Maryam Rajavi meets with French elected representatives, supporters of the Iranian Resistance

Dear friends,
Honorable representatives of the people of France,
Distinguished heads of associations,

Today, the winter and darkness are behind us. We have entered the spring of resistance, the season of blossoming and fruition of our efforts and our sufferings.

We face a weakened enemy badly caught up at impasse from all sides. None of the promises of economic leap made by Rouhani in the wake of the nuclear accord have been realized. The nation did not benefit from the commercial deals. The assets unfrozen after the nuclear agreement have been pocketed by different ruling factions, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

As a result, the majority of the people of Iran have become poorer. Unemployment is rampant among women and youths and many families have lost everything they had. This is while the regime’s leaders have stolen exorbitant amounts of money. Not a single day goes by without a financial scandal being leaked, revealing the depth of government corruption. Every day, there are demonstrations and strikes in different cities. The regime increasingly fears the explosion of the wrath of a hungry populace.

Their fear has aggravated as the regime approaches a critical phase, namely the presidential election sham which exposes them in great peril.

the people of France will go to the polls to cast their votes for president in a democratic process. We wish that the election would be held in a healthy and calm atmosphere.

The election in Iran, however, is an absurd theatrics which is neither free, nor fair. Only those people can run for election who have heartfelt allegiance and are committed in practice to the supreme leader. For example, only six of the 1600 nominees for the presidential election upcoming in a few weeks, were endorsed and the rest were disqualified.

One of the main candidates is the regime’s incumbent president, Hassan Rouhani. I have already referred to his disastrous social and economic record. In addition, more than 3,000 executions during his tenure eliminate any delusion about his being a moderate.

The other qualified candidate is a mullah by the name of Ibrahim Ra’essi who was an active and cold-hearted member of the Death Commission during the massacre of political prisoners in 1988. Those days, in 1988 and 1989, whenever Khomeini wanted to brutally crush the people of a city, he dispatched Ra’essi there to implement the death sentences he claimed to be God’s verdict.

Khamenei also appointed Ra’essi to high judiciary posts and finally put him in charge of the Astan-e Qods-e Razavi, a powerful political and financial conglomerate. During the 2009 uprising, Ra’essi proposed execution of any protester who had grabbed a stone as God’s enemy.

These are all indications that Iran’s ruling theocracy is politically bankrupt and absolutely empty-handed to the extent that its only viable presidential candidates are a charlatan with blood-stained hands and an executioner.

All election candidates in Iran must go through the Guardians Council’s vetting procedure which sieves only those who are fully loyal to the regime. Anyone in the West who thinks there is any difference among these candidates is making a bad mistake.

The people of Iran want neither the white nor the black turban. They want neither the executioner nor the charlatan. They desire only one thing, and that is regime change. There is a fast-growing campaign in Iran with the motto of “no to the charlatan, no to the executioner. My vote is regime change.” This shows the genuine vote of the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people.

The damages and destruction caused by the regime have not been limited to the people of Iran. Just recently, in the wake of the shameless chemical attack on innocent people in Syria, Rouhani declared his support for Bashar Assad. We also know that a good part of Iran’s revenues are spent on wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

The appeasement policy of the West and particularly the US has so far let the mullahs’ regime intervene in these countries and aggravate the situation even further.

In a recent interview, President Francois Holland recalled the night of August 30, 2013. That was the night when Barack Obama changed his mind about the planned attack on Assad’s regime in the wake of their chemical attack which left 1400 civilians dead.

Francois Holland said that if the United States had taken action then, Syria’s history would have paved a different road. Today, we know that Obama’s change of heart had no reason but Tehran’s proposed agreement with the US to save Bashar Assad in return for nuclear negotiations. The French President is right when he demands vigilance on the nature of the Syrian regime and its supporters, including Iran’s mullah regime.

the clerical regime is the prime cause of war, terrorism and crises in the region, and that regime change in Iran is not only necessary to end violations of human rights there but also an urgent need for ending war and crisis, and establishing peace and tranquility in the region.

If there was not a 4-year delay in showing reaction to the chemical attack, how could the IRGC expand its war operations in Syria?

Now is the day when we can gain back our lost time by designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity and by compelling the mullahs’ regime to withdraw its forces and militia from Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

There was a day when we had to fight to have the PMOI removed from the terror list. Today, in the offensive phase and in the spring of Resistance, it is our turn to blacklist the regime’s armed wing in charge of terrorism and extremism.

We call on the world community to recognize the Iranian people’s right to reject the entire clerical regime with all its factions and avoid obstructing the path of freedom and democracy in Iran. This day is more imminent than ever. In this great campaign, the support and friendship of every one of you is priceless.

I thank you for whatever you have done and once again, I wish you a very happy New Year.