Addressing a Conference at the Parliament of Italy
Maryam Rajavi: Applauding Italian Parliament’s Majority Declaration, “Supporting Freedom and Resistance in Iran for World Peace and Security”
Dear Senator Terzi, Ms. Naike Gruppioni,
Dear elected representatives of the people of Italy, dear friends!
I appreciate your efforts in organizing this conference and commend the valuable initiative of the majority of Italian representatives for presenting the statement “supporting freedom and resistance in Iran for world peace and security.”
At a time when Ali Khamenei, the mullahs’ supreme leader, has intensified brutal executions, suppression of oppressed nationalities, and confronting Iranian women to impose the mandatory hijab, the majority of Italian representatives have stood in solidarity with the Iranian people through this statement.
This represents a profound understanding of the current international crisis. The Italian parliament has recognized the clerical regime, the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and their proxy groups as the primary obstacles to peace in the region and the world. They have demanded recognition of the Iranian people’s right to rise up and the right of Resistance Units to confront the IRGC.
Executions, A Tool to Mask the Clerical Regime’s Weakness
At this juncture, two opposing fronts are in contention regarding Iran:
Is appeasement of the religious fascism ruling Iran necessary for world peace and security? Or should support be given to the Iranian people’s resistance for freedom?
The elected representatives of Italy have demonstrated leadership by standing in solidarity with the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance in their pursuit of establishing a democratic republic founded on the principles of the separation of religion and state and gender equality.
In a bid to obstruct this path, Khamenei has resorted to brutal executions, destroying people’s lives. Since the beginning of this month, more than 80 prisoners have been executed.
Thousands of prisoners languish on death row, with more young people sentenced to death every day. The religious dictatorship has an insatiable thirst for shedding the blood of the youth.
Yet, despite the regime’s relentless executions and warmongering, these acts cannot conceal its fundamental weakness. In contrast, the Iranian resistance, guided by its 10-point plan, continues its fight for a free Iran, advocating for an end to executions and torture.
Moreover, the clerical regime is conducting trials of over 100 members of the Iranian Resistance in absentia. This move aims to restrict the Resistance’s international activities and facilitate the regime’s terrorist operations abroad.
In Tehran and other cities across Iran, the regime has unleashed masses of agents to suppress women. Thirty-two government institutions, including twelve ministries, along with 1,200 mercenary Basij organizations, are tasked with establishing a pervasive system to subjugate women under the guise of enforcing the mandatory hijab. Despite these efforts, they stand powerless in the face of Iranian women’s resistance and defiance.
Ahmadreza Radan, the criminal commander of the State Security Force (SSF), voiced dissatisfaction two weeks ago, accusing the 32 organs tasked with suppressing women of failing in their duties and sowing doubts among the populace.
Before this, Khamenei publicly issued orders for the suppression of women, instructing his trained agents to attack women and “fulfill their duties.”
Iranian Women to Defeat the Religious Tyranny
To Khamenei, the oppressor, and his ruthless agents, we say: you will be defeated by the resistance of women, and you will not evade the uprising and overthrow at the hands of the Iranian people and their courageous sons and daughters in the Resistance Units.
Iranian women and all Iranians will never forget the heinous crime committed against Nika Shakrami, a 16-year-old innocent girl. Nika, handcuffed and defenseless, had only her screams and fierce spirit as weapons to defend herself. Yet, a group of inhuman executioners savagely attacked her, assaulting her body and soul until she succumbed to their brutal blows.
However, this rebellious generation is the continuation of a combative lineage that has endured four decades of torture chambers and execution squads, bringing defeat and disgrace to the Khomeini and Khamenei regimes. From young teenage girls to brave mothers, they have fearlessly entered the field, ready to make any sacrifice. They are determined to resist all along, overthrow the regime, and achieve freedom.
Indeed, why can’t Khamenei, his mullahs, and guards survive an hour without execution? It is because they seek to quash any uprising, knowing they face a volatile society teeming with anger.
Spending Over 2000 Billion Dollars on Nuclear Projects
Today, flooding in many provinces has left numerous deprived individuals stranded in dire conditions. The question is, why do these afflicted people lack access to the resources available in their own country? Why are so many left defenseless against any natural disaster? And why do millions of Iranians suffer in poverty, unemployment, and homelessness?
The answer is that Khamenei channels the country’s wealth and revenues into his ruthless IRGC to uphold his illegitimate and oppressive rule. Instead of providing welfare, housing, education, and medical treatment to the people, he squanders their resources on the production of missiles, drones, and warmongering in the Middle East. The regime’s unpatriotic nuclear projects have cost the Iranian people more than 2000 billion dollars so far.
For years, the regime’s allies propagated the falsehood that international sanctions were the cause of the people’s poverty. Now, the scandalous truth has come to light. Despite the regime’s increased oil revenues in the past three years due to appeasement policies, poverty, inflation, and soaring prices have only intensified in Iran.
Now, people are impoverished, and destitute women are resorting to desperate measures such as selling their babies, while the sale of organs persists and has even increased. As the regime’s earnings increase, so does its capacity to strengthen its machinery of repression and war, escalating looting and exacerbating widespread poverty.
The undeniable truth is that the clerical regime has inflicted more destruction upon the lives and property of the nation than any occupying force.
Delay in Recognizing the IRGC’s Terrorist Nature by the West
Dear friends,
Despite the ongoing executions and repression in Iran, unfortunately, governments and international assemblies have effectively granted impunity to the mullahs’ regime. It appears that the assault on women by IRGC guards, the relentless executions, and the suppression of oppressed nationalities are considered the regime’s rights that cannot be challenged.
This policy has paved the way for the mullahs to export crimes and warmongering to the region. The ongoing devastating war in the Middle East has unveiled the truth that the origin of war and terrorism lies in Tehran.
While Khamenei’s IRGC remains the primary instrument of repression and warfare both domestically and internationally, why do European governments hesitate to declare its terrorist nature?
Yesterday, the Parliament of Canada adopted a motion designating Khamenei’s IRGC as a terrorist entity. Two weeks ago, the Parliament of Europe adopted a resolution for a second time, calling for the terrorist designation of the IRGC.
This imperative measure has been long overdue and we have urged the Government of Canada to enact it as soon as possible. I hope that the European Union, the government of Italy, and all EU member-states will no longer delay in declaring this criminal corps as a terrorist entity. Every day of delay only serves to embolden the regime in its pursuit of terrorism, warmongering, and hostage taking.
The significant declaration by the majority of members of the Italian parliament stands as a beacon, alerting the world to one of the most significant threats to global peace and security, and offering a comprehensive solution to this peril.
The declaration underscores the paramount significance of the Iranian people’s resistance, affirming their rejection of any form of dictatorship, whether under the mullahs or the Shah, and their demand for the establishment of a democratic republic.
Furthermore, the declaration strongly condemns the regime’s actions against PMOI members in Ashraf-3, Albania, advocating for the respect of their rights under the 1951 Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.
I hope that the Italian government, guided by the declaration made by the majority of its representatives, will spearhead a new policy within the European Union concerning Iran.
Thank you all.
