Maryam Rajavi’s Speech in Brussels

My fellow compatriots,

The removal of the PMOI from the EU’s blacklist is a victory for law and justice.

This is an accomplishment which belongs to all jurists, members of parliament, and honorable and esteemed personalities who rose up to defend the rule of law in solidarity with the Iranian people’s Resistance. They were larger than life human beings who worked tirelessly in this campaign and turned a page in the history of Europe and the world on the dark era of appeasement.

These esteemed individuals include: Lord Slynn, who with his inspirational commitment and faith took the leading role in the legal battle of this Resistance in European and British courts; Madame Danielle Mitterrand, who during the toughest days strongly defended the Resistance against raids, attacks, and demonizing campaigns; Dr. Vidal Quadras, who with complete faith and strong abilities, led an international committee, encompassing two thousand parliamentarians, in support of the PMOI; Lord Robin Corbett, who rose up everywhere he could in defense of the democratic Iranian Resistance.

The joined other honorable and revered personalities such as Sid Ahmed Ghozali and Lord Archer of Sandwell, who during this enormous campaign proved their dedication to the ideals of justice and freedom with all their might.

Indeed, at the heart of this long and difficult battle to remove the terror label, a new Europe was born. This is a Europe that stands with the people and Resistance of Iran, and does not cooperate with the ruling fascism in Iran; A Europe which defends justice and law; A Europe which considers democracy and human rights in Iran as a necessary precondition for peace and security in the world and for safeguarding the European people’s true interests.

Iranian history has seen Baskerville, an American, who came to the aid of Sattar Khan and fought alongside him. Gauook, from the people of Germany, came to the aid of Mirza Kouchak Khan.

Now, take a look at the long line of Baskervilles and Gauooks today. They represent dedication and commitment towards democracy, justice, and law in the contemporary world. They stood against and opposed Western governments’ policy of appeasement. They exposed the wrong prevalent policies and undertook an awareness campaign for the adoption of the correct policy.

They finally cracked open the seemingly unsurpassable foreign policy barrier which was built upon economic interests. They endowed Europe with a monumental political and moral victory. This is the Europe that stands with the Iranian people.

My fellow compatriots,
The era of your march forward has begun. Now is the time to reassess all policies that have been based on appeasing the religious fascism and suppression of its democratic opposition. Now is the time for this Resistance to be recognized as the democratic alternative to the illegitimate regime ruling Iran, and to return Iran’s seats at international assemblies to its true representative, the Iranian Resistance.

And, now is the time for international condemnation of the ruling regime in Iran as the central banker of terrorism and an immediate threat to global peace and security.

I hope that the new US President, who obtained victory through the slogan of change, would fulfill the most important and vital aspect of change in American policy, which is to stop placating the mullahs and remove the terror label from the PMOI.

Now there is no pretext left for the Iraqi government to avoid acknowledging the legal status of Ashraf City’s residents. The Iranian Resistance, which respects the government and sovereignty of our brother neighbor Iraq, expects the Iraqi government to recognize the legal rights of Ashraf residents as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention and lift the unjust restrictions against them, thus demonstrating its commitment towards democratic norms and standards, as well as law and justice, to the rest of the world.

I must take this opportunity to also thank the political parties, members of parliament, and religious leaders in various countries who rose up in support of Ashraf City. Ashraf City is the symbol of democracy in the Middle East and espouses novel moral and humanitarian norms. Ashraf residents are inspirations to the people and especially the youth and women of Iran who demand freedom and equality.

Supporters of the Resistance,
Have you noticed the extent to which the ruling mullahs have in recent days lost control and are in agonizing pain? They are in shock that the terror label, the result of their years of diplomacy and foreign policy initiatives, has now been washed away. A number of the mullahs’ Revolutionary Guards and Bassij militias have conducted protests in front of the French, German and British embassies in Tehran against the EU decision. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened German cultural institutions in Iran with the same actions it undertook against the American embassy in 1979. [The mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei’s representative at the IRGC has called “this scheme,” referring to the removal of the label, as “the arrogant powers’ strategic plan.”

Why are the mullahs shaking like a leaf? Because this label was up to now a necessity for their survival. As Massoud Rajavi has pointed out, “The removal of obstacles on the path of the people and the Iranian Resistance … makes the entire regime tremble at the prospect of demise.”

For this reason, the mullahs consider their investments to blockade and lock the resistance movement completely wiped out. They see the end of their psychological warfare, their 24-hour propaganda to discredit the Resistance, and their claims that resistance has been finished. From this day forward, they will fear one hundred times more the courageous women and students who rise up with the chants of ‘Death to dictator.’

From this day forward, they will fear one hundred times more the anger of workers and teachers who conduct protests and strikes against their lack of pay. And, we say to them: Tremble; Tremble because the end of your era has come.

Since the outset, the point of our struggle against the terror listing has been nothing but the fulfillment of the Iranian people’s right to resist against a dictatorship. The objectives of our struggle are justice, freedom and democracy for our country Iran; The establishment of a republic based on the separation of church and sate, and a society in which women and men are equal; The abolishment of the death penalty, and ending the era of torture; The closing of the dark chapter of inquisition and compulsory veiling; The upholding of individual and social rights and equal economic opportunity; And a nuclear free and peace-seeking Iran.

Indeed, our struggle aims to bring democracy and freedom to Iran, and this is a struggle which will continue until its inevitable triumph.

I salute the Iranian people, the activist and PMOI youth across Iran, and the resolute Ashraf.

Long-live freedom.

I wish you success.