New Year wishes for a free Iran

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Honorable Mayors,
Honorable Members of the Town Council,
Our beloved neighbors in Auvers-sur-Oise,
And all the beloved Val d’Oise residents who are here today,

Happy New Year to all of you.

On behalf of the Iranian Resistance, the residents of Camp Ashraf and myself, I hope that 2010 will be a successful and prosperous year, full of happy moments, for all of you.

I hope that this would be the year of progress and prosperity for France and its people.

I also hope that this year would be the year that my compatriots in Iran would finally reach freedom and democracy.

Let me sum up last year in a few words: So far as it concerns the most important issue on the table for the world, that is, the issue of Iran, last year was a year that on the one hand, saw the defeat of conciliatory efforts towards the religious dictatorship ruling Iran and on the other, the confirmation of the validity of the Third Option.

We had already said that the religious dictatorship in Iran is unstable and that the Iranian people are ready to rise up. We saw this happen in recent months. Indeed, the Third Option, which is democratic change by the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance, offers the only solution.

Now, as we enter 2010, although many people have lost their lives during protests in recent months and many more have been arrested, but our people are content in their hearts and hold their heads high as they march towards freedom and democracy.

The video footage and pictures showing the presence of millions of people on the streets, which have been distributed around the world, changed the image of Iran in the minds of people in other countries. They showed that Iranians are not fundamentalists. Far from it, they are a modern people endowed with a progressive culture, and they yearn for democracy.

The uprising that started in June has become increasingly organized and additional social strata have swelled its ranks. The bonds of solidarity and friendship among people have been strengthened, their demands are more focused, and their slogans call for the toppling of the entire ruling system based on the principle of velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule).

Indeed, no matter how much the regime now continues its degrading and criminal behaviour, it will still be incapable of curbing the protests.

It is impossible for the situation to revert back to what it was previously; the era of religious dictatorship has come to an end.

And [the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei has no other option but to step aside just as the Shah did [in 1979].

That will be a day of overwhelming joy, the experience of which will not be limited to the Iranian people but shared by the entire world.

An important development in 2009 was that in the face of plots and assaults by the mullahs’ proxies in Iraq, Ashraf residents stood firm and triumphed. Throughout the year, the mullahs were busy plotting against Ashraf, imposing the siege on it and exerting pressures. But Ashraf residents stood firm and triumphed.

The hunger strikes launched in Ashraf and around the world, the heroism displayed by the 36 hostages from Ashraf, and all the support from people, personalities, and parliamentarians across the world eventually bore fruit.

Ashraf’s activities during the past year were geared toward persevering against fundamentalism, saying no to the dictatorship, resisting attempts for the commission of crimes against them, and waging resistance against the religious fascism. And, I think such perseverance is a celebration of pride for all of humanity.

In this respect, last year’s developments demonstrated an important reality: In order to protect itself, the religious fascism ruling Iran considers it necessary to destroy the resistance. Indeed, the key to solving the Iranian crisis is this resistance.

I am happy that in support of this resistance, we were able to achieve victory in a great legal battle: The removal of the PMOI from the EU’s list of terrorist groups.

In confrontation with the mullahs, I am happy that we won victory in the battle of public opinion. We received support from hundreds of human rights groups, thousands of parliamentarians, hundreds of humanitarian priests and bishops, and millions of honourable citizens in a variety of countries.

Moreover, the solidarity of the citizens and elected officials of France with the resistance significantly expanded last year. The latest development in this regard was the support of more than 2,000 mayors from across France for the Iranian Resistance.

Fortunately, we also saw more firmness in France’s policy towards the mullahs’ activities for developing nuclear weapons. We hope that this resolute approach would be consolidated with the removal of obstacles on the path of the Iranian Resistance.

Allow me to reiterate a fact about Iran. The Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance have the necessary competency and aptitude to bring about change in their homeland.

We, the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance, possess the required capabilities to establish freedom, democracy and a republic based on the separation of church and state, gender equality and pluralism.

We are only asking Western governments to remove the obstacles placed on our path, such as the fabricated legal cases and the terror label. We want Western governments to refrain from launching a psychological war against us just to score a compromise with the mullahs. And, finally, we want them to adopt a firm stance against the clerical regime.

My Dear Friends!

This year will be a decisive year for the uprising of the Iranian people, for the resistance, and for Ashraf. This year, we will need the support and friendship of you and all other supporters of the resistance more than ever before.

We shall begin the new year with taking benevolent strides, because even a single compassionate step by one person will be an advance for humanity as a whole.

We shall begin the new year with making efforts in support of justice, with selflessness and regard for the happiness of others, with cleansing of our hearts from grief and hatred toward other people, with opening our eyes to the good characteristics of our kind, with opening of our ears to hear the voices of others, and with nurturing compassionate and humane sentiments existing within us.

We shall begin the new year armed with the most potent breed of optimism and the warmest bonds of unity, for the dawn of freedom is upon us.

I thank all of you.