{"id":78287,"date":"2025-09-11T11:10:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/?p=78287"},"modified":"2025-09-11T11:10:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:10:19","slug":"guy-verhofstadt-urges-europe-to-support-irans-democratic-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/free-iran-2025\/2025\/09\/guy-verhofstadt-urges-europe-to-support-irans-democratic-opposition\/78287\/","title":{"rendered":"Guy Verhofstadt Urges Europe to Support Iran\u2019s Democratic Opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Former — Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt at the Brussels Free Iran Rally, September 6, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt delivered a powerful address at the Free Iran rally in Brussels<\/a>, urging Europe to abandon its \u201cfailed strategy of appeasement\u201d toward Tehran and instead back Iran\u2019s democratic opposition.<\/p>\n
Speaking before tens of thousands of participants, Verhofstadt highlighted the \u201cimmense, massive presence of Iranians\u201d as proof that a viable alternative exists to the \u201ccruel and criminal mullahs\u2019 regime.\u201d He denounced Tehran\u2019s human rights record, stressing that \u201cIran under the mullahs has become the world record holder for the death penalty and for criminality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verhofstadt argued that decades of Western engagement with Tehran have only emboldened the regime, citing its support for extremist proxies and military cooperation with Russia in Ukraine. \u201cAppeasement has made things worse for the Iranian people, the Middle East, and the world,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n
He outlined a new approach built on three key pillars: officially designating the IRGC<\/a> as a terrorist organization, broadening sanctions against Iran\u2019s leadership and key industries, and initiating dialogue with the democratic opposition led by Maryam Rajavi<\/a>\u2019s Ten-Point Plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour massive presence here today proves there is an alternative,\u201d Verhofstadt concluded. \u201cLet us meet next year in Tehran, in a free and democratic Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
***The full speech of Mr. Guy Verhofstadt follows:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n***
***Thank you very much,*** Mrs. Rajavi<\/a>, for being so kind to organize this Free Iran rally, not in Paris, but this time in Brussels. And you see, normally in Brussels, it\u2019s always raining. Today, there is sun. And that is a sign that things will also change in Iran and that next year we can have the rally in Tehran in Iran.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a sign, Mrs. Rajavi, [with] this immense, massive presence of Iranian people from outside Iran, that there is effectively a democratic alternative<\/a> to the cruel and criminal mullahs\u2019 regime in Iran.<\/p>\n
\n
Yesterday in Brussels huge rally \u201cFreeIran\u201d with Mrs.Rajavi and Mike Pence ! pic.twitter.com\/8L5vrSsvDC<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) September 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n