Iran : Speech by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi in Paris Gathering of 50,000

Hail to the great nation of Iran that has arisen to bring down the ruling religious dictatorship;

Hail to the Iranian people and their admirable uprising in recent days;

Hail to the enraged youths who used the petrol crisis in recent days to ignite the flames of a popular uprising;

Greetings from here to Tehran, Yassouj, Ahwaz, Tabriz, Shiraz, Ilam, Gorgan, and to all of Iran. We salute all those who have risen up.

Hail to the steadfast City of Ashraf, the embodiment of the Iranian nation’s resolve for liberty;

Hail to every Iranian who yearns for freedom and popular sovereignty in the land of Iran;

And, hail to each and every one of you who have gathered here from all over the world to demonstrate the determination of the Iranian nation to overthrow the clerical regime.

We have gathered here to echo the cry of 80 million Iranians to the outside world: The era of the mullahs has come to an end, and a free and democratic Iran is on the horizon.

On behalf of my compatriots, I extend gratitude to all members of parliament and political personalities, as well as advocates of peace and human rights, who have joined us to express solidarity with the Iranian people.

Fellow compatriots,

The mullahs’ tumult to develop nuclear bombs, the ominous sounds of their ruthless bombings in Iraq and their ratcheting to repress and terrorize the people at home are not the voice of Iran.

The voice of Iran is in the “down with Ahmadinejad” chants of the Mojahed and activist youths during the uprising against the imposition of fuel rationing;

The voice of Iran is in the cry of the brave women whose blood-stained faces, and confrontation with the regime’s suppressive forces, have unnerved the world audience in recent months;

The voice of Iran is in the voice of 10-year-old Elham, who spoke to a gathering of protesting teachers about her imprisoned father, prompting thousands of teachers to cry;

The voice of Iran is that of the Iranian workers who, on May Day, exclaimed, “We don’t want nuclear bombs, we want jobs and livelihood,” and that “future livelihood is our inalienable right”;

The voice of Iran is in the nervous heartbeats of 71 minors who are on death row;

The voice of Iran is in the weep of ethnic Kurdish, Baluchi and Arab mothers, mourning their sons who were hanged recently in Sanandaj, Zahedan and Ahwaz;

The voice of Iran is in the chants of students at Tehran’s Polytechnic University and on campuses nationwide, who said “death to dictatorship”;

The voice of Iran is in the painful cries coming from the mullahs’ torture chambers: “The echoes of I am still alive, the cry of I am not dead, breaking the silence in [Evin Prison’s notorious ward] 209″;

And, the voice of Iran is in the thunder of the Mojahedin in Ashraf City, who are calling on Iranians to rise up for freedom.

And today, in unison with the arisen people of Iran, we declare that the velayat-e faqih (absolute rule of the clerics) regime must be replaced with freedom and popular sovereignty.

Indeed, this is the voice of Iran.

Fellow compatriots,

The nationwide June 25th and 26th uprising, which was ignited after the fuel crisis, represents the true picture of a discontented society on the verge of exploding. This uprising was a vivid testimony of the burning desire of the Iranian people; the desire to topple the clerical regime.

The echoes of “death to Ahmadinejad” heard immediately from the streets of Tehran, the protestors’ fearless attacks on government centers, and the regime’s profound trepidation, made it abundantly clear to all that the crisis goes beyond the economic realm. This crisis represents the final stage and the era of demise for the regime.

The clerical regime responded to this uprising by imposing a martial law, arresting hundreds, and killing and wounding a number of youths. The mullahs’ Supreme Leader ordered the authorities to teach the protestors a lesson and show no mercy. However, the only lesson learnt, evident through the popular uprising, was the defeat of the ruling mullahs and their allies.

In the span of an hour, the two-year demagogy about taking the oil wealth to every household [in Iran] was dashed. All the regime’s claims about the nuclear program and its chants of “nuclear energy is our inalienable right” evaporated. All the propaganda disseminated by appeasers about the mullahs’ stability and prowess were rendered hollow. And, the terror tag they placed on the Resistance movement for liberty burned amid the flames of the uprising.

And now, it is the Iranian people who are asking [the regime]:
“What happened to all the propaganda you disseminated about scientific progress in order to justify the nuclear program? Why have you not been able to build a single refinery during the past three decades? Why did you squander all that wealth in order to build nuclear weapons, instead of investing it on oil refineries? Why did you impose fuel rationing, over night destroying the livelihood of a large portion of the population? Why did you cause an abrupt wave of unemployment and privation among millions of Iranians?”

The mullahs, of course, have no answers to these questions because they have reached the end of the road. They are unable to do anything except to continue to suppress the people and export terrorism and fundamentalism abroad. They have encountered an impasse.

It is for this reason that everything the appeasing governments had surmised about the mullahs’ regime during the past two years turned out to be false.

They claimed that by offering the mullahs incentives, they would cause them to change their behavior. But, instead of changing their behavior, the mullahs plunged Iraq into a bloodbath, destroyed and wreaked havoc in Lebanon, partitioned Palestine, and restored terrorism and carnage in Afghanistan.

These [appeasing] governments said they would entice the mullahs to suspend their nuclear program through dialogue and bargaining. The mullahs, however, expanded their activities for developing a nuclear bomb and spurned three United Nations Security Council resolutions.

[The regime’s apologists] claimed that international sanctions would rally the people around the mullahs. Now, they must open their eyes and see this popular uprising. It has occurred at a time when the main opposition has been labeled as terrorist, thus allowing the mullahs to contain the impact of the sanctions. One could only imagine what would happen once the spell of the terrorist [label] is broken.

Indeed, the reality is that all policies with respect to dealing with the Iranian crisis have failed. There is only one solution for Iran, for the region and for Iraq: democratic change by the Iranian people and their Resistance.

The Iranian people have chosen freedom and democracy;

This was what Sattar Khan rose up for;

This was what [the late Prime Minister Mohammad] Mossadeq wished for;

And, this is the goal of the resistance [movement] founded by Massoud [Rajavi];

And, we shall not rest until that goal has been realized.  

Dear compatriots,

As was expected, two days ago, the European Union, after seven months of deception and concealment, finally ignored the ruling of the European Court of Justice and in an unlawful decision maintained the PMOI on the EU terror list, much to the benefit of the godfather of terrorism.

Due to the unequivocal nature of the Court ruling, the Council of Ministers was forced to delay publishing its list for 13 months. They were at a crossroad, having to choose between removing the PMOI’s name from the list, which would have resulted in the deterioration of relations with the mullahs’ regime, or defying the Court’s verdict and colluding with the mullahs’ regime, and thus bearing the consequent disgrace and disrepute. They, of course, chose dishonor.

But they must realize that colluding with those who execute minors, collaborating with those who are responsible for the carnage in Iraq and who are the enemies of peace in the region, and assisting the central banker of terrorism constitute an immense disgrace that will tarnish Europe’s history.

I call on all dignified men and women in Europe, regardless of the position they hold, to distance themselves from such disgrace and compel the Council to abide by the ruling of the Court and the rule of law. In similar vein, the Iranian Resistance will use all legitimate political and legal means and resources to force the Council to accept the Court ruling and remove the PMOI from the list.

After the [European Court of First Instance’s] ruling [in December 2006], the Council of Ministers could have requested an appeal. Instead, it chose to defy it. It then resorted to gull and deception in order to conceal its breach of the law. On January 30th, the Council proclaimed its intention to maintain the PMOI on the list. At the same time, it gave the PMOI a one-month deadline to provide its reasons against the label. The decision to maintain the PMOI on the list was a violation of the law, and the request for counter-arguments was a blatant act of deception.

The Council had already made a decision to circumvent the Court’s ruling. In a document provided to the PMOI’s counsel recently, [the Council] admitted to a meeting held on December 18th – just six days after the Court’s verdict – in which “steps necessary to maintain the PMOI on the list,” were discussed.

Is this what the Council of Ministers calls a democratic approach?

Instead of conducting reviews and investigations, they hold meetings to discuss deceptive maneuvers for maintaining the PMOI on the list.

Whereas the Council claimed in numerous letters not to have taken a final decision on the matter, former British Prime Minister Blair admitted that the decision had already been made in January 2007 – before the one-month deadline for the Iranian Resistance to offer its evidence. In a contradictory admission, the German Chancellor’s office said that the decision had been made in February.

Therefore, setting the one-month deadline was downright deceitful.

They [the Council of Ministers] claimed that the ruling pertained to procedural improvements. They also claimed that the verdict had only annulled the 2005 EU decision and did not pertain to the decision taken the following year.

But, as Lord Slynn’s important legal opinion demonstrated, these claims are deceitful. The Council has accepted the annulment of its 2005 decision, and moreover, during the hearing, it also acknowledged that according to the articles of the European Treaty, it must also annul any decision that replaced the existing decision.

Thus, the Council has manifestly trampled upon its obligations to the European Treaty. What is more, the EU’s treatment of the PMOI constitutes a violation of fundamental rights and this goes far beyond procedural and formal aspects of the decision.

Therefore, the rights of the Iranian people have been violated.

Indeed, the crux of the matter is that through its decision the Council has handed over the rights of the Iranian people to the mullahs’ regime on a silver platter. But allow me to specify that we and our people will reclaim from the mullahs’ regime all these usurped rights.

Subsequent to repeated requests from the PMOI counsel, the Council of Ministers was left with no other option but to present the [PMOI counsel] with its documents pertaining to the terrorism allegation.

The Council has probably spent a great deal of money and time in compiling this evidence. Nevertheless, the mountains finally labored and they have given birth to a mouse. In place of credible legal documents, a cluster of discredited papers was presented. Some of them lack references and it is unclear where they have originated from. Some lack dates. Several make no reference whatsoever to the PMOI and some of them have been downloaded from dubious websites.

Are these really legal evidence and documentation or discredited material?

Would it not have been better for the EU to simply admit their lack of evidence?

Note, as an example: One of the documents states that the British Home Secretary proscribed the PMOI in 2001; therefore, the PMOI is considered to be a terrorist organization. This is a classic case of the fox’s tail. Interestingly enough, the Secretary twice last year explicitly stated that he had proscribed the PMOI at the behest of the mullahs.

In another document, the Council claims that the PMOI has no [social] support in Iran. What does this have to do with the terrorist label? Evidently appeasing the mullahs has not only harmed the Ministers’ common sense, but has also made them blind.

So, gentlemen! Please open your eyes and witness the base of support for this Resistance. Do you not see the recent storms of protest caused by the Mojahed and activist youths in Iran?

(To the audience:) Pay attention to another interesting document  purportedly supporting the terrorist charge against the Resistance.

The document states, “Eight years ago, during a parliamentary debate at the House of Commons in Britain, the government representative rejected the views of the Iranian Resistance and said the election of Mohammad Khatami has strengthened our optimism about the future of Iran and the expansion of ties between Iran and Britain.

Gentlemen, what has your optimism about Khatami and the progress of so-called reforms in Iran got to do with the PMOI being a terrorist organization? Furthermore, now that instead of reforms the most fanatical faction of the regime has assumed power and plunged the world into bloodshed and crisis, judge for yourselves: Was your assessment optimistic or utter foolhardiness?

Another document states that in 1981 the PMOI went into exile in Iraq, where it has a standing army of several thousand fighters and is protected by the Iraqi regime.

But, gentlemen, the Iraqi government was toppled four years ago and it no longer exists. And, you seem to have forgotten that the PMOI has been unarmed since four years ago.

Who are you trying to deceive?

Another document, which is interesting: The Council of Ministers presented an article published ten years ago in the media to “prove” the PMOI is a terrorist organization. The article states that the Resistance movement “continues to remain the strongest opposition to a regime that is an international outlaw.”

(To the audience:) So, let it be clear to all of you here that your crime is being the strongest opposition to an international pariah.

Another crime, according to the Council of Ministers, is that “NCRI leaders state that when the appropriate time comes, this resistance will rise to support popular uprisings against Iran’s fundamentalist regime. They say that we aim to unite this resistance with the growing social unrest in order to sweep away the mullahs.”

(To the audience:) Therefore, you are also accused of motivating and supporting your people’s protests and uprisings.

Allow me to inform you gentlemen of the EU Council of Ministers,

We will never abandon our struggle for freedom. We will never refrain from fanning the flames of the uprisings by the students, workers, and teachers. And this struggle will continue until it is victorious.

According to the latter document, the Mojahedin were planning to topple the mullahs’ regime by relying on a popular uprising.

You see? At one point they claim that the PMOI is terrorist because it has no social base. Elsewhere, they accuse the PMOI of being terrorist because it is relying on a popular uprising. Which one are we to believe?

Neither of them, of course!

What one has to believe is that the major Western powers have suppressed the solution which they themselves admit relies on a popular uprising. Therefore, this document by the Council of Ministers is evidence of the appeasers’ guilt.

Indeed, you are the guilty ones, gentlemen.

You are guilty because you have labeled the resistance against religious fascism as terrorist.

You are guilty because you want to have the world believe that there is no solution in dealing with the Iran crisis.

Doubtless, you will only shame yourselves before the peoples of Europe.

Fellow compatriots,

I am pleased to say that the pieces of paper bearing discredited allegations, the contradictory remarks and deceptions, and legal violations, have no legitimacy in today’s Europe.

After the ruling of the European Court of Justice, more than 1,000 parliamentarians across Europe rejected the Council of Ministers’ defiance of the Court ruling.

A large number of European institutions, including the parliaments of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic, have issued resolutions, statements, and formal letters, to voice protest over the position of the Council of Ministers. Here, we must repeat the question posed by the European Parliament’s Vice President Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras: “Is there anyone who would think that 1,000 MPs from democratic countries are all mistaken?”

We also ask, When you trample upon the resolutions and legal ratifications of the EU’s most important institutions, and when you defy the verdict of the Court of Justice, what could then remain of democracy?

And when you make your decisions in secret and unilaterally without consulting the people’s elected representatives, what could then remain of democracy?

Is democracy not identified with accountability, listening to the views of the opposition, accepting the rule of law, and transparency?

So, what is this secret center at the heart of the European Union, which decides on the terrorism allegations? A mysterious, dark-colored glass mansion named the Clearing House, whose location, members and meeting schedules are unknown. Is this a European institution with democratic standards or a ghost house?

Let me say to those in charge of such dark houses that even if you conceal the rights of the Iranian nation in the belly of a dragon, we will drag it out of there.

Dear compatriots,

When on June 17, 2003, Jacques Chirac’s government sent an astounding armada to attack the offices of the NCRI in order to dismantle it, it extended the boundaries of appeasement to inconceivable limits. By directly colluding with the mullahs in the suppression of the Iranian people, it relegated itself to a functionary of the policies of Iran’s religious despotism.

The government persisted so far along this path that it opened the gates for the agents of the mullahs’ intelligence services to try to murder and stab Iranian dissidents right here in Paris, and set the stage for terrorist attacks.

European governments, led by France, who were in truth after lucrative business deals, pretended that they were seeking to moderate the mullahs.

But, what was the result?

Instead of moderation, the mullahs propelled Ahmadinejad to power and rushed toward getting the A-bomb and devouring Iraq.

But the important reality, which major Western powers have chosen to ignore so far, is that the Iranian Resistance is the most important and effective answer to developments in Iran and the region. Twenty-seven years ago, Khomeini said the main enemy is not the US or the Soviet Union; it is the PMOI. Today, Khamenei is following his footsteps, making it clear that neither the US aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, nor international pressures, pose much of a threat to his regime. Instead, he considers the PMOI, Ashraf City and the Iranian Resistance – the inspiration for (or catalyst of) the explosive uprisings and protests in Iranian society – as the existential threat to his regime.

The mullahs are shaking at the core out of fear of such a threat. They are after the A-bomb to keep their fragile regime in power. But the strong yearning of the Iranian people, especially women and youth, will sweep them and their machinery of suppression aside.

Earlier this month, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office sent a reply to an appeal by the MPs who support the Iranian Resistance’s fight against the terror label. This reply demonstrated the great importance both the mullahs and the governments who appease them place on the role of this Resistance in Iranian developments.

The FCO underscored that the Iranian regime’s ministers and officials have discussed the Mojahedin with their counterparts in the UK and the EU countless times.

Yes, countless times and countless deals against the PMOI.

The FCO admits that these discussions with the Iranian regime have continued for several years and that it had always been prepared to exchange information with the Iranian regime on the activities of the PMOI in the UK, and Iraq.

Yes, exchange of information and conspiring against the PMOI.

In his letter, the Foreign Office official warned that any attempt to remove the PMOI from the list would destabilize the regime.

Indeed, this is the crux of the matter. Removing the PMOI from the list shakes the mullah regimes’ foundations because they view this resistance as an existential threat.

In its letter to the relevant commission, the FCO revealed for the first time that six months before the 2003 attack on Iraq, the Iranian regime had insisted to know how a possible military attack on Iraq would affect the PMOI. British officials assured their Iranian counterparts that they would take the issue of the PMOI in Iraq “seriously”.

Seriously, indeed! They bombed PMOI bases, including Ashraf, which was bombed 120 times during a single day alone.  They bombed and disarmed a force that was the guarantee for the security of the region. What was the outcome?

The mullahs and their Revolutionary Guards marched into Iraq and plunged the oppressed and suffering people of Iraq into a bloodbath.

The costly mistake by major Western powers is that they have shackled the Iranian Resistance movement.

Their big mistake is their collusion with the mullahs in the suppression of the Resistance.

Thus, we call on you gentlemen of the Council of the EU to change this disastrous policy. We urge you to leave the ranks of the velayat-e faqih regime and abide by the verdict of the European Court of Justice. This would be to your own benefit and, of course, a decisive step in abandoning the policy of appeasement.

As far as this Resistance and its supporters are concerned, this is a struggle which will inevitably end in a triumph.

The resolve emanating from the sacrifice, faith and relentless efforts of the members of the Resistance and the Iranian nation has shattered the terrorist label and will advance until ultimate victory. And the coming of this victory is not in doubt.

We also call on the French government to end the policy employed during Jacques Chirac’s era, which relegated it to the role of the main ally of the religious fascism ruling Iran.

The June 17th dossier is the most disgraceful legacy of the previous government. It began and has continued to exist simply to enchain the Iranian Resistance movement for the benefit of the ruling mullahs.

Legally speaking, this dossier is without basis. Politically speaking, it is a conspiracy. And historically speaking, it is unprecedented in France’s judicial history since the Second World War. It is indeed so empty and hollow that those in charge resorted to employing the services of the mullahs’ intelligence service agents as witnesses.

This dossier was at an impasse from the outset. After the landmark ruling of the European Court of Justice, it had disintegrated as far as its substance was concerned.

During the Presidential elections in France, the new President repeatedly spoke about a New France and promised change. I must emphasize that as far as the issue of Iran is concerned, this change has no meaning other than ending the failed policy of appeasement. The page must be turned on the June 17th dossier which represents a dark chapter in France’s relations with the Iranian people. This is the litmus test for change. The Iranian people will judge the New France based on its actions.

Indeed, listen to the people of France, who in all these years reached new heights in voicing their solidarity with the Iranian Resistance. Hail to the dignified French citizens who rebelled against the policy of appeasement. Let me extend my gratitude to all of them.

Fellow compatriots,

The painful and blood-soaked plight of the Iraqi people gives evermore urgency to a prudent and realistic solution. At least a hundred people die in Iraq everyday. Each day at dawn, 400 children are orphaned. Defenseless women and girls are assaulted and harassed, and thousands of people are left homeless on a daily basis.

The decisions leading to these horrific crimes are made in a centre in Tehran under the direct supervision of [the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei. If the mullahs’ ominous plan to dominate Iraq were to fail, the mullahs would not be able to preserve their rule in Tehran.

Four years ago, I warned that the danger of the mullahs’ meddling in Iraq is hundreds of times more dangerous than their nuclear projects. During the past four years, the Iranian regime resorted to a covert occupation of Iraq and has now become the main occupier.

In his message to the Solidarity Congress for Peace and Freedom [in Iraq in Ashraf City], Massoud Rajavi emphasized,

“In the current circumstances, the principal problem in Iraq involves the confrontation between two major alternatives in Iraqi territory: the showdown between the alternative represented by the mullahs ruling Iran and an Iraqi alternative. A showdown between the alternative backed by the fascist regime ruling Iran with all its networks, agents and supporters and the anti-fascist Iraqi alternative with all the democratic and patriotic currents, groups, parties and personalities and their supporters on the Arab and international scene.”

Accordingly, in their statement in June 2006, some 5.2 million Iraqis stressed, the solution “is to expel the Iranian regime from Iraq and to recognize the status of the People’s Mojahedin, which is the counterbalance to the mullahs’ meddling in Iraq.”

Today, the Iranian regime views the People’s Mojahedin as a bulwark against its meddling in Iraq to the extent that contrary to all international conventions and laws, it cannot tolerate even their unarmed and restricted presence in Iraq. As Massoud Rajavi said, this is that incurable weakness of the beast, and the hallmark for democratic change in Iran by the Iranian people and the Resistance.

Two weeks ago, in a gathering of 10,000 Iraqis in Ashraf City, 450,000 residents of Iraq’s Diyala Province, including 21 political parties, associations and groups, signed a statement declaring that all national and democratic forces in Diyala Province, from every class, social stratum, ethnicity or religious orientation, are standing with the Mojahedin in Ashraf City, and consider any attack, or dissemination of accusations and lies against the PMOI as an act against the interests of the Iraqi people. From the bottom of my heart, I salute the residents of Diyala Province and all dignified Iraqis.

Allow me here to speak about a matter concerning the tragic plight of the Iraqi children.

Ten days ago, international television networks broadcasted horrific scenes from an orphanage housing Iraqi children. These innocent children are being tortured, denied food and even raped.

Yes, Iran’s ruling mullahs plunder Iraqi oil revenues by the billions, while orphaned Iraqi children are being kept under such horrendous conditions.

Therefore, we announce our readiness to the United Nations to use every means at our disposal to look after a number of Iraqi orphans. Specifically, I announce that the Iranian Resistance is prepared to take care of 1,000 Iraqi orphans and pay for all their expenses in Ashraf City under the supervision of UNICEF and in accordance with its guidelines. This offer is made purely on humanitarian grounds and is devoid of any political or public relations considerations. We will inform the Iraqi embassy in Paris and expect that the current Iraqi government would agree to such a humanitarian initiative. For the sake of 1,000 innocent Iraqi children, we hope that the Iraqi government would not be fearful of the mullahs and any hostility from them.

Dear compatriots,

Amid the onslaught of the religious dictatorship, which seeks to intimidate all through unmatched brutality, the perseverance of this Resistance and the Mojahedin foretells a bright future and rekindles hope in an oppressed society; so much so that the mullahs have been compelled to produce television series to confront the Iranian youths’ sympathy with the Resistance.

They lack the courage to admit the failure of all their previous campaigns claiming that the PMOI had been finished.

And, they are afraid to admit that misinformation campaigns and assorted allegations against the Resistance have proven to be futile.

Consequently, they have now resorted to a hysteric propaganda campaign.

But, even if you (the mullahs) cry out against the Resistance 24-hours a day in your radio, television or newspapers, you cannot avert the fall of the velayat-e faqih regime.

Everyone knows that since four years ago this movement has been on the receiving end of the greatest political and military blows, much like a tsunami, from being bombed and disarmed (in Iraq) to the June 17th [2003] coup d’etat [against it in France].

So colossal were these blows that if one-tenth of them, I repeat, that if only one-tenth, had been directed against the mullahs’ regime, it would undoubtedly have lost everything. But, this movement emerged from these complicated circumstances even more powerful, and posed a greater threat for the clerical regime.

What is the secret to such resilience of the Resistance movement and the Mojahedin?

Where does this perseverance stem from?

How have they succeeded to revive themselves from flames and sufferings, muck like a phoenix from her ashes?

At a time when the most powerful political parties around the world suffer from internal schism and chaos, how have the Mojahedin managed to sustain their internal unity and dynamism?

In addition to sacrifice, honesty, and enjoying a qualified leadership, the secret is in the progressive democratic relations within the PMOI, which relies on the free and conscious choices of each and every member of this movement. Freedom of choice forms the foundation of sincerity and unity within the ranks of this movement, and has unleashed creativity, a sense of responsibility, and extraordinary human qualities within it.

For this reason, this movement heralds free choice for all the Iranian people. Since day one, Massoud Rajavi has said that the Mojahedin have come to sacrifice themselves for the Iranian people’s ability to choose freely.

The secret also lies in the Mojahedin’s profound belief in victory. But they were not motivated by victory, and they have not spent their lives experiencing victory and easily traversable paths. Otherwise, they would have never been able to rise up against the monster of [mullahs’ Islamic] fundamentalism.

Indeed, the Mojahedin are full of hope, and are dedicated and patient individuals, who resist hardships and difficulties. They have faith in the luminous Sun behind the dark clouds, and have thus conquered new heights in human capabilities.

Through immense fortitude, and an astounding sense of responsibility and compassion, they have made possible that which appears to be impossible.

So, as Emiliano Zapata once said, “Tell your children about those who traversed the seas and the mountains and the boundaries protected by spears. Tell them while hungry dogs were after them to tear them apart, they sacrificed everything: Their love, country, home, possessions, fathers, mothers, espouses, brothers, sisters and children… so that they could tell us we are here, for our ideal, the ideal of all progressive mankind.”

Indeed, there is an ideal, which emanates from the most unblemished, genuine, and rightful desires of the Iranian nation. A nation which has to date offered 120,000 of Iran’s most courageous children, including symbols such as my beloved sisters, Neda Hassani and Sedigheh Mojaveri, whose memory we shall cherish in our hearts for all time.

Fellow compatriots,

Whether the apologists and appeasers like it or not, the era of the mullahs’ regime has come to an end. We shall turn the page on the era of oppression and injustice.

We shall build a new Iran,
A free society and an advanced country;

We shall end the era of execution and torture;
The death penalty will be abolished;

We shall dissolve reactionary courts and do away with medieval punishments;

We shall bring to an end the era of discrimination against beliefs, compulsory veiling, and state meddling in the private affairs of the citizenry;

We shall end the era of tragic subjugation and oppression of Iranian women, who must achieve equality with men in all spheres of law and liberties, and attain equal share with men in our nation’s political leadership;

Never again will Iran’s youth be subjected to humiliation, or their energy and creative potentials squandered. The free Iran is a country whose youth actively participate in determining its destiny;

We shall form a government based on the separation of religion and state so that the all the followers of various religions and beliefs could live side by side and enjoy equal rights;

With so much talent and creative potentials, the Iranian people shall never again suffer from poverty, hunger, unemployment, and privation;

The conditions for investment and healthy economic competition in society must be created and favoritism and plunder must be brought to an end;

The devastated agriculture industry and other industries must be revived. The educational and healthcare systems must be transformed into modern and accountable systems;

And, our nation should attain sustainable and lasting development, which is worthy of Iran, and would promote freedom, democracy and social justice in society.

On a sky-blue day,

A bright night,

Looking out the window of light,

The moon shall be my guest

To shine on corn-poppy and to sing in the plain

To the moon I shall say

Shine, shine, shine.

Indeed, we will shatter the oppressors’ injustices.

A new Iran we shall build

A nation thriving on freedom, tolerance, and equality.

So, to you, the sincere supporters of the Resistance, I say,

You have everything you need to achieve victory;

You have defeated fundamentalism in your country;

All those comprising the Iranian nation agree on the establishment of a republic, based on the separation of religion and state;

You enjoy the support and affection of a people that has arisen;

You have before you a just and legitimate ideal;

You have a great resistance movement with four decades of unrelenting struggle that possesses a unified and powerful organizational structure;

And, you enjoy the leadership of Massoud Rajavi;

Indeed, you have everything for victory.

So, rise up,

Hoist the flag of Sattar Khan and Mossadeq,

Revive in yourselves Hanifnejad, Mohsen, Badizadegan, Jazani, Ahmadzadehs, Pouyan, Paknejad, Ashraf [Rajavi] and [Moussa] Khiabani, [the fallen heroes of our nation’s resistance];

Set alight the flames of resistance in all places.

Victory will be yours, victory will be yours;

Indeed, you shall overcome.