Former MEP Struan Stevenson delivered a resolute speech at the rally of Iranians in Brussels on September 15, addressing the one-year anniversary of Iran’s nationwide uprising.
He paid tribute to Mahsa Amini and highlighted the mullahs’ brutal response to the uprising that commenced a year ago, resulting in the deaths of 750 individuals and the imprisonment of over 30,000.
Mr. Stevenson stated that despite the regime’s repression, the uprising was spearheaded by fearless women who bravely joined the PMOI Resistance Units, engaging in acts of defiance against the oppressive regime.
The former MEP from Scotland also condemned the regime’s human rights abuses, support for terrorism, and gender discrimination, emphasizing that the women of Iran have had enough and are at the forefront of the uprising. He called for international support, urging the West to blacklist the IRGC and bring the regime’s leaders to justice. Stevenson concluded with a powerful declaration that the mullahs’ days are numbered and the people of Iran will be victorious.
The text of Struan Stevenson’s speech follows:
My sisters and brothers, today we are here because one year ago Mahsa Amini was murdered by the morality police. We are here for Mahsa Amini. Her name will go down in history. She will never be forgotten.
You know the mullahs, since the insurrection that began a year ago, they have killed 750 people. They’ve jailed over 30,000 and they think that by doing that they will stop us. They can think again, we will never be stopped.
The uprising has been led by women, brave, courageous women who have joined the PMOI Resistance Units. They have torched IRGC and Basij command posts. They have defaced posters of Khamenei. They have put graffiti on the walls. They have displayed posters of Madam Rajavi and Masoud Rajavi and they will not be beaten. They have hacked into the international networks of state television and shown pictures of Mrs. Rajavi at the PMOI.
This is the courage of the women who are leading this uprising. And of course, in the usual way, the regime has resorted to arrest, torture, and executions. They have executed 600 people in the last year. How can you have conversations in the West with a regime that has hanged 600 people in the past year?
A regime that finances war and terror across the Middle East, it backs Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hezbollah, the militias in Iraq, and Hamas. This regime backs terror in the Middle East and internationally.
And that’s why tens of thousands of women, tens of thousands, took to the streets, joining with their brothers, and their fathers, in the international uprising. Students, nurses, teachers, factory workers, pensioners, crying “Down with the dictator, whether it be the Shah or the mullahs!”
These courageous PMOI, demand an end to corruption, an end to discrimination, an end to repression, an end to the military adventurism of the mullahs’ regime. Because women have been treated as second-class citizens in Iran. They have had brutal attacks for the crime of mal-veiling. They have had acid thrown in their face, they have had stabbings. They have been arrested, sometimes teenage girls, and students arrested for dancing or singing and posting the videos on social media. Sometimes, they have been arrested for attending end-of-term parties at university.
This is what gender equality apparently looks like in Iran today. That’s why women have had enough. That’s why women are at the forefront of this uprising.
You know, when Ruhollah Khamenei hijacked the revolution in 1979, one of the first things he did, he announce that equality between men and women is in fundamental violation of some of the most crucial rulings of Islam, and is in defiance of some of the exploitation and is in defiance of some of the explicit commandments of the Quran.
That, my sisters and brothers, is a wicked deception. That is a lie. He used that deception to abolish family protection laws. He did away with female judges. Only a tiny minority of members of the majlis are women.
And that’s why now the mullahs are so scared of the PMOI. They’re so scared of the women who are leading the PMOI because they see the PMOI as the main threat to their existence. The PMOI will overthrow this regime. And the mullahs say, if we see or identify anyone from the PMOI, they will be arrested, tortured, and possibly executed.
Well, I have a message today for the mullahs. I am PMOI! You are PMOI! We are all PMOI!
It is time now for the West to stand up beside the people of Iran, beside the courageous women and men. We are calling today for the PMOI and the Resistance Units to rise up again, and overthrow this regime. Victory is within sight.
The West must blacklist the IRGC. They must be named as a terrorist organization. Blacklist the IRGC. They must be named as a terrorist organization. And Khamenei and Raisi must be brought before the international courts in The Hague and charged with crimes against humanity and human rights abuse.
We will see them in prison. Sisters and brothers, the mullahs’ days are numbered. The turbaned tyrant’s days are coming to an end. We will all march together for freedom, in Tehran. Victory and long live Rajavi!
Thank you.