Washington, DC—October 26, 2023: During a conference at the US Senate titled ‘Iran Policy’, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), delivered a video message to the Conference.
Mrs. Rajavi emphasized the urgent need for regime change in Iran, asserting that the Iranian regime is the primary cause of turmoil in the Middle East. Highlighting the Iranian regime’s suppression of protests and history of terrorist acts, Rajavi argued that the regime fuels conflicts to maintain power.
She urged the importance of supporting the Iranian people in their resistance, deeming it crucial for global peace. Additionally, she called for the termination of policies that provide financial resources to the regime and requested international recognition of the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom.
The message concluded with a plea for global support in confronting the oppressive Iranian regime.
The Full text of Mrs. Rajaivi’s message follows:
The honorable members of the US Senate,
Distinguished personalities,
I salute you all. This gathering today about the issue of Iran has a critical message, which the world needs more than ever before.
The message is to focus on the root cause of the war and crisis in the Middle East, which is the Iranian regime.
The message is, DO NOT overlook the primary source of warmongering in the region!
Last year, in these days, there was a massive uprising in Iran, where the Iranian people demonstrated their opposition to all forms of dictatorship, by chants of “No to Shah, No to the mullahs.”
During these protests, the mullahs killed 750 youths. They arrested and tortured 30,000 people. In the 2019 uprising, they killed 1,500 people.
Please think about these figures. What is now happening in Iran is a big war between the people of Iran and the ruling regime. The continuation of that war is what you see in the Middle East.
Iranian regime needs to provoke wars in the region
The mullahs need to provoke wars in the region to prevent their overthrow. Khamenei has repeatedly said that if we do not fight in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, we must fight in the cities of Iran.
Imagine this brutal religious tyranny was not in power in Iran.
Iraq would be different; Syria and Yemen would not have been torn by war; Lebanon would not suffer for so long, and there would not be so many obstacles to peace in the Middle East.
Honorable Senators,
Now, let us review some of the regime’s terrorist attacks abroad: the explosion of the US Marines barracks in Beirut, the explosion of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the killing of at least 600 American soldiers in Iraq, and so on.
But today, the mullahs have made the Middle East engulfed in fire and blood and Khamenei said he is proud of it, and his Minister of Intelligence said: This is the greatest of all victories.
Here are the most significant conclusions of the past experiences.
Appeasement of the mullahs’ regime is disastrous.
Years ago, the world realized that this regime could not be reformed, nor would it change its behavior. The world must now admit that the Iranian regime cannot be appeased, either. Every concession given to the regime will fuel more wars.
Another conclusion is that no solution in the Middle East will succeed unless the head of the snake in Tehran is targeted.
This can be only done by siding with the struggle of the Iranian people and their organized Resistance to overthrow the regime.
Regime change in Iran is the only right policy
Regime change in Iran is the only right policy on the international level, a policy that is essential for peace and tranquility in the region and the world.
Regime change in Iran is a practical policy, which will be realized by the Iranian people and Resistance.
One should also learn from the past mistakes.
In December 2003, I said that the danger of the regime’s influence in Iraq was a hundred times greater than the nuclear risk.
We have repeatedly declared that the Iranian regime should not be allowed to use Iraq to spread its influence in the region. But unfortunately, instead of blocking the Iranian regime in Iraq, they left the gates open for it.
Without the influence in Iraq, the regime would have never been able to spread war and slaughter throughout the region and extend its arms to the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
These mistakes created a disaster that continues to this day. Accepting the regime’s demands for blacklisting the MEK and the NCRI. Putting pressure on the MEK in various countries, including Albania, is among the consequences of those catastrophic mistakes.
The various restrictions imposed on the MEK in Ashraf-3 in Albania must be ended.
As the US House Resolution 627 points out, the rights of the MEK must be recognized according to the Geneva Refugee Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the international law.
Three essential steps to confront the Iranian regime
Now, it is necessary to take three steps vis-à-vis the mullahs’ regime.
First, the policy of easing sanctions against the regime must be stopped. This policy has given the regime about 100 billion dollars in the last three years.
Instead, the snapback mechanism should be activated, and the six UN Security Council Resolutions against the Iranian regime’s nuclear program must be restored.
The bi-partisan objection of members of the U.S. House and Senate to the Iranian regime’s having access to six billion dollars is a step in the right direction.
Any money or resources provided to the Iranian regime will be used for terrorism outside of Iran and repression inside Iran.
Under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the regime should also be declared an urgent threat to international peace and security.
Second, the United States and the European Union should recognize the struggle of the Iranian people to overthrow the regime. The US Senate and the House of Representatives should pass laws to make this as the official policy of the United States.
Third, U.S. Congress should endorse the legitimacy of the struggle of rebellious youth against the terrorist IRGC.
I have no doubt that your firmness against this vicious regime will send a strong message to Tehran.
The Iranian people and their freedom fighters will never forget those who stood with them in difficult times.
Thank you and God bless you all.
