Maryam Rajavi’s Message to the Iranian Convention in Berlin

Dear compatriots,
Distinguished members of the Bundestag
Esteemed guests,
Members of Iranian associations and societies, who have gathered in support of democratic change in Iran

On the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Berlin from the yoke of Hitler’s Nazi regime, and confident of the liberation of Tehran and the whole of Iran from grip of religious fascism, I salute each and every one of you.

Those of you in Berlin and your comrades and compatriots in Brussels, Washington and London are crying loud for freedom and democracy in Iran.

Enraged teachers, workers and others in Khuzistan, Tehran and Kurdistan as well as other cities have said through their blood-soaked protests that they reject the ruling theocracy.

The people of Iraq, weary of with Tehran’s meddling in their country, are voicing their outrage over the conduct of the Iranian regime. And, the world community is refusing to tolerate the fundamentalist rulers in Iran who are the most active state sponsors of terrorism.

In short, the time has come for change in Iran. The era of retrogression and dictatorship in Iran is about to come to an end.

Fellow compatriots,

That the ruling religious dictatorship in Iran is not only the source of repression and insecurity in that country, but a threat to peace and security in the Middle East and to the rest of world is widely accepted regionally and internationally. This is a major achievement for our Resistance as it strives for freedom and democracy.

The most important development in this regard is the declaration by 2.8 million Iraqis, for it represented a turning point and a brilliant advance against terrorism and fundamentalism.

The mullahs exploited the opportunities created in post-war Iraq to attempt to devour that country. Favorable geographical, political and religious parameters in Iraq paved the way for the rise of a fundamentalist alternative.

Two years ago, I told my fellow Iranians in London, “The mullahs ruling Iran whose deafening cries about ‘liberating Jerusalem via Karbala’ every one recalls, have found the situation opportune in Iraq, where two-thirds of the population are Shiite. In such geopolitical circumstance, similar to the era of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran is an impenetrable barrier against the export of fundamentalism. ”

Today, in their declaration, the people of Iraq have described “fundamentalism emanated from Tehran as the biggest threat against that country” and that “dictatorship in Iran” forms “a barrier to democracy and stability in Iraq.” They are saying that the meddling by the Iranian regime has turned into an “undeclared occupation by the Iranian regime.”

In the face of this ominous threat, the people of Iraq have declared the People’s Mojahedin to be a “natural ally and partner” of the Iraqi people and democratic forces in that country.

Truly, the people of Iraq have demonstrated admirable foresight vis-à-vis that country’s geopolitical position in putting forth the most credible political document against terrorism and fundamentalism.

In that declaration, the people of Iraq have testified, “The Iranian Mojahedin has been waging a legitimate struggle for the past 19 years to liberate its homeland, doing so with honor and dedication.”

You recall that the mullahs and their operatives fabricated and repeated dirty slanders against the Mojahedin about the massacre of Iraqi Kurds and Shiites.

Now, it is 2.8 million Iraqis, including the Kurds and the Shiites, who reject those fabrications.

The Iraqi people warn, “The terrorist designation of the PMOI is a political concession to the Iranian regime and a justification for domestic repression and suppression.”

They say, “Immobilization of the largest Iranian opposition is the best gift to Iran’s religious tyranny, which will further free the hands of the Iranian regime for more meddling in Iraq.”

Indeed, such a valiant defense of the Iranian Resistance’s pivotal force is the guarantee for good neighborliness and fraternity between the two nations in the path of lasting peace, freedom, democracy and development in the future.

The declaration by the people of Iraq is particularly important because it has blocked the path of the velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule), already at an impasse inside Iran, to spread itself to Iraq. In this respect, the declaration carries another message that the time has come for change and the end to the mullahs’ rule.

Hail to Iraqis, who by pinpointing the central issue of this era, have stood by the message of all Iranians who are anxious for change.

In their declaration, the Iraqi people described “a genuinely tolerant and democratic Islam” as “the real solution to fundamentalism and dictatorship under the banner of Islam”. They emphasized, “With its genuine Islamic beliefs and profound roots in Iranian society, the PMOI forms the antithesis to Islamic fundamentalism and is an important political and cultural bulwark against its infiltration into Iraq. The PMOI provides an effective counterbalance to the expansionist ambitions of the Iranian regime.”

This represents the social and historical defeat of fundamentalism and Khomeini’s reactionary interpretation of Islam in the face-off against democratic and peaceful Islam.

The declaration by the people of Iraq is a testament to the correct political and strategic path this Resistance has pursued against the clerical regime. It underscored that the presence of the Mojahedin was a national imperative in the face of the Iranian regime’s meddling.

You are aware that the Resistance’s strategy is a response to the circumstances created as the result of the regime’s policies, namely absolute dictatorship and demagoguery. In order to secure the survival of the state, the mullahs have no choice but to try to expand, meaning they have to export terrorism and fundamentalism. The Resistance’s strategy, as sketched by Massoud Rajavi, has been to block the regime’s escape routes, namely repression and human rights violations, export of terrorism and fundamentalism, procurement of nuclear weapons as well as meddling and warmongering in Iraq.

By recognizing this fact, the people of Iraq lauded this righteous path and conduct, this endeavor for freedom and peace.

I must emphasize that the Iranian Resistance, in the past and at the present, has never interfered in Iraq’s affairs and has always opposed the export of fundamentalism to neighboring countries.

In a book published 21 years ago in Paris, the Iranian Resistance’s Leader Massoud Rajavi wrote: “In assessing the nature of any force, party, government and state, we have our unique democratic, independence-minded and justice-seeking criteria. Nevertheless, it is not our duty to meddle in the affairs of others and scrutinize every detail. We are duty bound to free our people and rebuild our country. We must fix our home.”

And three years ago, he said, “From day one until the very end, our war has been and is directed against the inhuman velayat-e faqih regime, which has usurped the rights of the Iranian people to sovereignty. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Thus, it is the fight against the ogre of fundamentalism and terrorism, which has linked our destiny with that of Iraqis who seek peace, freedom, security and democracy.

It is truly a source of jubilation to hear the number of individuals and groups, which have signed this declaration. They include thirty-one political parties (whose numbers continues to grow everyday), more than 6,400 lawyers and jurists, three hundred university professors, more than four hundred clergymen, 28,000 physicians and engineers as well as 400,000 Iraqi women.

Hail to all of them. I offer my most sincere gratitude to my fellow Iraqi sisters who have arisen against fundamentalism despite all the pressures, harassment and persecution.

Dear Compatriots,

The demands specified in the declaration by the Iraqi people have the same substance as your convention. They are demanding the recognition of the status of the People’s Mojahedin as a legitimate resistance movement. The are also asking the United States to remove the terror label against the Mojahedin, itself the biggest victim of state terrorism.

Your convention is organized in defense of the rights of the Iranian nation and correctly challenges the European policy of appeasing a regime, which has usurped the rights of the Iranian people to determine their destiny.

The Iranian people are simply asking the European governments why they do not stop the policy of appeasement and sharing in the suppression of the Iranian nation. Why are they preventing the Iranian people from attaining their freedoms?

In Germany, we are witness to the unwarranted revocation of the refugee status for a large number of Iranian exiles by the Interior Ministry and intolerable pressures on Iranian refugees and asylum-seekers. The pretext for such a decision is affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin, which the EU has blacklisted because it was seeking to strike a deal with the mullahs.

This list violates Germany’s Constitution. Because that law has granted refugee rights for those individuals who are persecuted for political reasons. The decision runs counter to Geneva Convention, because it recognizes the rights of those who face the risk of danger and intimidation and has obligated those party to the Convention to accept such individuals.

What is more, citing the anti-terrorism law in dealing with the Mojahedin is completely wrong. In a document published by Germany’s Prosecutor General in 1998, the Mojahedin have been designated neither as a “terrorist association” nor as a “criminal organization.” As such, they are not banned.

Senior US officials also acknowledged at the end of a 16-month investigation at Ashraf City in July 2004 that there was no basis to charge any member of the Mojahedin with any violation of law or links to terrorism.

The only “crime” committed by the Mojahedin and the Iranian Resistance is that they have resisted against religious dictatorship. And they will not abandon this Resistance.

Since a year ago, the German Government has been honoring the heroes of anti-Nazi resistance in that country who were executed for taking action against Hitler. German Statesmen correctly described the war of liberation against dictatorship and fascism as the “cornerstone of today’s free Europe. Yet they have shaped their views and policies toward the Iranian people’s just Resistance on the basis of deal making with the mullahs.

Surprisingly, whereas the government of Germany is continuing to revoke the refugee status of the clerical regime’s opponents on bogus charges, it is granting asylum to Intelligence Ministry agents who are dispatched from Tehran to hatch conspiracies and engage in espionage against Iranian refugees. Using such accommodations, the Iranian regime has turned Germany to a bridgehead for its agents.

It was not a coincidence that the German government became in charge of the political and security committee in the EU-3 negotiations with the mullahs’ regime over the nuclear program, so that in return for contracts with Tehran, it would secure the mullahs’ security concerns.

Germany is on the one hand exerting increasing pressures on refugees and dissidents and on the other hand, it is giving leeway to the criminal mullahs. Did a Berlin Court not implicate the leaders of the Iranian regime as principals in the Mikonos Restaurant murders? Is one of those implicated not the leader of the regime and two others candidates for the upcoming presidential election farce? How do German officials justify their close ties with this regime? Why have they labeled the Iranian Resistance terrorist instead of labeling this terrorist dictatorship?

It has however become clear that the conspiracy that has taken shape in recent years against the resistance of a nation by including the Mojahedin in the list of terrorist organizations, has a larger, invisible part, including opening the doors to the mullahs’ intelligence agents by European countries, disseminating false allegations, engaging in a misinformation campaign and fabricating legal cases against this Resistance, which set the stage for terrorist and military attacks.

My fellow compatriots and those Iranians who have demonstrated the resolve for democratic change in Iran,

In honoring the memory of 120,000 martyrs to the cause of freedom, by relying on the solidarity of all Iranians, with love for the freedom of the oppressed children, women and men across our country, I call upon you to rise for rebuilding a free, advanced and prosperous nation.

We once again emphasize on the need for solidarity among “republican forces who believe fully in rejecting the velayat-e faqih system and all its internal factions and groupings, in support of the establishment of a democratic and independent political system based on the separation of church and state.” We also renew our pledge with the Iranian nation to uproot the religious dictatorship ruling Iran.

We have tolerated all the hardships and made every sacrifice to realize freedom, democracy, justice and the people’s sovereignty. And we are prepared for even more. Those who are not afraid of being crucified, can bring down Caesar from his horse. And those who endeavor with all their power will enjoy salvation.

The darkness of oppression will not last much longer. The dawn of freedom will come in Iran.