In a conference of parliamentarians and jurists at the office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in London on October 11, new details of the clerical regime’s meddling in Iraq were unveiled.
Speakers expressed their particular concern over the third clause of article 21 of the draft Iraqi constitution which is in violation of international conventions on refugees, effecting members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran residing in Iraq.
In his revelations, Mr. Hossein Abedini, member of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee, gave the names of top commanders of the Qods Force, responsible for extraterritorial operations of the mullahs’ Revolutionary Guards Corps, and terrorist centers based on the border regions with Iraq.
Other speakers in the panel included, Dr. Abdullah Jabouri, former governor of Diyala Province in Iraq, Mr. Andrew Mackinlay, Labour MP and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. David Amess, MP from the Conservative Party, Mrs. Claire Miskin, a renowned Barrister and Mr. Masoud Zabeti, chair of the Committee of Anglo-Iranian Lawyers.
Dr. Jabouri who had survived at least 14 assassination attempts while he was a governor in Iraq spoke of his own experience with interferences of the Iranian regime in Iraq. Full text of his speech is as follows:
My country, Iraq, is going through the most crucial moment of her very long history. The Iraqi people have suffered immensely from the consequences of dictatorship, war, terrorism, sectarian fighting and mindless violence. A whole generation of Iraqi children has grown up with daily scenes of shooting, bombing, and killings that never stop. You can imagine the scars that all this leaves on them.
But all this has not robbed us of our hope. Iraqis have a dream. They want to see their country united, independent, democratic and secular. They don’t want to live under occupation, but they also don’t want to live in a so-called Islamic Republic under the domination of Iran.
As Iraqis get ready to vote in the referendum for their new constitution, and then in the very important parliamentary elections, the rising meddling the Iranian regime in Iraq is becoming a major concern.
Many Arab leaders and Iraqi officials have spoken on this issue in recent weeks. The Saudi Foreign Minister condemned Iran’s military, financial and political meddling in Iraq’s affairs
His remarks were backed by Jordan, Kuwait and other Gulf states, who are equally worried by the rise of ultra-hardliners in Tehran.
American and British officials have also been very concerned about Iran’s policy in Iraq. a senior British official said last week that Six soldiers and two security guards have died in the past three months, all victims of a new explosives technique supplied via Iran,. British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Iran against interfering in Iraq on Thursday, saying London suspected explosives used to kill British troops there may have come from the Islamic republic. The Times reports that through a combination of arms, money and political influence, Iran has established itself as one of the most powerful forces in postwar Iraq, where its agents dominate local governments, the security services and parts of the economy.
So everyone agrees that Iran’s meddling and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism is a major problem in Iraq. But what is the solution?
There is no military or security solution to this problem. The fact is that the vast majority of ordinary Iraqis want to have a decent, peaceful life. They hate violence, terrorism, and extremism. But we need to bring them together and forge them into a powerful voice. If the majority of Iraqis are able to regain their political power, then extremists and terrorists and fundamentalists supported by Iran will not be able to claim that they are the Iraqi people.
What do we need to do this? We need the support of the outside world. We need the support of international public opinion.. That’s why it’s important that you condemn Iran’s meddling in Iraq. We must tell the Iranian regime to put its own house in order, instead of exporting its so-called Islamic revolution to Iraq. We all know about the massive violation of human rights in Iran. We have seen the shocking pictures of hanging young people in public. We have heard about the brutal use of torture. We know how undemocratic their elections are. This is not what the Iraqis want. We want a secular and genuine democracy, where there is peace, freedom, religious tolerance, and democratic elections.
We will also need to respect the rights of political refugees, because this is one of the benchmarks of democracy. But the Iranian regime has used its proxies in Iraq to meddle even in the writing of the new constitution. As a result, the draft constitution contains a clause that is against international law on political asylum.
Prominent experts in international law, including Lord Slynn of Hadley, have said that this article is against the international conventions on refugees.
More than 1000,000 Iraqi citizens 4,500 Iraqi lawyers and jurists and 55 political parties and groups in Iraq have signed a statement condemning the Iranian regimes meddling in Iraq and call for change in Article 21 C of draft constitution ,which violates asylum and human rights.. They asked the US and the UK governments and the Iraqi authorities to guarantee the safety and security of thousands of Iranian dissidents who are in Iraq, including members of the PMOI, the main Iranian opposition party.
This is important for us, Iraqis, because we believe that the Iranian opposition PMOI and its allies in the coalition NCRI are the best friends of the Iraqis who demand freedom and sovereignty. Last April, 2.8 million Iraqis signed the biggest petition in the history of Iraq and called on the Iraqi government to reaffirm the PMOI’s status as a legitimate resistance movement and the political asylum of its individuals.
After a 16-month investigation by coalition forces in Iraq, in June last year the PMOI personnel in Iraq were recognised by the Coalition as “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Prior to that, 331 MPs and 122 Lords in Britain declared in a statement, “Supporting the struggle of the people of Iran and the PMOI to achieve democracy and human rights is essential for the defeat of terrorism at home and abroad.”
The Iraqi people could not agree more. That’s why we, too, support the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy in Iran. The 52 Iraqi political parties and groups and the hundreds of personalities who have joined hands with them have created a common front against extremism and terrorism, especially the meddling by Iran. The Iranian opposition NCRI and PMOI are our allies in this huge struggle for democracy and peace in the Middle East. In this difficult task, we need your support all the way.