Announcing the statement by 117 former world leaders in solidarity with the Iranian people and Resistance

Dear guests, Ms. Tymoshenko, Mr. Kiska, Mr. Quiroga, Mr. Verhofstadt, Mr. Renzi, Mr. Bartumeu,
Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras and Mr. Stevenson,
I am delighted to welcome you to the office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the Resistance’s Parliament in exile.

Your initiative in calling upon world leaders to take decisive actions against the religious fascism ruling Iran and standing by the Iranian people marks a turning point in the international approach towards the issue of Iran.

Two days ago was the anniversary of the brutal suppression of a peaceful demonstration by half-a-million PMOI sympathizers in Tehran on June 20, 1981. Khomeini’s IRGC forces turned the demonstration into a bloodbath and started the wave of executions on that night.

The clerical regime in Iran has also engaged in exporting terrorism, warmongering, and religious fundamentalism beyond Iran’s borders. It is no coincidence that such a large number of world dignitaries have joined your initiative against the regime.

Today, the clerical regime finds itself in its final phase. The uprising that began in September 2022 showed that the Iranian people want to overthrow the ruling regime and are prepared to make sacrifices to achieve this goal.
Women have a leading role in the uprisings, following 40 years of struggle by freedom-loving PMOI women and other combatant women against this brutal regime.

The recent uprising also revealed that despite the Iranian people’s terrible conditions and increasing discontent, the religious tyranny has no solution. The regime’s only way out is to escalate repression, export of terrorism, and warmongering. At the same time, it has increased its efforts to discredit the democratic opposition through a disinformation campaign both inside Iran and abroad.

The clerical regime, which is beset by popular uprisings and social discontent, has started a new phase of destructive and aggressive activities, ranging from moving closer to acquiring nuclear weapons to involvement in the massacre and destruction of Ukraine; they know no limits.

Recently, following the increase of these attacks, the Ukrainian government presented a bill to the parliament for imposing a 50-year sanction on the religious fascism ruling in Iran.

The regime’s behavior is the product of the West’s policy of appeasement over the past 40 years. Now is the time for a fundamental change in that policy.

The policy of appeasement has had disastrous outcomes these days: The violent attack by 1200 police forces on PMOI refugees in Albania, which led to the death of one and injury of more than 100, and the banning of the July 1 rally by Iranians in Paris.

Both incidents, which took place at the behest of the Iranian regime, violated some of the fundamental principles of Europe, like the freedom of speech and assembly, and the right to asylum. They also violated international conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of Refugees, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The continuation of the appeasement policy has emboldened the regime in pursuing its destructive policies.

Iranian Resistance, the focal point of people’s trust

Dear friends,
During the uprising, the role of the organized resistance network, and its Resistance Units, in various cities has become more evident than ever before. They play a key role in advancing the uprising and driving it towards the regime’s overthrow.

These networks continue to carry on the widespread resistance of the Iranian people against religious dictatorship over the past four decades.

The Resistance’s adherence to its principles of struggle including independence, liberty, popular sovereignty, and the rejection of the Shah and the mullahs’ dictatorships have turned the Iranian Resistance into the focal point of the Iranian people’s trust.

The National Council of Resistance is a coalition made of various political tendencies and beliefs, established years ago. The NCRI has provided the national capacity to struggle and to mobilize all freedom-loving forces seeking the regime’s overthrow.

According to the NCRI plan, a provisional government takes control following the regime’s overthrow, to hold elections within six months for the Constitutional Assembly. The assembly will then elect a new provisional government and oversee its activities. In addition, it is responsible for drafting the constitution of the new republic.

We never compromise our values to gain or preserve power. The most important thing for us is creating conditions where the people of Iran can freely determine their own destiny. More than 100,000 of the Resistance’s members and supporters have been executed for this cause.

Two years ago, during the annual gathering of the Iranian Resistance, Prime Minister Verhofstadt said, “We must never close our eyes to the terrorist attempts of the Iranian regime, even on European soil, and the human rights violations that occur in Iran every single day….”

During the same gathering, Prime Minister Renzi summarized the real solution by saying, “We have to come back to open the doors of Iran to the global community and the global community to Iran. But the only way is through regime change.”

Yes, it is the right of the people of Iran to overthrow a regime that brought them nothing but oppression and plunder. The United States Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among others, have recognized this right.

Your ground breaking initiative, emphasizing the necessity of recognizing the Iranian people’s demand for freedom, is a strategic response to the fundamental mistake in the policy towards Iran. It will open a new chapter that focuses on respecting the Iranian people’s desire to overthrow this regime.

Iranian Resistance proposes decisive policy against clerical regime

I know that short-term economic interests and political considerations put obstacles in adopting a firm policy but a firm policy vis-à-vis the regime in Iran is not only the Iranian people’s demand but also the need for peace and security in today’s world.

To this end, the Iranian Resistance proposes the following actions:

1- Designating the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, and confronting the IRGC presence beyond Iranian borders, including in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
2- Recognizing the right of the Iranian people to defend themselves against the IRGC and to overthrow the regime and establish a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state.
3- Activating the snapback mechanism according to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, implementing the six UN Security Council Resolutions, shutting down all nuclear and missile programs in breach of UN resolutions, and conducting unconditional inspections of the regime’s nuclear and missile facilities.
4- Referring the dossier of the brutal and systematic violations of human rights in Iran to the UN Security Council and bringing to justice the regime’s leaders for 40 years of genocide and crimes against humanity.
5- Cutting off regular economic deals and imposing comprehensive sanctions, particularly oil and banking sanctions, to cut the regime’s lifelines that only finance the oppression of the Iranian people, development of nuclear weapons, terrorism and regional interventions.
6- Identifying the regime as a threat to global peace and security, subject to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.

Surely, we will have many allies among prominent political leaders like yourselves and among the people of democratic countries in achieving these objectives.
Thank you all for your support.