On the 30th of January, 2024, at the invitation of the Parliamentary Committee for a Democratic Iran (CPID), Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), attended the Victor Hugo Hall within the esteemed confines of the French National Assembly. Addressing a gathering comprising parliamentarians and esteemed political figures, Rajavi shared her insights.

Cécile Rilhac, a distinguished Member of the French Legislative Assembly representing the Renaissance group and serving as President of CPID, alongside CPID vice presidents André Chassaigne, President of the Communist group, Philippe Gosselin, Hervé Saulignac, and Yannick Favennec, also took the podium, adding their voices to the discourse.

Among the attendees were notable personalities like Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium and a member of the European Parliament, and Ms. Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, who also contributed their perspectives during the proceedings.

At the outset of the session, Ms. Cécile Rilhac presented Maryam Rajavi with a declaration of solidarity, representing the majority of the members of the French National Assembly, in support of the Iranian people and their struggle for freedom. Subsequently, she shared excerpts from a newly crafted CPID statement titled “Repression at Home, and Warmongering Abroad,” denouncing the escalating human rights violations in Iran and the aggressive postures of the clerical regime on the global stage. The statement resolutely affirmed CPID’s unwavering support for the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian populace to resist oppression and strive for the overthrow of the clerical regime.

The full text of this speech is as follows:

Maryam Rajavi: The overthrow crisis stands as the primary motive behind Khamenei’s resort to war in the Middle East

Madame President of the Parliamentary Committee for a Democratic Iran (CPID), Dear Cécile Rilhac,

Mr. Chassaigne, Mr. Saulignac, and Mr. Gosselin,

Honorable Members of Parliament, esteemed dignitaries, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be in your presence once again. Let me express my sincere gratitude to the members of the CPID for their steadfast representation of France’s values within this esteemed committee.

Today, we have gathered at a critical juncture, with the Middle East torn by war and the mullahs’ regime escalating executions to a staggering 864 in the past year. The wave of executions continued into January and included political prisoners as well as our Kurdish and Baluch compatriots.

Today, I stand before the National Assembly to present four crucial initiatives for addressing the Iranian question:

1- Placing the Revolutionary Guard Corps ( IRGC) on the list of terrorist entities, in line with the National Assembly’s declaration of last June and the European Parliament’s resolution in January 2023.
2- Activating the “snapback” mechanism as outlined in the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, enabling the reactivation of sanctions resolutions against the regime’s nuclear project.
3- Placing the Iranian regime under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which addresses regimes posing a threat to world peace.
4- Recognizing the Iranian people’s ongoing struggle to overthrow religious fascism.

The mullahs’ warmongering

Dear friends,

Amidst the ongoing war in the Middle East, Mullah Ahmad Khatami, one of Ali Khamenei’s confidants, made a significant declaration during a Friday prayer in Tehran in December. He asserted, “The Bab al-Mandeb Strait is now under the control of the Houthis (in Yemen); Al-Hashd al-Shaabi are targeting the American base at Ain al-Assad in Iraq; and the Hezbollah in Lebanon consistently strikes the bases of the Zionist regime. This is the new Middle East.”[1]

According to the mullahs, the new Middle East is a region in flames. Over the past four months, the regime’s proxy groups have unleashed a barrage of missiles on various countries and taken a major international waterway hostage. On January 16, the IRGC took direct action, firing missiles into Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan.

Adding to the tension, Khamenei had already tripled uranium enrichment to 60%.

The Iranian Resistance has obtained intelligence revealing that Houthi attacks are directly supervised by the IRGC and the highest-ranking Quds Force commanders in Tehran.

Additionally, the Iranian regime supplies drones for the killing of the people of Ukraine.

Do we need further proof that the Iranian regime poses the primary threat to world peace and security, and that the head of the snake of warmongering and terrorism is the ruling religious fascism in Tehran?

Expecting those who light the fire to help put it out is an illusion. Such expectations only encourage Tehran to intensify the chaos in the region. The overthrow crisis is the primary motive behind Khamenei’s resort to war in the Middle East. He wants to export the crisis beyond its borders but the Iranian uprising and Resistance will not leave such a chance for the regime.

Speech at Victor Hugo Hall of the National Assembly of France
The overthrow crisis stands as the primary motive behind Khamenei’s resort to war in the Middle East#Iran pic.twitter.com/HpFUa8bh4k

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 4, 2024

The realities of Iran and the mullahs’ lunacy

Last year’s uprisings in Iran underscored two crucial realities:

Firstly, the unwavering determination of the people to bring an end to the religious dictatorship.

Secondly, the vulnerability of a regime on the brink of being overthrown.

Iranian society remains a powder keg, as evidenced by the 3,000 anti-repression operations carried out by Resistance Units throughout the country.

This situation explains the primary cause of the hysterical reactions from Khamenei and the IRGC against the Iranian Resistance. Notably, the regime’s mercenary terrorists launched attacks on offices associated with the Iranian Resistance in London, Paris, and Berlin.

In Iran, political executions and lengthy sentences for political prisoners, particularly those affiliated with the PMOI, have taken on new and alarming dimensions.

Furthermore, the regime, known for executing tens of thousands of opponents after brief trials, has now been conducting trials in absentia against the PMOI and 104 members of the Iranian Resistance for several months.

This strategy serves a dual purpose: firstly, to fuel a demonization campaign to dissuade young people from joining the PMOI, and secondly, to lay the groundwork for exerting pressure on the Resistance abroad, particularly in Albania.

Dear friends,

The current situation in the Middle East underscores the urgency of our collective effort to stand up to this regime.

The appropriate response should be to recognize and support the Iranian people’s struggle for the overthrow of the clerical regime. We advocate for the establishment of a democratic alternative that upholds the separation of religion and state, gender equality, autonomy for ethnic minorities, abolition of the death penalty, and a commitment to a non-nuclear Iran—a republic living in peace and friendship with the entire world.

Thank you very much.