Dozens of high-ranking former officials from U.S., Europe and Arab states, including Rudolph Giuliani, Frances Townsend, Michael Mukasey, Tom Riche, Sid Ahmed Ghozali and Alain Vivien called for adoption of a policy with the Iranian Resistance at its focal point
NCRI – In an international conference held in Paris on Wednesday, December 22, at the invitation of sixteen committees from across Europe, dozens of political figures and former high-ranking officials from U.S., Europe, and Arab countries urged the international community to adopt a new resolute policy vis-à-vis the Iranian regime and the threats it poses.
Participants in this conference, titled “Camp Ashraf and Iran Policy”, criticized the policy of Europe and the U.S. towards Iran because of its appeasement of the Iranian regime and its disregard for the Iranian people and their resistance as the principle force for change in Iran. They declared such policy as feeble and inept in face of the serious threat posed by the Iranian regime against the international community as a whole.
Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City and U.S. presidential candidate in 2008; Frances Townsend, advisor to president George W. Bush on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism till 2009; Michael Mukasey, Attorney General till 2009, Tom Ridge, former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary till 2005; in addition to Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Prime Minister of Algeria; Alain Vivien, former French minister for European Affairs; together with parliamentary delegations from France, Britain, Norway, Denmark and other European countries were among the participants in this conference.
Participants, while calling for an immediate resolute policy by the international community towards the Iranian regime, underlined that such a policy should include:
• Imposing comprehensive sanctions on oil, technology and arms against the Iranian regime, especially the IRGC, by the U.S. in coordination with the European Union,
• Immediate revocation of the U.S. State Department’s terrorist tag against the PMOI as the pivotal opposition force; a guarantee for protection and respect for the rights of Ashraf residents through permanent stationing of a group of U.S. forces and a UN monitoring team in Ashraf,
• Condemnation of flagrant violation of human rights by the clerical regime and a strong moral and political support for the demand of Iranian people for change of regime and establishment of democracy and human rights.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, as special guest to this conference, stated in her speech, “The correct solution to the Iranian problem is regime change, a democratic change by the Iranian people and Resistance. This is the defining factor in the Iranian equation. Thus, any policy that blocks the Resistance’s ignores the most important actor for change in Iran and the regime’s soft spot. This deficiency is at the heart of a mistaken policy of engagement. Nowhere is this mistake more apparent than in the situation of Ashraf. The US was aware that the Maliki government was doing the bidding of the mullahs and enforcing its policies by committing atrocities and terrorizing the Iraqi public. It, nevertheless, handed over the protection of Ashraf to Iraq. This transfer violated four principle of international law: The Fourth Geneva Convention, the Convention against Torture, the nonrefoulement principle and the principle of right to protection.” She asked: “Truly, why are the mullahs so afraid of an encircled and unarmed group 70 kilometers from the Iranian border? Because they know that Ashraf holds the key to change. They know that with 1,000 pioneering women, Ashraf inspires equality and emancipation for women.”
Also in this conference Mr. Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Algerian Prime Minister, announced that in previous weeks, 53 former Prime Ministers and Ministers from different countries around the world signed a statement that underlines the necessity of undertaking a firm policy towards the Iranian regime, the U.S. support for Ashraf residents in Iraq, and the removal of the PMOI from the FTO list. He announced that he had sent the request to U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
Alain Vivien, former French Minister for European Affairs, announced the statement by the majority of French Senate. Reminding the fact that “by their uprising, the Iranian people have indicated their will for putting an end to the religious dictatorship” and by mentioning the mullahs’ regime’s efforts to “annihilate 3,400 Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf”, the statement stresses, “Due to its responsibilities the French Government should ask the United Nations to have a more active presence to support the rights of Ashraf residents and to undertake the responsibility for their protection. We believe that the United States should provide sufficient assurances for implementation of the resolution that enjoys the support of the majority of the Congress and should call on the Iraqi Government to recognize the rights of Ashraf residents as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention”.
Jean-Pierre Brard, member of French Parliament, announced that 100 French parliamentarians have informed President Obama of their opinion on the situation in Iran and on the opposition. In their letter, the French representatives stressed that State Department’s designation of the Iranian opposition movement, the PMOI, as a terrorist organization is an obstacle to the efforts to deal with the growing threats of the Iranian regime to the regional and international peace and security. In addition the designation provides the Iranian regime and its proxies in Iraq with an excuse to suppress the members of the organization in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Furthermore, the French parliamentarians believe that the continued blacklisting sends a wrong signal to the people and the Iranian regime and is a direct interference in Iran’s internal affairs in favor of the Iranian regime and against the Iranian people.
Hundred French parliamentarians have asked President Obama to personally intervene and remove the terror label from PMOI since “removing this obstacle on the path of the Iranian people is the greatest help for the Iranian people’s freedom and it is, at the same time, the most effective assistance to the emancipation of the region and the world from the menace of fundamentalists armed with nuclear weapons”.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 22, 2010
