Source: Swiss National News Agency (The original report is in Frech)
ATS – The removal of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is a defeat for Tehran, said Maryam Rajavi, head of the Iranian opposition in exile, on Wednesday in Geneva. She expressed hope that the Iranian regime is now “completely ousted” from Iraq.
“The removal of al Maliki is a strategic defeat for the clerical regime in Iran,” said the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) at a meeting held at the UN headquarters in Geneva.
“This dismissal hopes to complete the eviction of the Iranian regime from Iraq,” she added. She was speaking alongside members of the Syrian opposition who criticized Tehran’s support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Appeal to the UN
Maryam Rajavi expressed outrage at the massacres of civilians that are “widespread” in Iraq as well as in Syria and appealed to the UN. She denounced both the killings committed by the Iraqi government against Sunnis in recent months as well as those perpetrated in northern Iraq by the Islamic State (ISIS).
The Iranian opposition in exile has consistently denounced in recent years the alliance between Tehran and Baghdad, as well as al-Maliki’s attempts to eliminate some 3,000 refugees of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camp Ashraf, and then Camp Liberty near Baghdad.
For Maryam Rajavi, the “moderation” of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is “an illusion” and westerners should stop showing “kindness” towards Tehran.
Iraqi President of the Association of Arab Lawyers Sabah al-Mukhtar, based in London, also welcomed the ouster of Nouri al-Maliki. But he warned that the dismissed Prime Minister retains control of the main Shiite forces.
Sabah al-Mukhtar also denounced the humanitarian disaster in northern Iraq. He stressed that the uprising against the government in Baghdad was in fact by Sunni tribal leaders and the Iraqi people, not a “terrorist group,” the Islamic state.
Iranian support for Bashar al-Assad
Alongside Maryam Rajavi, Syrian opposition member Haitham al-Maleh criticized the influence of Iran in the region. He said that Tehran pays $ 500 million to the regime in Damascus every month and has recruited some 60,000 mercenaries to fight the rebels of the Syrian army.
“This is the Iranian regime that wages war against the Syrian people. Entire areas are engulfed in flames. Action is needed to stop the bloodshed,” said Haytham al-Maleh.
