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Iranian exiles want tougher line on fundamentalism |
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Friday, 08 July 2005 |
 
By Russell Fallis
The London bombings underline the need to tackle the "beating heart" of
Islamic fundamentalism in Tehran, Iranian exiles said today.
Hossein Abedini, a leading member of the National Council of Resistance
of Iran (NCRI), urged western nations to take a tougher line and end
"appeasement" towards the mullah's regime.
 He was addressing almost 200 Iranians from groups across
Britain who had gathered in Edinburgh for a pre-arranged rally to lobby
G8 leaders meeting in Scotland to back the resistance.
They carried banners condemning yesterday's bombings and urging
European and the United States governments to remove the opposition
People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from their terrorists
lists.
Speakers also attacked what one described as the recent "sham election" of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iranian president.
Among the speakers, Struan Stevenson, a Scottish Member of the European
Parliament (MEP) read out a letter of condolence sent by NCRI
president-elect, Maryam Rajavi, to Prime Minister Tony Blair following
yesterday's attacks.
Mr Abedini said today was a solemn occasion and expressed condolences
to those who lost loved ones, adding: "No decent human being could
justify such barbaric behaviour and I condemn the bombing as strongly
as one can."
Mr Abedini condemned Islamic fundamentalism, saying it was the rise of
Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 in Iran that had given this "evil ideology,
a perversion of Islam, this great religion of mercy, compassion and
tolerance" the impetus, resources and recruits to terrorise the Middle
East and other countries in the world.
And despite warnings from Iranian resistance groups since that time,
few governments took heed of the emerging threat from Islamic
fundamentalism.
"On the contrary, they opined, naively or out of greed, that the
fundamentalists could be and should be accommodated through economic
and political incentives," he continued.
"And that explains why the Europeans pursued a policy of appeasement
vis-a-vis the terrorist mullahs, first under the cloak of 'constructive
engagement' and later dubbing it as 'human rights dialogue'.
"Europe's policy of conciliation went as far as branding as terrorists
the main force that could put up an effective ideological, political
and cultural fight against the fundamentalists, a force that was also
the biggest victim of the extremists' terrorism, the PMOI.
"In retrospect, they only have themselves to blame for the spread of
this ideology of hate and murder, whose tentacles first reached New
York and Washington, then Madrid and now London."
Mr Abedini added: "One cannot but hope that the criminal bombings in
London yesterday and the consolidation of power in the hands of the
most extremist faction of the theocracy in Iran would serve as a dual
warning to the west and Europe in particular that appeasing the
fundamentalists and terrorists will not work.
"It only emboldens them in their terrorist ways.
"Our message to G8 leaders today is plain and simple: stop appeasement,
recognise the rights of the Iranian people to resist against the
religious tyranny that has shed too much blood and beyond for the past
quarter century."
Mr Abedini said he did not want an external intervention by the west, such as that seen in the Iraq invasion.
Among the steps being demanded was for the removal of the PMOI from
terror lists and tougher action on Iran's nuclear policy, for example
by referral to the UN Security Council, he said. |
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