On the brink of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual session, an online international summit, entitled “Trans-Atlantic Summit on Iran Policy, Time to Hold the Iranian Regime Accountable,” was held September 18. The Summit brought together Iranians in various countries around the world from 10,000 locations. Ms. Kathleen Rice, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, joined the Summit.

Among the personalities who addressed the summit were 30 bipartisan U.S. lawmakers from the House and the Senate. Personalities 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 Ambassador Giulio Terzi, former Foreign Minister of Italy.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the keynote speaker of the summit

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI was the keynote speaker of the summit. She paid tribute to Navid Afkari, a rebellious national hero recently executed by the regime. Mrs. Rajavi said: “Faced with executions and massacres, the people of Iran urge the U.N. 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.”

She continued,” 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.”

At the summit, speakers demanded justice for over 30,000 MEK and other activists, political prisoners massacred in 1988. Also, they urged an end to the appeasement policy and requested those who ordered and carried out this great crime, who currently occupy high positions in the regime, to be brought to justice.

Kathleen Rice, member of the U.S. House of Representatives joined to the summit. In her remarks, Ms. Rice said, “I was proud to support H.R. 4744, the Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. This bill states that Congress finds the following in reference to the 1988 massacre: “Over a 4-month period in 1988, the Iranian regime carried out the barbaric mass executions of thousands of political prisoners by hanging and firing squad for refusing to renounce their political affiliations and in some cases for possessing political reading material, including prisoners of conscience, teenagers, and pregnant women.”

Kathleen Rice, member of the U.S. House of Representatives

To the Iranian American Community of New York and Families of Victims of the 1988 Massacre:

Thank you for your continued activism and dedication in support of the people of Iran.

I was proud to support H.R. 4744, the Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. This bill states that Congress finds the following in reference to the 1988 massacre: “Over a 4-month period in 1988, the Iranian regime carried out the barbaric mass executions of thousands of political prisoners by hanging and firing squad for refusing to renounce their political affiliations and in some cases for possessing political reading material, including prisoners of conscience, teenagers, and pregnant women.

In a recently disclosed audiotape, the late Hussein Ali Montazeri, a grand ayatollah who served as former Supreme leader Khomeini’s chief deputy, said that the 1988 mass killings were ‘the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us.’”

I urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime and establish a mechanism by which the United Nations Security Council can monitor such violations. Iranians in every corner of the country have been protesting and rallying in support of a free Iran. Their continued struggle for basic human rights calls for nothing less than our unwavering support.

This Congress, I supported the passage of H. Res. 752 to condemn the human rights violations in Iran. And I pledge to continue supporting the people of Iran in their fight against their oppressive government in any way that I can.