Message to the Federal Parliament of Australia

Maryam Rajavi: The ongoing tragedy in the Middle East should serve as a wake-up call for the international community

Distinguished representatives,
Honerable Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s an honor to address this conference at this critical moment in history.
As I am speaking to you, at least 60 individuals have been hanged in my country, Iran, in just the first 15 days of November.
In my country, every day, a new group is sent to the gallows; women are the prime victims. Suppression, discrimination and corruption are systematic and have permeated all aspects of life.

Four years ago, on these days, our people had a major uprising. The regime could overcome the crisis only by killing 1,500 people in just a few days.
Last year, for several months in a row, in a nationwide uprising in over 280 cities, the Iranian people chanted “Down with Khamenei” across the country.
The regime killed at least 750 and arrested 30,000 to prevent its overthrow. Despite the crackdown, however, all the factors that caused the uprising are still in place and have even become worse.

To prevent the outbreak of other uprisings, and to confront this explosive condition, this time, the regime resorted to warmongering in the region.
Peace in the Middle East is like a hanging noose for the regime. For this reason, it has disrupted the path to peace and conspired against the Palestinian government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as much as it could over the past 30 years. It even plotted for the assassination of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Over the past four decades, the Iranian regime has acted as a force against stability in the Middle East, involving itself in numerous conflicts and exporting terrorism and fundamentalism. Such actions are sanctioned by the regime’s constitution and described as “export of revolution.”
The regime’s survival depends on three main pillars: ruthless repression at home, warmongering by meddling in other nations, and obtaining nuclear bomb.
By these actions, the regime pursues to divert attention from domestic crises, cover up its inability to meet its people’s needs, and create a shield against a nationwide uprising, which it fears most.
The regime’s creation, arming, and funding of terrorist proxy groups, such as the Hezbollah of Lebanon, and other groups in Iraq and other parts of the region, are not isolated incidents but part of its strategy to survive.
The ongoing tragedy in the Middle East should serve as a wake-up call for the international community to realize that the head of the snake is in Iran. A comprehensive and firm policy toward the Iranian regime cannot wait any longer.
Appeasement of the mullahs’ regime will only expose the Middle East and the world to a destructive and devastating war.

On Thursday, November 9, Prof. Alejo Vidal Quadras, President of the international organization “In Search of Justice” and the former Vice-President of the European Parliament, was targeted in an attempt on his life, near his home in Madrid. While he was being taken to hospital, he pointed to the Iranian regime as the culprit. He said, “I have no other enemy.”

Elements of the Iranian regime’s survival strategy

Honorable representatives,
Repression and execution inside Iran, inciting and fomenting regional crises, and exporting terrorism beyond its borders, are all elements of the regime’s survival strategy. In the meantime, the regime has engaged in an extensive disinformation campaign.
Recently, it was revealed that the regime had recruited a number of so-called experts and formed a network known as the “Iran Expert Initiative.” These individuals infiltrated to European and American media, think tanks, and even government agencies and institutions. They spread false information and promoted the Iranian regime’s claims.
Their mission is to portray the regime as a stable government which has no viable and democratic alternative. In this way, they justify the policy of appeasement.

The 2022 nationwide uprising left no doubt that the regime is not stable and the Iranian people seek regime change. They desire a democratic system, rejecting both the previous monarchy and the current rule of the mullahs.
Their demands include a democratic republic, free elections, the separation of religion and state, gender equality, freedom of expression and assembly, the abolition of the death penalty, a non-nuclear Iran, and autonomy for national ethnicities within Iran’s territorial integrity like the NCRI plan for the Kurdish region.

The time has come for the international community and all democratic nations to adopt a decisive and firm policy regarding the religious dictatorship in Iran, and support the legitimate right of the Iranian people to confront the repressive Revolutionary Guards and ultimately overthrow this regime.
The IRGC must be designated as a terrorist entity and severe sanctions should be imposed on the regime.

Thank you for your attention.