Six former world leaders join Maryam Rajavi to call for new Iran policy

Following the publication of an open letter calling for new policies toward Iran, six of its 117 signatories attended a conference on Thursday with the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, at the NCRI headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris. The six former heads of state reiterated their call for a firm strategy in dealing with Iran’s religious dictatorship, and affirmed the Iranian people’s right to establish a democratic republic in its place.

The event featured remarks by former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt; former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko; former Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi; former President of Slovakia, Andrej Kiska; former President of Bolivia, Jorge Tuto Quiroga Ramírez; and former Prime Minister of Andorra, Jaume Bartumeu Cassany. The six were also joined by former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Hryhoriy Nemyria; former European Parliament Vice President, Alejo Vidal-Quadras; and former MEP, Struan Stevenson.

The preceding open letter was sent to the leaders of Canada, the EU, UK, and US to urge support for the protests in Iran and for the NCRI’s 10-point plan for a free Iran.

Mrs. Rajavi told the conference: "The clerical regime in Iran has also engaged in exporting terrorism, warmongering, and religious fundamentalism beyond Iran's borders. It is no coincidence that such a large number of world dignitaries have joined your initiative against the regime."

Amidst much applause and cheers from the audience, Rajavi said: "Today, the clerical regime finds itself in its final phase. The uprising that began in September 2022 showed that the Iranian people want to overthrow the ruling regime and are prepared to make sacrifices to achieve this goal. Women have a leading role in the uprisings, following 40 years of struggle by freedom-loving PMOI women and other combatant women against this brutal regime."

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, or Mojahedin-e Khalq, is the largest constituent group in the NCRI coalition, having been established in the 1960s to oppose the Pahlavi dynasty, before becoming the main voice for a democratic alternative to the mullahs’ regime following the 1979 revolution.

"The recent uprising also revealed that despite the Iranian people’s terrible conditions and increasing discontent, the religious tyranny has no solution,” Mrs. Rajavi went on to say. “The regime’s only way out is to escalate repression, export of terrorism, and warmongering. At the same time, it has increased its efforts to discredit the democratic opposition through a disinformation campaign both inside Iran and abroad.

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"The regime’s behavior is the product of the West’s policy of appeasement over the past 40 years. Now is the time for a fundamental change in that policy."

Former Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt and former Bolivian President Quiroga Ramírez used Thursday’s even to denounce an attack that the Albanian government carried out against PMOI members this week. Since 2016, approximately 3,000 of the group’s members have lived in the Balkan nation, near the port city of Duress, in Ashraf 3, a community they built using their own resources in 2018.

“Albania is on the wrong side of history by attacking the Iranian diaspora in their country,” said Verhofstadt. “The regime of Iran last month executed four people every day. Despite all the violence of the mullahs there is an incredible resilience by the Iranian people who reject any form of dictatorship.”

“The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) should be blacklisted by the EU and our partners. The Iranian people are determined to turn their country into a democratic country,” concluded the Belgian dignitary, who headed the country’s government from 1999 to 2008.

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko flew from Ukraine to attend the conference, where she said: “In our open letter, we together with other world leaders, urged other countries to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and hold regime officials accountable for their crimes against humanity. “ 

Ms. Tymoshenko added: “I saw many shared values and tasks in Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan. This is what should unite our people because we are fighting for Freedom, for human rights, justice and security of our citizens and people of our countries.”

The five other former heads of state also referenced and endorsed the 10-point plan in their remarks, acknowledging it as a roadmap to a free and democratic future for Iran.

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