On the brink of the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, an online international summit, entitled “Trans-Atlantic Summit on Iran Policy, Time to Hold the Iranian Regime Accountable,” brought together Iranians in various countries around the world from 10,000 locations.
Among the personalities who addressed the summit were 30 bipartisan U.S. lawmakers from the House and the Senate, including Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Roy Blunt, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Bob Menendez, and dignitaries like Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, General James Jones, National Security Advisor to President Obama (2009-2010), Newt Gingrich, 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator, as well as a delegation of U.K. lawmakers, and Amb. Giulio Terzi, former Foreign Minister of Italy.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the keynote speaker of the summit, paid tribute to Navid Afkari, a rebellious national hero recently executed by the regime and said: “Faced with executions and massacres, the people of Iran urge the United Nations, and the U.N. Security Council, in particular, to restore snapback sanctions stipulated in the six U.N. resolutions against the clerical regime in Iran. Otherwise, Khamenei will continue to ravage the nation as his regime’s survival depends on murder and suppression. If Khamenei were to stop executions, he would lose control of the situation, and uprisings simmering in the depths of Iranian society would erupt and overthrow the mullahs’ religious fascism.”
Speakers in the summit demanded justice for over 30,000 MEK and other activists, political prisoners massacred in 1988. They urged an end to the policy of appeasement and demanded those who ordered and carried out this great crime, who currently occupy high positions in the regime, to be brought to justice.
Gen. James Jones joined the summit. In his remarks, Gen. Jones said, “I am deeply appreciative of the leadership that Mrs. Rajavi has provided and this and the ten points that are Jeffersonian and their principles and hopefully someday will come to pass in the not too distant future.”
General James Jones, the first National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe
I would like to pay my respects to Mrs. Rajavi and everyone associated with the movement to free Iran. This is my 10th year involved in this wonderful effort, a wonderful humanitarian effort. I have witnessed over the last 10 years scandalous, outrageous, unspeakable cruelty on the part of the Iranian regime towards its own people.
There is no question that Iran is the number one exporter of and supporter of global terrorism and many, many, many parts of the world that continually cause difficulties politically and diplomatically. And there’s no question that their ultimate goal is to develop weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons. So this is a regime that has clearly identified itself as the enemy of freedom loving people.
It has a judicial system that routinely assassinates and arrests and executes innocent people by any global standard. Mayor Giuliani mentioned the Iranian champion wrestler, Navid Afkari, despite a global outcry and protest, was executed. They have reportedly made threats to assassinate a U.S. ambassador in retaliation for the rightful removal from the planet of Major General Qassem Soleimani, who himself is responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of people.
So what Iran is and what it has been for the past few decades is beyond question. The question is, what do we do about it? I believe that the world community is increasingly willing to isolate evil regimes through sanctions and condemnation. If you just witnessed the current agreements executed in Washington, that certainly would send shock waves through Tehran because obviously the circle of countries that are in direct opposition to what Iran sends… for today is growing by leaps and bounds today, there are four principal threats to freedom on the planet, they are China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. And I think that’s the clear lines are forming in the defense of those freedoms and democratic values. The world community is uniting, but we still must do more.
I believe that there should be more isolation of the leaders of those countries, especially the Iranian leaders. Internationally they should not be welcome in organizations that are free and democratic as long as they continue their crimes against humanity. We must continue to support and the Iranian people wherever possible. The analogy of World War Two that was just mentioned by David Jones is absolutely spot on in terms of what it is we can and must do to support the NCRI and support the people of Iran, because ultimately it will be them who will topple the regime.
Despite everything else that we can do It will be the people of Iran that will rise up, hopefully in the near future to usher in a new wave and a new history of the further great Iranian people. And Iran will once again be welcomed into the community of nations. Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve had the privilege of doing many things in my life, but none more worthwhile than being part of this great effort in the cause of freedom for the oppressed people of Iran.
I am deeply appreciative of the leadership that Mrs. Rajavi has provided and this and the ten points that are Jeffersonian and their principles and hopefully someday will come to pass in the not too distant future. For my part, I intend to continue in this noble cause for as long as it takes to see the freedom of the just freedom that Iranian people deserve. And I look forward to the day when we will gather in Tehran to celebrate that.
