Mr. Lars Rise, a member of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Norwegian Parliament

ImageThe Norwegian MP underscored that the terror label against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran was unfounded, illegitimate and purely political in nature.

As 1,000 parliamentarians from across Europe reiterated in recent months, this tag must be removed immediately, he added.

Mr. Lars Rise, a member of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Norwegian Parliament from the Christian Democratic Party, met with Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect, at her residence in Auvers-sur-Oise on Sunday, October 17, 2004.

Mr. Parviz Khazai, NCRI’s representative to the Nordic countries, also attended the meeting.

While condemning the flagrant violations of human rights in Iran, Mr. Rise reaffirmed his support for the Iranian Resistance and its endeavors toward the establishment of democracy and human rights in Iran. He added that the Iranian regime’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons and increasing meddling in Iraq threatened peace and tranquility in the region and the world. The world is indebted to the Mojahedin for its valiant struggle against this threat, Mr. Rise said.

The Norwegian MP underscored that the terror label against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran was unfounded, illegitimate and purely political in nature. As 1,000 parliamentarians from across Europe reiterated in recent months, this tag must be removed immediately, he added.

Mr. Rise also condemned the raid on the headquarters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in France last year, noting that such a blatant breach of the most rudimentary rights of the Iranian Resistance and Iranian refugees in a country that champions itself as the cradle of human rights was truly disgraceful.

The Norwegian lawmaker stressed that time had come to abandon the policy of appeasing the clerical regime as a serious global threat. That approach must be replaced with a decisive policy that would identify with the Iranian people and Resistance and its humanitarian objectives, Mr. Rise said.

He also extended his best wishes to the Iranian Resistance and Mrs. Rajavi. While commending the patience and fortitude of the Resistance on the path to attain its noble humanist goals, Mr. Rise said victory belonged to those who exercise patience and resolve in striving toward their goals. The Norwegian MP said that as a Christian he admired Mrs. Rajavi’s efforts to contribute to unity and coexistence between Islam, Christianity and other religions.

Mrs. Rajavi said the resistance of the Norwegian people against Hitler’s Nazism was a brilliant chapter in the history of that country. She also expressed gratitude for the widespread support the people of Norway and their elected representatives accorded the Iranian Resistance in the darkest period of Iran’s history. Mrs. Rajavi added that the Iranian people and Resistance were resolute in their efforts to end the religious tyranny and to establish democracy and popular sovereignty in their homeland. This, she said, was indispensable to peace and tranquility in the region as a whole.