Maryam Rajavi: Nowrouz is a celebration of solidarity and the blossoming of human bonds

Message on the advent of Nowrouz, the Iranian New Year 1390

In the Name of God,
In the Name of Iran and in the Name of Freedom
Dear compatriots,
On the eve of the New Year and the coming of spring, I send my greetings to all of you who are sitting at the Haftsin table and whose hearts are beating for the spring of Iran’s freedom.
Greetings to Ashraf and to my compatriots all over the world; the brave young women and men who are the pride of Iranians and Iran in virtue of their courageous uprisings.
I congratulate you on your enthusiastic resolve manifested in five major uprisings in the past month.
Last year’s uprisings culminated in the great Ashura protests on December 27.
And this year, it continued with the February 14 uprising and a number of momentous other uprisings, which continued until Charshanbeh Souri [Fire Festival] on March 15.
Through these uprisings, the Iranian nation is telling Khamenei and his regime: You are the spirit of darkness and there is no place in Iran for you; You stonehearted beast, leave the home of the Iranian people.
During this period, your uprisings on occasions went as far as conquering Tehran. Sometimes they spread to dozens of cities and occasionally they temporarily stopped. But the reality which has horrified and shaken the foundations of the regime is that the uprisings have been continuing for two years.
The persistence of the movements is a testament to your unending power and signifies your inevitable triumph.
The reality that the mullahs are trying to hide is that your movement for freedom is deeply rooted.
Your uprisings did not spring up overnight. They are not the outpouring of a passing discontent that could be extinguished by intimidation and demagoguery.
They are not the by-product of the regime’s infighting or the mullahs’ election masquerade in a way that Khamenei would be able to manage them, as he says.
Of course, the Iranian people have certainly taken advantage of these infightings and will continue to do so in the future.

The reality is that your uprisings emanate from the Iranian people’s democratic ideals and their repressed yearning to obtain freedom, equality and democracy.

Your uprising is the rising of a young generation which does not tolerate living under the shadow of fear, repression, poverty and regression.

Your uprising enjoys the backing of the three-decade-old heroic struggle of hundreds of thousands of pioneering youths and the sacrifices of 120,000 martyred heroes.
Look at the history of the past 30 years which the mullahs try to deny.
The young and revolutionary generation back then did not accept the demagogue Khomeini when he assumed power.
Barely seven or eight months into his reactionary theocracy, he was abhorred and isolated in universities and high schools.

The activist young men and women at that time became organized in very large numbers by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

They came together in associations in high schools, districts, universities and factories and stood up to Khomeini, exposing his regime’s reactionary nature.

The June 20, 1981 uprising – the zenith of this resistance – came about through the sacrifice of 500,000 members of that generation.

Truly, that uprising was the most important and outstanding example that Iran’s pioneering young generation will never succumb to the Khomeini regime.

Look at those epic acts of resistance in the 1980s:

– The magnificent resistance of political prisoners under horrific tortures.
– The 5th of Mehr (Sept. 27), uprising in which young people and students made a great sacrifice to popularize the slogan of “death to Khomeini.”
– The brilliant epic of operation ‘eternal light’.

It is this brilliant history that today represents the root and the backbone of your uprisings.

Despite the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, the anger and frustration of the Iranian people over the unpatriotic eight-year war of Khomeini with Iraq reached new heights in the 1990s.

Uprisings erupted in Shiraz, Boukan, Arak, Zanjan, Mashad, Islamshahr and Qazvin.

Most importantly, students and the Iranian people rose up in Tehran, Tabriz and 15 other cities on July 9, 1999.

Today, each and every one of you rising up in the streets represents this proud history. You are not alone. The martyrs and heroes with their ideals and with their blood are fighting and rising with you shoulder to shoulder.

And, Ashraf is the jewel and essence of the resistance over the past 30 years. In recent years, Ashraf has been standing up with you and for you, fighting along your side and keeping ablaze the flames of resistance and uprisings in Iran through perseverance and paying a heavy price

Indeed, this history, laden with resistance and perseverance, summons you to persevere in the streets.

It is your responsibility to free your people and your nation which calls upon you to conquer the streets.

And let me recall the words of Massoud Rajavi in one his messages: “The uprising must continue by ourselves at any price… Never get tired and worn down. You must tire and wear down the regime… [Yes], there is no power or force in the world which can overcome the Iranian people’s resolve and determination and their cry and ideal for freedom.”

Dear compatriots,

The actions of the ruling theocracy demonstrate the importance of you continuing your uprisings.

To counter the uprisings and maintain the regime’s balance, Khamenei resorted to unending carnage and repression last year.

The regime resorted to daily arrests under various pretexts. It shamelessly tried to control emails, filter websites and jam satellite television channels.

It ruined lives and the livelihood of the people. It destroyed domestic production and commerce. It stole the subsidies. It raised prices of commodities several-fold.

It gave the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards colossal wealth while spreading unemployment and poverty in society. Coupled with intimidation and repression, it spread depression and despair.

At the same time, it escalated attacks, tightened the siege and the conspiracies against Camp Ashraf, where your most steadfast sons and daughters reside.

It expanded the forces of suppression and repression and executed political prisoners one after the other. But it failed to break down their resistance.

Hail to the heroes and martyrs who did not surrender to Khamenei and his henchmen.

Hail to the martyrs, Ali Saremi, Jafar Kazemi, Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaie, Hossein Khezri, Farhad Tarem, Zahra Bahrami, Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alamhoui, Ali Heidarian, Farhad Vakili, Mahdi Islamian, Ehsan Fattahian, Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani, Arash Rahmanipour, Saneh Jaleh, Mohammad Mokhtari, Hamed Nour-Mohammadi, Behnood Ramezani, and all those prisoners who were killed without anyone even knowing their names.

I also hail the martyrs of the people of Kurdistan and Baluchistan.

And I must also refer to hundreds of my compatriots who were the victims of the crimes perpetrated by this very regime, and Khamenei hanged them to step up terror and repression, becoming the world record holder in the number of executions.

Dear compatriots,

Every day that you come to the streets, the regime’s internal demoralization and schisms grow.

At no time in its reign has the ruling theocracy been as weak, worn out and fragmented as it is today.

Your uprisings in 2009 dispelled the aura of the velayat-e faqih. For a whole year, Khamenei attempted to maintain the regime’s internal balance.

But the tide of your uprisings on February 14 turned the table against Khamenei. As a result, he inevitably had to further resort to further closing the ranks within the regime. To manage affairs under the present pressing circumstances Khamenei was no longer able to maintain the previous balance with Hashemi Rafsanjani. So, he purged him. This unprecedented purge has made the regime evermore fragile and vulnerable to your uprisings.

Your uprisings also proved the reality that the only answer to the confrontation between the Iranian people and the ruling mullahs is fundamental change of the regime.

And the most important manifestation of it was the spreading of the slogan of “death to Khamenei” as the main slogan of the uprisings.

The spreading of the demand for the removal of Khamenei represents an advancement in the Iranian people’s struggle such that:

First, the Iranian people through their uprisings underscore that the objective is not to reform the policies of this regime which cannot be reformed. The aim is to eliminate the velayat-e faqih in its entirety.
Second, the slogan of “death to Khamenei” means the rejection of religious fascism and reflects the yearning of the Iranian people for freedom and popular sovereignty.
Third, the most important conclusion that could be drawn from this slogan is that the theory and experience of clerical rule and fascism under the banner of Islam has completely failed.

In this respect, the slogan of “death to Khamenei” is the essence of the Iranian people’s historical judgment on three decades of the mullahs’ rule.

Today, you brave youths from Khazaneh to Nazi Abad, from Afsariyeh to north, east, and west Tehran and in all cities across our nation filled the streets with the chant that after the fallen dictators of Egypt and Tunisia it is now time to topple Khamenei.

Charshanbeh Souri this year was ever brighter when posters of Khamenei were set ablaze.

And your Haftsin table this year heralds as never before the Nowrouz of freedom.

Indeed, the heavens and the Earth are saying that the end has arrived for the velayat-e faqih regime.

Dear compatriots,

Residents of Ashraf,

While resorting to barbaric repression, the ruling theocracy has always claimed that the Iranian Resistance and Ashraf are isolated.

This was because according to the regime it is only this resistance, Ashraf and the PMOI alone who are calling for the Iranian regime’s overthrow.

The mullahs strangle the people and society through hangings and repression and then conclude on this basis that no one wants change. They pretend as though all Iranians support the regime or are content with living under and succumbing to this regime.

Now, you proud residents of Ashraf, who in the mullahs’ eyes, should have been suppressed and silenced, look and see that your perseverance has reverberated all over Iran.

Ashraf has now become a way of life
And now, this tradition of Ashrafis has spread to Iranian streets.

After two years and after 12 of your different campaigns, everyone can see that Ashraf withstood Khamenei and Maliki’s challenge, conspiracies and agreements, victorious, proud and dignified. Indeed, you persevered in the face of the July 28 and 29 onslaughts, in the face of suppression and the siege to destroy Ashraf. And you hoisted the flag of victory of the Iranian people and their uprising for freedom.

Truly, each of these brilliant and round-the-clock campaigns is a magnificent epic, which requires a separate mention. For this reason, I congratulate Massoud Rajavi, Mojgan Parsaie and Sediqeh Hosseini and all my heroic brothers and sisters in Camp Ashraf.

In this perseverance over eight years, in particular in the last two years, you and Massoud Rajavi made the impossible possible despite all assaults, conspiracies and repression. This perseverance had no place in the calculus of Khamenei, Maliki and their operatives.

There was another issue that the regime and its proxies in Iraq had not anticipated and that was the referral of their crimes to international tribunals.

Two days ago, Spain’s National Investigative Court announced that it has taken up a judicial investigation into “the psychological torture of the residents of Ashraf by death threats through the use of loudspeakers as well as the restrictions on medical services and individual freedoms which violate the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

To this end, it has summoned to court four officials who are in charge of the Committee to Suppress Ashraf as well as agents directly involved in the siege on, and perpetrating crimes against, the residents of Ashraf in the framework of “crime against international community.”

As such, in addition to investigating the crimes committed on July 28 and 29, 2009 against the residents, the National Court of Spain is also considering all the measures undertaken against Ashraf in the past two years in the context of the Fourth Geneva Convention. This is a major development in the context of bringing to trial all those who ordered and perpetrated crimes against the Mojahedin in Ashraf.

In reaffirming its earlier rulings in this regard, the court has invoked the Fourth Geneva Convention, emphasizing that a government on whose soil protected persons reside, “is responsible for the treatment of the protected persons by its agents.”

Indeed, without a doubt, all those responsible for committing or ordering these crimes must face justice.

Dear compatriots,

Parallel to your uprisings inside Iran, the Resistance’s supporters worldwide advanced a successful campaign to inspire global solidarity with you.

Thanks to their efforts outside Iran, many sit-ins were held in different countries in Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States outside the Iranian regime’s embassies, in which they called on the international community to support your uprising.

I salute all of you my sisters and brothers across the world who have filled everywhere with the cries of the martyrs and the incarcerated and garnered the support of world conscience for the Iranian people’s struggle.

Last year, a majority in 30 parliaments and senates issued statements voicing support for the uprising in Iran and Ashraf’s perseverance. I particularly express sincere gratitude to the leaders among them, including, Dr. Alejo Vidal Quadras, Judge Michael Mukasey, Jean Pierre Bequet, Jean Pierre Berrar, Paulo Casaca and Odile Slynn.

And to those of you who have risen up in Iran, I say,

You stood up with your uprisings and the world rose up to support you.

This is particularly the case because seismic changes have occurred on the international scene.

Last year, the world community abandoned the Iranian people’s uprisings against the barbarity of the mullahs’ regime.

But, now, we are seeing that the uprisings and the sacrifices of the nations of the Middle East and North Africa at last forced the international community to abandon appeasement of dictatorships and end their silence in the face of the massacre of defenseless people.

The United Nations Security Council resolution to protect the people of Libya in the face of suppression, killings and the commencement of air strikes against the military apparatus of dictatorship are actions taken to this end.

We hail the brave people of Benghazi and across Libya who are remaining steadfast. They deserve protection and support in the face of suppression and crimes.

This development is an important warning to the mullahs’ murderous dictatorship that the era of having a free hand in massacring and torturing citizens for participating in demonstrations is over.

It is also a message to those who have risen up in Iran that the generation of the brave should remains steadfast and inspire the world to remain steadfast as well.

As we approach the end of the year, let us also remember those amongst us whom we lost this past year, whether in Ashraf, in Iran or around the world. They are in our thoughts and in our hearts.

We in particular remember the beloved Marzieh, whose agonizing loss had an impact on every Iranian, as did her entire life. We salute her.

And now we prepare for the New Year.

We pray to God to realize the Eid of freedom and popular sovereignty in our homeland.
God Almighty, give strength to those in Ashraf in their perseverance and grant them victory so that they can complete their great historical mandate.
God Almighty, help the people of the region who have risen to change their destiny.
Bestow more power and courage on the defiant young people in Iran.
God Almighty, empower political prisoners and those on death row with even a greater spirit of resistance and perseverance.
And keep Massoud Rajavi safe and healthy.

God Almighty, we pray to you that the coming year would be the year of the Iranian people’s victory and liberation.

Congratulations on Nowrouz of 1990, the Nowrouz of Iran’s uprisings, the start of the ninth year of Ashraf’s perseverance.

And I also congratulate all my compatriots, especially women and young people, who are the true pioneers of Iran’s true spring.

Congratulations to members and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

And congratulations to the brave prisoners of conscience who with each passing day promise the shattering of winter.

Congratulations to the resilient Ashraf, the bastion of freedom.

And congratulations to Massoud Rajavi, who has led the resistance and the uprising for freedom during the darkest period of Iran’s history.
Let me also, on behalf of the Iranian people’s Resistance, congratulate other nations who are celebrating Nowrouz; Happy Nowrouz to the people of the brother nation of Afghanistan and the people of Iraqi Kurdistan and other countries.

Dear compatriots,

Nowrouz and the advent of spring are a celebration of solidarity and the blossoming of human bonds.

It is a time for kindness and help towards our fellow human beings, especially our underprivileged compatriots and orphans and families of prisoners.

I ask all of you to visit the graves of the martyrs and visit their parents.

Offer sympathy to families whose sons and daughters have been arrested during the uprisings.

Strengthen your bonds of friendship and compassion with all your fellow compatriots.

And dispel the evil spirit of the velayat-e faqih regime, which promotes terror, vengeance and discord, from your homes and your country.

I know that during the mullahs’ dark reign, poverty and economic hardships have been imposed on many of you. Nevertheless, in order to defy this despicable regime, celebrate Nowrouz, even with a single sugar cube if you have to, hoping for the coming of the great freedom celebration which is the will of God and a historical inevitability.

And now we begin a new decade.

Undoubtedly, this is the beginning of the era of freedom and democracy.
It is the era of women, young people and popular sovereignty.

I congratulate you all on the start of 1390.