On June 30, 2024, at the Free Iran 2024 World Summit – Day 2 hosted at the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) headquarters in Paris, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, delivered a compelling video message.
1. Newt Gingrich: A Pivotal Moment for Change in Iran#MaryamRajavi4FreeIran #FreeIran2024 https://t.co/zUXdn4YF5N
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) June 30, 2024
The full text of Speaker Gingrich’s speech follows:
I want to thank the National Council of Resistance of Iran for giving me this chance to talk with you about the future of Iran, the future of the United States, and the way in which we can work together to create a dramatically better future.
We’re at a genuine crossroads. It’s very clear that the theocratic dictatorship is under increasing pressure. You know, in the last election, only 7% of the people in Tehran turned out to vote. Now when 93% of your potential voters tell you that nothing that’s happening matters to them or that they don’t believe they have the ability to change any of it, 93% is a pretty high level of isolation. And that’s what’s happening to the dictatorship in Iran.
As it’s grown older, I think, much more focused on repression, as it has taken money that could have gone to improving the quality of the lives of the people of Iran and spent that money both on supporting terrorism throughout the Middle East and on supporting a nuclear program that was a real threat both to the world but also a real threat to Iran because it could lead to preemption that would be horrifying.
The current dictatorship is increasingly isolated and we see that because of the level of repression they have to go at, the number of young people that they’ve had to kill, the number of people they put in prison, and the brutality of the regime. And I think we have to recognize that this has been a regime based on brutality.
When President Raisi died, some people were quick to rush with their sympathies. Let’s be clear, he had risen as a torturer. He had risen as a man who was willing to kill, to maim, to mutilate. He was in fact a very deadly person who had helped the regime survive by killing torturing and imprisoning its critics.
So, we’re at an important turning point. I think that the opportunity and we’re seeing more and more people understand this. Here in the United States, people who were confused, people who thought there might be a way to appease the dictatorship, I think are gradually slowly coming to realize that in fact, this is a dictatorship that has to be replaced. It can’t be reformed. The very core of the dictatorship is repression and hostility to the world.
When the leaders of the current dictatorship chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” they mean it. In fact, Ayatollah Khomeini went on national television and said, when people ask me about death in America, I tell them it is not a slogan, it is a policy. And so I think what’s happened is the more open the regime has been, the clearer its ties to terrorism have become, the more we’re aware that it’s really not a dictatorship you can deal with, the greater the potential for a very dramatic change in American policy.
And my personal guess is that after the next election, you’re going to see a dramatically tougher approach with a much deeper effort to isolate the regime, cripple it with sanctions, and force it into a weakness that will enable the people of Iran to in fact create the kind of future for themselves that they want and that they deserve.
It’s important to remember, we have no conflict with the people of Iran. In fact, I work with many Iranians here in the United States who came here for a variety of reasons legally, who have become great citizens, great supporters of America, great believers in freedom, and I can tell you that they represent the kind of people who once liberated from the dictatorship will return Iran to its rightful place as an extraordinarily successful country with enormous natural resources and with a stunning proud history that goes back for thousands and thousands of years.
So, it’s an honor for me to be able to chat with you, to share these ideas with you, and to tell you that I am deeply concerned that my many friends here who understand what’s going on are deeply concerned that you should not despair. You should recognize that while the journey’s hard and the challenges are difficult, in fact, freedom will win, dictatorship will lose, and the opportunity for individuals to pursue God, to worship in their own right, to have a decent life will in fact be enacted.
And when it does, each of you who are currently involved, each of you represents the commitment that will make it possible. That’s why these kinds of meetings are so important. That’s why in the past I’ve come to Paris to talk to folks, I’ve come to New York, to Los Angeles, to Washington, and I want you to know that I will remain a strong ally and a strong supporter because I do believe what you’re doing is going to create a better future for Iran and therefore a better future for the world.
Thank you for being so committed and thank you for being so involved.
