Virtual Conference with Members of the Irish Houses of Parliament

Maryam Rajavi: Cause of Freedom, Cause of Mankind

Honorable Members of the Parliament and Senate of Ireland,
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance, I send you my greetings.
Today, the religious dictatorship ruling Iran is one of the most serious threats to peace and security in the world, especially in the Middle East.
The recent explosions in the largest port of Iran with multitudes of victims killed and injured were the outcome of the regime’s destructive military activities.
This regime is also the main cause of repression, poverty, unemployment, and war for the people of Iran.
The regime executed 22 prisoners in just three days between the 21st and the 23rd of April. Thousands of other prisoners are on the death row.
In the year 1988, 30,000 political prisoners were massacred on Khomeini’s order in a short period while serving their prison sentences. More than 90 percent of them were members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
In July 2024, Professor Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur at the time, described this massacre as a crime against humanity and genocide.
The Iranian regime is defined by its terrible human rights abuses, warmongering, and its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.
How to Confront the Clerical Regime’s Threat
The question is how to address this threat and what the solution might be. There is a viable solution and that is the overthrow of the regime by the Iranian people’s Resistance.
This Resistance is now known for its key role in the continuous uprisings, since December 2017. The current speaker of the regime’s parliament described it clearly. He said, “This Resistance is responsible for organizing the protests.”
Let me explain the history of this movement.
This year, we are approaching the 120th anniversary of Iran’s Constitutional Revolution.
That revolution was the first of its kind in Asia. Its goals were democracy, a national parliament, the rule of law, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and the rejection of dictatorship.
That movement faced many defeats but it was the beginning of Iran’s new era.

A 60-Year Resistance

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), founded exactly 60 years ago, is a continuation of that revolution.
The PMOI with a progressive, democratic, tolerant understanding of Islam, and commitment to separation of religion and state, aimed to achieve freedom, independence, and popular sovereignty.
They fought with all their strength to overthrow the Shah’s dictatorship. They made many sacrifices. Even the founders of the organization were executed by the Shah’s regime.
From the very beginning of Khomeini’s rule, the PMOI became the main force of resistance against this regime.
For more than forty years, this Resistance has been leading the call for the separation of religion and the state.
It is also the strongest advocate of oppressed ethnic groups in Iran.
And it leads a major movement for gender equality.
For over thirty years, women have held key leadership roles within the movement. They have inspired many women in Iran to rise up and fight for freedom.
Another great achievement of this Resistance has been exposing the regime’s nuclear projects and secret sites.
Without these efforts, the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism could have already built a nuclear bomb.

Transferring Sovereignty to the People of Iran

Politically, the greatest achievement of this movement is forming a democratic alternative to the ruling dictatorship.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) embodies the Iranian people’s desire in rejecting the dictatorships of the Shah and the mullahs. This alternative is the longest-lasting political coalition in Iran’s modern history.
The NCRI has 457 members from many different political backgrounds. More than 50 percent of its members are women.
The NCRI has a progressive platform for the future of Iran. It supports women’s rights and freedoms, autonomy for ethnic groups, and equality between Shia, Sunni, and followers of other religions.
It stands for the separation of religion and state, the abolition of the death penalty, and a non-nuclear Iran that always defends peace in the Middle East.
This alternative provides a guarantee against chaos. It also guarantees national unity after the fall of the regime, and it guarantees a democratic and peaceful process for the transfer of power.
This process includes forming a transitional government for a maximum of six months.
Then, holding elections for a Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution.
Last year, the majorities of 34 parliaments, including 4,000 members of parliament, declared their support for the Iranian Resistance’s platform and its just struggle to overthrow the regime.
The NCRI does not seek to seize power. It aims to transfer power to the people of Iran. Yes, freedom is our cause.
I believe the people of Ireland, with their proud history of 700 years of resistance for independence, can deeply understand the value of such a struggle and the sacrifices it requires.
We remember the inspiring phrase of Theobald Wolf-Tone who said, “Our cause is the cause of liberty — it is the cause of mankind.”

The Iranian Resistance Poses Existential Threat to the Regime

Our Resistance has always made it clear that this regime cannot be reformed.
Human rights violations and warmongering are key parts of its nature.
The regime sees the Iranian people’s Resistance as the biggest threat to its existence, especially that the clerical regime is surrounded by deep social anger and discontent. Repeated uprisings have proved that the people of Iran want to overthrow this regime.
Our movement has paid the price for standing up to the mullahs with massacres, demonization, and brutal repression by this regime.
From the beginning, Khomeini, and after him, Khamenei declared that all members, supporters, and allies of this movement must be executed.
A court in Tehran holds weekly trials against the PMOI and 104 leaders of this movement in their absence. Recently, the court announced that even those who attend the PMOI’s protests outside of Iran must be prosecuted.
Right now, some PMOI supporters are facing death sentences. Many members of this movement have been in prison for 10 years, 20 years, and even more.
Recently, Amnesty International said that 64% of all recorded executions in the world happened in Iran. This shows the regime’s fear of uprisings and of being overthrown.
In the past 30 years, Western governments have tried many appeasement policies toward this regime, but all of them have failed.
Now, it is time for a major change in Europe’s policy toward Iran. The most important part of this change is to stand with the Iranian people.
I hope the Parliament and Senate of Ireland will officially support the struggle and uprising of the Iranian people, just as the majority of Irish Senate members did in their statement last year.
We call on Europe and the world to take the following steps:
• Add the Revolutionary Guard Corps (the IRGC) to the list of terrorist organizations.
• Declare the Iranian regime as a serious threat to global peace and security, and place it under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
• Immediately activate the snapback mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and restore past UN Security Council resolutions on the regime’s nuclear projects.
• Recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the regime, and support the resistance of brave young Iranians fighting the IRGC.