Lord Russell-Johnston, the honorary President of the Liberal Group and former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Dr. Rudi Vis, MP, from labor party, David Marshall, MP, from Labor party, Mrs. Rosmarie Zapfl-Helbling, First Vice-Chairperson of Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Mr. Allen Meale, Labor MP, Mr Goran Lindblad from the Swedish Moderat Party and Mr. Jean-Pol Henry Chairperson of national delegation Standing Committee chief representative of Belgium in Council of Europe were among those who welcomed Mrs. Rajavi.
Accompanied by Lord Russell-Johnston, Mrs. Rajavi attended the meeting by the Liberal Group of the Council of Europe. In his opening remarks as the Chair of the meeting, Lord Russell-Johnston described Mrs. Rajavi as the leader of a democratic movement in Iran who had paid a heavy price for the freedom of her country and expressed his pleasure to call on her to address the meeting.
In addition to the leader and members of the Liberal Group, leaders and members of other groups including Socialist, Christian Democratic and European Democrats were among the participants. Parliamentary delegates from different European countries, vice-president of the Commission for Gender Equality also attended the meeting and put forward questions about resistance’s future and prospect of democratic change in Iran.
Addressing the representatives of Council of Europe, Mrs Rajavi said: "I came to convey the Iranian people’s cry for freedom to this assembly of the representatives of the European people." She added: "Today, the world is facing a dangerous dilemma; the prospect of a fundamentalist dictatorship acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapon or the prospect for a disastrous war in the region. Today, I have come to say that the international community is not required to choose between the nuclear-armed mullahs or a war." The president-elect of the Resistance then offered her solution to the Iranian crisis as the third option which was: "Democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized resistance." She stressed that "making concessions to the mullahs is not the way to avoid war. It would increase the possibility of a war. It is necessary to react quickly. We do not have much time."
Mrs Rajavi also mentioned the arrest warrant issued for Ali Fallahian, former Intelligence Minister and Khamenei’s current advisor on security affairs, for his role in organizing the assassination of professor Kazem Rajavi and spoke about the repressive policy of the regime in Iran and its export of terrorism and fundamentalism.
"The Iranian regime’s meddling and terrorist activities in Iraq is a hundred times more dangerous than its nuclear threat," Mrs. Rajavi asserted and reinstated that "in order to confront such a regime, the world, has only one logical choice: Acting decisively and quickly. The Security Council must impose sanctions on the regime and the international community must recognize the right of the Iranian people to resist for freedom."
To this end Mrs Rajavi denounced terror listing of the PMOI as the product of the policy of appeasement and said: "Putting restrictions on the main Iranian opposition force is the greatest obstacle to democratic change in Iran. At issue is limiting an organization but targeting the resistance of a people for freedom. As 2.8 million Iraqis declared in a statement, the ‘Mojahedin are an important political and cultural barrier to the influence of fundamentalism.’ The removal of the terrorist label is the legitimate demand of the Iranian people and the litmus test of abandoning the policy of appeasing the mullahs."
Mrs Rajavi then figured out the capacity and potential of Iranian Resistance and continued: "It has a vast popular base; a nationwide social network and enjoys widespread support among Iranians abroad. It has a political alternative, the National Council of Resistance of Iran. It has an organized force in Iraq, in the Ashraf City, close to the Iranian frontier, which allows it to exert the greatest influence on the events in Iran. And the pivotal force within the Resistance movement is People’s Mojahedin with 40 years of struggle for freedom."
Mrs Rajavi emphasized: "We do not aim to assume power at all costs. Our goal is to guarantee freedom and the democracy no matter what the cost."
Finally, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance outlined her 10-point plan for Iran as follows:
1. From our point of view, the ballot box is the only criterion for legitimacy. Accordingly, we seek a republic based on popular vote.
2. We want a pluralist system, freedom of parties and assembly. In Iran of tomorrow, we will respect all individual freedoms. Expression of opinion, speech and the media are completely free and any censorship or inquisition is banned.
3. In the free Iran of tomorrow, we support and are committed to the abolition of death penalty.
4. The Iranian Resistance will establish the separation of the church and the State. Any form of discrimination against the followers of all religions and denominations will be prohibited.
5. We believe in complete gender equality in political and social rights. We also committed to equal participation of women in political leadership. Any form of discrimination against women will be abolished. They will enjoy the right to freely choose their clothing.
6. We want to set up a modern legal system based on the principles of presumption of innocence, the right to defense, and the right to be tried in a public court. We also seek the total independence of judges. Cruel and degrading punishments will have no place in the future Iran.
7. We are committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international covenants and conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of discrimination Against Women.
8. We recognize private property, private investment and the market economy.
9. Our foreign policy will be based on peaceful coexistence, international and regional peace and cooperation, as well as respect for the United Nations Charter.
10. We want the free Iran of tomorrow to be devoid of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.