Conference Commemorating the 36th Anniversary of the 1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners, with the Presence of Ms. Rita Süssmuth and Distinguished European Figures
Maryam Rajavi: False Accusations against the Resistance Movement Fulfill the Clerics’ Agenda
On Saturday, August 17, marking the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, a conference was held featuring Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and Professor Rita Süssmuth, former President of the German Bundestag from 1988 to 1998 and former Federal Minister for Youth, Family, Women, and Health.
The event was attended by several distinguished German and European figures, as well as representatives from Iranian communities, who also gave speeches.
In her address, Mrs. Rajavi stated:
Dear Dr. Prof. Süssmuth,
Welcome to the home of the Iranian Resistance!
I extend my heartfelt greetings to you on behalf of the Iranian Resistance and all Iranians who draw inspiration from your courageous support for their struggle and uprising.
Dear friends of the Iranian people and Resistance,
Messrs. Prof. Degenhart, Geuking, and Calderone,
Ms. Böcker and Ms. Rookmaker,
You are very welcome.
We are delighted that the freedom fighters in Ashraf 3 are present at this conference today. On their behalf, and behalf of a thousand pioneering women of Ashraf, we extend our greetings to you.
Dear sisters and brothers,
The conference today coincides with the days of the massacre in 1988.
On the 36th anniversary of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, over 90% of whom were members of the PMOI, we salute those heroes.
This horrific massacre continued for several months in 1988. Simultaneously with accepting the ceasefire in the eight-year war with Iraq, which he described as a chalice of poison, Khomeini issued the decree for the mass execution of all steadfast PMOI prisoners.
They were hanged for standing firm in their fight for freedom. This constitutes the most serious crime attributed to this movement and its members by the Velayat-e Faqih regime, the mullahs’ religious dictatorship.
The PMOI, which will mark its 60th anniversary next month, is primarily known for its fight against the two dictatorships of the Shah and the mullahs.
Despite the clerical regime’s severe repression and four decades of international silence regarding the mullahs’ crimes, this movement has successfully advanced a democratic alternative.
The relentless efforts of this Resistance, both inside and outside of Iran, and the advances of the justice-seeking movement have brought significant achievements for the people of Iran.
In this regard, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran recently released his final report concerning the 1988 massacre. The UN Special Rapporteur clearly stated that high-ranking officials of the regime have committed genocide and crimes against humanity.
It is now up to governments and the United Nations to prioritize the continuation of criminal investigations to issue arrest warrants and pursue prosecution against the regime’s leaders for committing “atrocity crimes,” namely genocide and crimes against humanity.
I call upon all legal experts and human rights defenders to form an independent committee to further investigate, establish necessary mechanisms for accountability and put an end to the impunity of the clerical regime’s leaders.
Dear friends,
During the 1988 massacre, Ms. Süssmuth, in her capacity as the Speaker of the Bundestag, was the most significant voice of protest in the Western world against the massacre in Iran.
At the same time, while Iranians and supporters of the Resistance were on hunger strikes in 17 countries, including Germany, to protest the massacre of political prisoners, the Bundestag, under Dr. Süssmuth’s leadership, passed two resolutions condemning the massacre of political prisoners in Iran.
The slaughter in Iran, of course, did not end in 1988, and Iran’s rulers continue to perpetrate these atrocities.
Indeed, if there were Western leaders like Professor Süssmuth, Iran’s ruling clerics would not have been able to escape international consequences with impunity.
Years later, when the clerics were preparing for another major massacre, this time in Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, once again, the PMOI found Ms. Süssmuth by their side.
I clearly remember how she used all her political weight and social credibility to support the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance in their fight for Iran’s freedom.
We all recall the impact of Dr. Süssmuth’s efforts in facilitating the acceptance of 100 Ashrafis, particularly the injured, into Germany during the tenure of Chancellor Merkel.
However, it is especially important to highlight the empathy and sisterly solidarity of our dear Rita with the thousand Ashrafi women. This bond, which has grown deeper and stronger over the years, goes far beyond mere political support.
I reiterate her words about the pioneering and revolutionary women, where she said: “Women are not only the force of change but also the force that builds the future. Women are powerful and take responsibility, and the future of Iran belongs to them.”
With her knowledge of the struggle and liberation of Iranian women as the vanguards in the fight against religious dictatorship, Ms. Süssmuth has always been a source of encouragement for them in this challenging and arduous path.
She continues to be a leading advocate for the Iranian people and Resistance, and we take great pride in having such a pioneer on the international stage.
Clerical Regime’s Instability and Decadence
Dear friends,
These days, the mullahs’ warmongering has generated intense international concerns. Amidst this commotion, the mullahs are attempting to cover up important realities or divert attention from them.
These realities include, among other things, the unstable conditions of a regime that sees its existence threatened, the surge in executions and brutal repression against the Iranian people, and on the other hand, the significant advances of the organized resistance in Iranian cities, as seen in the expansion and activities of the Resistance Units.
However, a significant development that revealed the fundamental deterioration and instability of the regime was that the Iranian people boycotted five of the regime’s elections, held between March and mid-July, on an unprecedented scale.
Our society, which had already expressed its desire for the regime’s overthrow through major uprisings, has once again reaffirmed this strong demand through widespread election boycotts. The new president of the regime repeatedly emphasizes that he has no agenda other than implementing the orders of the Supreme Leader. This indicates that the core elements of Khamenei’s policies—domestic repression, external warmongering, and the nuclear weapons project—will persist without interruption.
His goal is to buy time for the regime in the face of uprisings. He stated, “My coming was because I saw the regime in danger…”
The composition of his cabinet ministers, all of whom have been responsible for suppressing uprisings and managing the regime’s apparatus of crime and plunder, has been selected entirely according to the wishes of the mullahs’ supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
In the first week after the new president took office, 29 prisoners were hanged in two prisons in Karaj, in just one day, on August 7. Last week, coinciding with the introduction of his cabinet, another 5 prisoners were executed. Yes, more than 100 individuals were brutally executed in just the past month.
These executions proved to everyone that nothing could be changed in the fundamental policies of this regime, which rely on repression, murder, and external war.
As Massoud[1] stated, Khamenei’s role has been to systematically undermine “the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, and international conventions defending human rights.”
The solution and change lie in the hands of the Iranian people and Resistance, and that is the overthrow of the entire clerical regime of ignorance and crimes.
Regime’s Desperate Measures Against Iranian Resistance
Dear friends,
The younger generation’s shift towards the Resistance Units within the country has placed the regime in jeopardy.
On the eve of the annual gathering of the Iranian Resistance, the Resistance Units carried out 20,000 acts of support for the movement and 1,700 attacks on IRGC centers and other centers of repression and plunder.
These activities, ongoing across all 31 provinces, have stunned the mullahs. Despite intensifying control measures, repression, and launching a demonization and disinformation campaign against the Resistance movement, they have been unable to hinder the expansion of the Resistance Units.
Since last December, the regime has conducted an in-absentia trial for the PMOI and 104 members and officials of the resistance. During the sessions of this so-called trial, they labeled every act of resistance and sacrifice by the Mojahedin as a major crime warranting severe punishment. By doing so, the regime aims to deter the people, especially the youth, from joining the movement.
Internationally, massive demonstrations by Iranians in Germany, attended by international dignitaries, the annual resistance gathering, and the declaration of support by more than 4,000 parliamentarians and 137 leaders, and former senior officials for the Iranian Resistance’s platform have deeply frightened the clerics.
The recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur, describing the 1988 massacre as genocide, has added to their fear.
The Iranian Resistance’s revelations about the regime’s terrorist network in Europe, along with the Resistance’s endorsement of the German government’s actions to close the regime’s espionage and terrorism center in Hamburg and inspect 53 related entities, have further infuriated the mullahs and their agents against the Resistance.
Recently, the Ministry of Intelligence of the theocratic regime, through a farcical in-absentia trial led by a cleric named Sedaghat, declared death sentences for all members of the Resistance for opposing Khomeini and Khamenei.
Simultaneously, they have resorted to an ineffective tactic against the Iranian Resistance by employing a journalist to revive the discredited and outdated issue of “child soldiers” from the previous century. This same journalist is being used to perpetuate these worn-out and false accusations to demonize the Iranian Resistance.
Furthermore, it was revealed last year that a network of regime agents, orchestrated by the regime’s Foreign Ministry, had infiltrated high-level positions within Western government ministries or had posed as credible experts on Iranian affairs to sway Western policies in favor of the regime. Some of these so-called experts have even been awarded substantial funding from European governments.
The clerics and advocates of appeasement claim:
This regime has no alternative.
The PMOI and the NCRI have no base of support within Iranian society.
The Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the regime will not succeed.
The proponents of appeasing religious fascism offer nothing but the regurgitation of fabricated theories, which were concocted by the regime itself. Of course, this stance provides the regime with the best encouragement, granting it free rein to conduct rampant executions, massacres, and wage war.
The undeniable reality is that this resistance is the Achilles’ heel of the clerical regime. Accusations such as being a cult, fostering a personality cult, and using child soldiers are, in fact, fulfilling the clerics’ agenda.
Yes, the clerics are indeed desperate. In their fear of another uprising and the regime’s overthrow, they foolishly attempt to discredit the National Council of Resistance of Iran and its central force, the democratic and credible alternative to their regime. However, these ploys are no longer effective.
In stark contrast to the regime’s propaganda and proponents of appeasement, dear Ms. Süssmuth, you and the German friends of the Iranian people’s Resistance, have stood firm against the demonization of the Iranian Resistance orchestrated by the regime and its allies. By rejecting the policy of appeasement, defending the legitimacy of the Resistance, and supporting the struggle of Iranian women for freedom and liberation, you have created a shining example for politicians in today’s world.
An exemplar that understands democracy, development, peace, and societal progress as intrinsically linked to the revival of humanity and human values, advocating for resistance and struggle to preserve these fundamental principles.
In my view, the entire world, particularly the West, needs the voice and wisdom of Rita Süssmuth.
Eviction of the Clerical Regime from the Middle East Region
Dear friends,
For over three decades, the Iranian Resistance has relentlessly proclaimed this truth, substantiated by hundreds of disclosures and a wealth of evidence: the head of the snake of warmongering and terrorism lies in Tehran. The solution is the overthrow of the religious fascism by the Iranian people and their Resistance.
This is the paramount lesson that the Middle East’s tragic conflict has imparted to the world over the past eleven months.
During this period, it has become evident to all that Khamenei is the instigator and principal party of the war that began on October 7th.
The conflict in the Red Sea is directly orchestrated by Khamenei’s office. Terrorist militia groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon take their orders from Khamenei’s headquarters.
In addition to deploying proxy groups, the regime has directly launched missile attacks on three foreign countries since the beginning of 2024.[2] The harsh reality is that the clerics benefit from the shedding of innocent blood, whether Palestinian or Jewish, using it as a shield for their decaying regime against the uprisings of the Iranian people.
Our Resistance has long advocated for the eviction of this regime from the entire region. Implementing such a policy would strip the mullahs’ Supreme Leader of his stronghold.
Had it not been for the policy of appeasement, the current catastrophe engulfing the entire region could have been avoided. History would not have been condemned to navigate such a bloody quagmire.
As I have repeatedly pronounced, the appropriate policy is to renounce any form of appeasement towards this regime, adopt a firm and decisive stance against it, and recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the clerical regime.
Let us recount the facts that the current exceptional situation has revealed to all:
First – Religious fascism is the instigator and principal actor in the Middle Eastern conflict. The world has belatedly recognized the reality that this regime constitutes a significant threat to regional and global peace and security.
Second – The regime’s recourse to war is a desperate attempt to avert its impending overthrow. The profound dissatisfaction within Iranian society and its readiness for another uprising, the proliferation of Resistance Units and their activities and operations across all provinces, the severe deterioration of the national economy, and the internal strife within the ruling establishment have collectively positioned the regime on the brink of being overthrown. Furthermore, Khamenei has mired the regime in the quagmire of the Middle Eastern conflict, a war in which the inevitable strategic loser is the regime and Khamenei himself.
Third – The mullahs, lacking any viable solution, have resorted to obfuscating the situation and attempting to divert public attention. To this end, they spread false accusations against the Resistance movement, deploy their hirelings to tarnish the pages of European newspapers, and engage in acts of terrorism, such as the failed assassination attempt on Professor Alejo Vidal-Quadras, the attack on the National Council of Resistance’s office in Berlin, or the assaults on Resistance-affiliated offices in London and Paris.
Fourth – The fundamental truth, however, is that in the face of the rise of a democratic alternative and the powerful aspiration of the Iranian people for freedom, they are inevitably doomed to failure.
I will conclude my remarks with the inspiring title of a book by my esteemed sister, Ms. Süssmuth: “Anyone who does not fight has already lost” (“Wer nicht kämpft, hat schon verloren”).
This truth is clear to me and our Resistance. This unwavering conviction has fortified us against all hardships, suffering, and accusations. The freedom of Iran and its people remains a pledge we honor steadfastly, even at the cost of our lives.
[1] Massoud Rajavi, leader of the Iranian Resistance
[2] Attacks on Pakistan and the Kurdistan of Iraq in January, and the attack on Israel in April
