This evening, April 19, a parliamentary delegation consisting of 13 members of the European Parliament and from the Belgian Senate met Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect, at her residence in Auvers-sur-Oise.
In the meeting, Mrs. Rajavi said, "For the ruling mullahs, nuclear bomb, domination of Iraq and export of terrorism and fundamentalism are considered as guarantees for their survival. As such, they will never abandon them." She added, "Time is running out in trying to prevent the mullahs from acquiring the nuclear bomb and dragging the region into war and catastrophe. Any delay in adopting a decisive policy would be the greatest boost to the mullahs to realize their evil objectives."
Mrs. Rajavi noted that the key to resolving the Iranian problem and the definitive response to the mullahs’ threats is regime change and the establishment of democracy by the Iranian people and Resistance. Widespread popular protests reflected the Iranian people’s desire for change, she added.
The parliamentary delegation expressed its support for Mrs. Rajavi’s third option and democratic change in Iran. It stressed that in the past two decades the policy of appeasement had only helped a suppressive and ruthless regime remain in power.
It also underscored that the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran was a legitimate resistance movement and that the terrorist label against the Mojahedin had no justification whatsoever. The terrorist label has been a major blow to democracy in Iran and peace and tranquillity in the region and deprived the international community from a vital ally to thwart the mullahs’ nuclear weapons drive.
The delegation further condemned any restrictions imposed on Iranian dissidents, especially in France, at the request of the Iranian regime and on the pretext of terrorism against the main Iranian opposition force. It reiterated that the National Council of Resistance of Iran was a genuinely democratic alternative that should be supported. The parliamentary delegation demanded the adoption of a firm policy against the clerical regime by the European Union and the United Nations Security Council.
Belgian Senator Margriet Hermans said, "Similar to the European Parliament, we are opposed to the terror label against the Mojahedin. We adopted a resolution in the Belgian Senate unanimously, calling on the EU to review the blacklisting of the Mojahedin."
The delegation also lauded the People’s Mojahedin’s efforts in advancing the political and democratic process in Iraq and exposing the regime’s terrorist and fundamentalist meddling in that country. It noted that disregard to the Iranian Resistance’s warnings regarding Tehran’s interference had resulted in plunging Iraq into bloodshed and destruction. Large parts of the country are now under the control of Iranian Revolutionary Guards and many government agencies are completely influenced by Tehran. If the Iranian regime’s efforts and advances in Iraq had been thwarted, it could not have sought to export fundamentalism and undermine peace in the region.
Time has come for the EU to recognize the Iranian Resistance as the most serious factor in establishing democracy and human rights in Iran as well as peace and tranquillity in the region, the Parliamentary delegation said.
Alejo Vidal Quadras, First Vice President, European Parliament
Paulo Casaca, Co-Chair, Friends of a Free Iran Inter-group, PSE
Struan Stevenson, Co-Chair, Friends of a Free Iran Inter-group & Vice President of PPE-ED Group
Paris, 19 April 2006