Excerpts of speech of General James Jones the 21st United States National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2010, at the Free Iran 2022, is as follows:
Mrs. Rajavi, distinguished guests, our friends at Ashraf 3, and to the tens of thousands of people joining this magnificent summit for Free Iran online. I’ve attended the annual gathering of the Iranian resistance many times, and I found it inspiring as it is, as it demonstrates your remarkable and untiring steadfastness and perseverance for democracy and freedom in your nation.
And your enduring resistance to the religious tyranny that not only poses a threat to the citizens of Iran, but to regional and global peace and prosperity and security. You’ve gone through many trials and tribulations.
You have endured torture, you have endured arrests, imprisonment, and the execution of your beloved comrades. The murderous mullahs of Iran have done everything in their power, from mass killings to character assassination, through extensive campaigns of demonization, all aimed at annihilating your movement. But they have failed miserably. Why? Because it is often said, you could imprison or kill a man, but not an ideal.
And indeed, you represent the ideal of freedom and sovereignty for your people. And this is the secret to your resilience, rising from your ashes like a phoenix many times and are now on the great march to freedom in Iran. Indeed, it was this ideal of freedom for which 30,000 of your fellow MEK men and women stood their ground and refused to choose fate over faith when facing the death commissions during the 1988 massacre.
It has been an honor and a privilege for me to be on this memorable journey to freedom, which is nearing the end. And I must say I am proud that I have been mentioned by the regime in a list of 61 Americans that they consider a threat to their existence.
Indeed, Iran has been the scene of ongoing protests over the past few years. People from all walks of life, all streets of the society, have defied beatings, arrests, and even death to come out to the street and call for the overthrow of the ruling theocracy. They chant, the enemy is right here. They lie when they say it’s America. The people of Iran reject tyranny and dictatorship, be it in the Shahs or the mullahs.
They are looking to the future, to a democratically elected republic that believes in universal suffrage, gender, religious and ethnic equality, and an Iran nuclear-free that is at peace with its neighbors. These are, in fact, the highlights of Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan for the future of Iran, which I have often described as a Jeffersonian document.
True to form, less than a year into his tenure, Ebrahim Raisi has ordered the execution of nearly 500 Iranians, including dissidents’ women and minors. But this has failed to stem the tide of the protest and uprising from surging.
Externally, the regime has been dragging its feet regarding the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. By making maximalist demands, it has created an impasse, further isolating itself on the world stage. Regarding regime use of terrorism. The world must stand firm. We have seen under the rubric of justice and humanity.
Belgium has signed a treaty that facilitates the release of Assadi. I joined hundreds of my colleagues across the globe to voice outrage over this shameful treaty and urge Belgium. Which is the seat of the European Union. A country I visited and lived in many times. As the supreme allied commander of NATO.
To cancel this deal, as it only emboldens and gives a green light to the medieval theocracy ruling Iran to continue to take foreign national or dual citizens hostage to be used later as bargaining chips. Not to mention that it helps a nefarious group to escape justice and accountability.
The time has come to end the failed policy of appeasement and stand with the Iranian people and the resistance movement as they work around the clock to end this four-decade long nightmare that has befallen the Iranian people and the nations of the region.
I’d also like to salute the valiant resistance units in Iran who, through great sacrifice and risk to themselves and their families, have been acting as the sledgehammer to break down the walls of repression and to pave the way for the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising.
But many women are leading their campaign, and the protests in Iran that we see every day is a tribute to the work of Mrs. Rajavi and the brave women in Ashraf 3 who serve as inspirational to their sisters in Iran. It is the presence of these resistance units that will guarantee the downfall of this regime and the dawning of freedom in Iran.
Let me end with the app saying of Mrs. Rajavi we can, and we must. The people of Iran can overthrow this regime, and we must stand with them. God bless you all and thank you very much.
