—15 years without holding her children in her arms, 15 years without seeing the light of day. And yet she will come out and they want to deprive her of all her belongings so she cannot live.

But you are not ashamed, you are not ashamed. Think also of Maryam Mehrabi, imprisoned with her two children not long ago, on June 18th. What a shame, imprisoned, why? Simply because she wanted to defend her brother Moham who was being persecuted. Why? Because he spoke out on social media.

What a sinister farce, what a sinister farce. But from this injustice is born the strength, the strength of a people who resist in tight battalions throughout the country. We have seen them, we have seen them in neighborhoods, in schools, in universities, in factories, ready to respond to the call on the blessed day of the final uprising.

Perhaps tomorrow, Maryam, perhaps tomorrow. Bravo to the Resistance Units of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, bravo for their courage, bravo for their pride, bravo for never bowing their heads. Nothing makes them bend, nothing bends Iranian women. You fight, you fight for such a just cause, with Maryam Rajavi at your head. You are the flagship of this resistance.

And you see all these young people, so many young people, so many young people. That’s what’s wonderful. What courage. You know that the root of the word courage is heart. It is heart. And all you Iranian women have surpassed your limits by listening only to your hearts.

There is a proverb, maybe in other languages, but in French we say, “C’est certainement en pensant aux Iraniennes que ce maxime existe.” And this heart beats in unison with ours for Iran, which cries out tirelessly: women, resistance, freedom. And I say to you, oh, it is courage. It is courage. It is courage.

Exit mobile version