{"id":16488,"date":"2020-07-18T23:46:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T21:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/?p=16488"},"modified":"2020-09-04T10:04:42","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T08:04:42","slug":"free-iran-rally-2020-a-full-report-of-the-july-17-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/activities-outside-iran\/annual-gathering\/grand-gathering-2020\/2020\/07\/free-iran-rally-2020-a-full-report-of-the-july-17-conference\/16488\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Iran Rally 2020: A full report of the July 17 conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Friday July 17, 2020, the Iranian Resistance, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), held its annual Free Iran summit, virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, but this allowed for\u00a030,000\u00a0people in over 100 countries, with a 17-hour time difference,\u00a0to take part as they\u00a0safely\u00a0attended rallies in major cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The event began at 3.30 pm Central\u00a0European time, which is the\u00a0time zone\u00a0that all times will be noted in to avoid confusion, with a speech from former secretary of the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK), Zohreh Akhiani, at the MEK headquarters of Ashraf 3 in Albania. She thanked people for attending the conference and said that their support would voice support for the Iranian Resistance and the overthrow of the regime, something echoed by MEK Deputy Secretary General Rabie Mofidi, who said that the Free Iran rally \u201cshows how unity can bring change to Iran\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then,\u00a0the conference was turned over to speakers across Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0The mayor of Paris\u2019 District 1, Jean Fran\u00e7ois Legaret, said that the MEK\u2019s efforts to bring a Free Iran from Ashraf 3, as well as Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, have shown the world that the MEK and its parent coalition, the NCRI, are \u201cthe light at the\u00a0end of the tunnel\u201d and the only alternative to the mullahs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While British MP Dr. Matthew Offord cited a recent statement by the British Committee for Iran Freedom, which was signed by 120 MPs, showing support for the Iranian people\u2019s anti-regime protests and Resistance Leader Maryam\u00a0Rajavi\u2019s\u00a010-point plan for a Free Iran. He called for the British government and others to join with the US\u2019s maximum pressure campaign on the mullahs to deny them of the money used for terrorism and repression.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Philipe Gosselin, a member of the French National Assembly, spoke about the regime\u2019s attacks on peaceful protesters, specifically the 1,500 killed in the\u00a0November\u00a0uprising last years, as well as the attempted bombing of the Free Iran rally in Paris in 2018, for which an Iranian diplomat is currently on trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThis is a dictatorship regime. Yes to a free and democratic Iran.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Theresa Payton, the CEO of a\u00a0cyber security\u00a0and intelligence company, said that the regime is using cyber warfare and terrorism to carry out its plans and must be stopped. She then spoke specifically about the regime\u2019s disinformation campaign against the MEK and its domestic censorship of opposition sites, as well as social media and foreign news agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that the US must address this or a Free Iran would never come to pass, suggesting financial backing to ensure that Iranians know they support in their quest for regime change.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then came the speech of Martin Patzelt, a member of the Human Rights Commission of the German Bundestag, who said that the Iranian people have made it clear that they want change and that the\u00a0mullahs\u00a0must go.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThe regime wanted the people to forget the MEK. But the active role of the MEK prevented this from happening. We stand with you and tell the world that the people of Iran should be allowed to live in freedom.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the European Union must support the Iranian Resistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That sentiment was echoed by former Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga, who explained that Europe\u2019s policies have not been very successful thus far and called for governments to be \u201cmore decisive\u201d in order to bring peace to Iran and ensure that the brave Iranian expats fighting for freedom could soon return to their homeland.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 4.15 pm, the conference aired a video featuring different clips recorded by the MEK\u2019s Resistance Units, which showed Iranians demonstrating their support for the Free Iran summit by placing graffiti in public spaces. Some members also held up banners or posters showing their support for Maryam Rajavi and their hatred of the\u00a0mullahs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryam Rajavi\u2019s keynote speech\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The conference then moved on to its keynote speaker Maryam Rajavi, who began by saying that the conference echoed the people\u2019s cries for the overthrow of the regime, which were made in 2017, 2018, 2019, and early in 2020, and advising that this overthrow was more and more imminent, given the constant \u201ccheckmate\u201d that the regime found itself in.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that the regime was dumbfounded by the Iranian people\u2019s support for the MEK and the increase in resistance activities since 2017.\u00a0Of course, she reminded us that the regime cannot change its ways without risking\u00a0destruction, so\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0opted to consolidate power around Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; a plan that will fail.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryam Rajavi then spoke about the regime\u2019s, perhaps intentional, mishandling of the coronavirus crisis, explaining that the pandemic had exposed the regime\u2019s \u201cghastly\u201d destruction of Iran\u2019s healthcare and welfare programs, which has left more people vulnerable to the virus in Iran than in any other country on earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that the rising death toll \u2013 the second highest in the world despite a population of just 80 million \u2013 is the result of the regime\u2019s criminal policies that are designed to counter a people\u2019s revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryam Rajavi further noted that the regime has done nothing to fight the coronavirus, but rather increased their malign activities in Iraq and Syria that are paid for by robbing the Iranian\u00a0people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said: \u201cToday, in Iran, one of the greatest battles and one of the greatest tests of our time are being waged between freedom and religious fascism, between democracy and religious fundamentalism. We urge all governments and the international bodies to stand with the people of Iran in this historic showdown with the greatest threat to world\u2019s peace and security.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then began to speak about just some of these threats, including the attempted\u00a0bombing\u00a0of the 2018 Free Iran rally, saying that this showed that the regime \u201cwill not hesitate to perpetrate any crime or pay any price to destroy MEK and the Iranian Resistance, which it views as an existential threat\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryam Rajavi then said that the resistance was not fighting to claim glory, but rather to \u201crestore freedom and people\u2019s sovereignty in Iran\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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