[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 106 (Thursday, July 9, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1024-E1026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SPEECH OF MARYAM RAJAVI, THE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 
   OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN (NCR) IN 2015 PARIS GRAND GATHERING OF THE 
                    IRANIAN RESISTANCE--13 JUNE 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT PITTENGER

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 9, 2015

  Mr. PITTENGER. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following speech by Maryam 
Rajavi, the elected President of the National Council of Resistance of 
Iran (NRC).

       In the name of God, In the name of Iran, In the name of 
     Freedom, In the name of 120,000 shining stars, the blazing 
     flames of honor and dignity who defied the religious tyranny, 
     and In the name of all the unsung heroes and heroines who 
     made the ultimate sacrifice so that others could live free; 
     so that in the darkest hour of her history, Iran shines with 
     stars, stands proud and cries out: ``Down with the velayat-e 
     faqih regime!''


               voice and message of iran's genuine owners

       Elected representatives of nations around the globe, 
     Honorable dignitaries, My fellow compatriots, here and all 
     over Iran: I sincerely extend my gratitude to you all for 
     joining this gathering. We have come here to convey to the 
     world the voice and message of Iran's rightful owners, the 
     Iranian people.

[[Page E1025]]

     Amid an unrelenting uproar over the Iranian regime's ominous 
     nuclear program and three inhuman wars in the region, we have 
     come to say that those who are speaking on behalf of Iran are 
     in fact the enemies of Iran and all Iranians. The people of 
     Iran neither want nuclear weapons, nor meddling in Iraq, 
     Syria or Yemen, nor despotism, torture and shackles. The 
     people of Iran are the tens of millions of enraged teachers, 
     students, nurses and workers who demand freedom, democracy, 
     jobs and livelihood.
       They say: First, the velayat-e faqih regime has reached the 
     end of the line. Second, the only way to end the violations 
     of human rights in Iran, the nuclear impasse, the crises in 
     the region, and the confrontation with ISIS and terrorism, is 
     to topple the Caliph of regression and terrorism in Iran.


                     Major change, a common demand

       Look at Iran as it has risen up today. It is inflamed and 
     seething despite nearly 1,800 executions during Hassan 
     Rouhani's tenure: The uprising in Mahabad and the protests in 
     Sanandaj, Sardasht, Saqqez and Marivan, reflect the courage 
     and upheaval of Iranian Kurds in the face of crime and 
     injustice. Successive demonstrations by teachers all across 
     our nation echo the cries of those who have been ignored and 
     have now risen up for the right to life and right to freedom; 
     The daily strikes and sit-ins by workers resonate the 
     outcries of starving families nationwide; Dozens of armed 
     clashes involving young Baluchis, Kurds and Arabs reflect the 
     fury of an enchained nation which has been denied of any 
     means to protest; Hundreds of hunger strikes and protests by 
     political prisoners, embody the perseverance of a nation that 
     has defeated the mullahs even in torture chambers; The sit-
     ins of the mothers of death-row prisoners, the protests of 
     Gonabadi and Ahl-e Haq dervishes, and the suffering of 
     impoverished street venders are the rumblings of a mountain 
     about to erupt. Look at today's Iran. Do you see any Iranian 
     not discontented or not wanting change?
       The 15 million deprived and destitute citizens languishing 
     in shanty towns in the suburbs, the 10 to 15 million young 
     people who cannot find jobs and the millions of families 
     feeling the heavy burden of high prices, all of them, feel 
     the same pain and demand major change. So, I am speaking to 
     you, my beloved countrymen and women across the nation. Your 
     resistance, your struggle and your solidarity are stronger 
     than any other force. Stand up to the ruling regime and 
     create 1,000 Ashrafs, meaning 1,000 bastions of rebellion in 
     Iran. Major uprisings will arise out of your protests. And 
     the army of rebellion and liberation will be the harbinger of 
     Iran's freedom for the world.


                      a defeated nuclear strategy

       Ladies and gentlemen: The nuclear program that projected 
     the power of the velayat-e faqih regime for the past quarter 
     century is now a source of the mullahs' weakness and impasse. 
     Why did Khamenei acquiesce to the Geneva Accord, despite 
     being only two to three months away from nuclear weapons 
     capability? The answer is simple: Because he feared another 
     eruption of uprisings; because his nuclear strategy has run 
     aground; and because in the words of his foreign minister, 
     the regime's strategic capacity has been eroded. This 
     explains why the Geneva Accord destabilized the regime and 
     the Lausanne Agreement destabilized it even further. Unlike 
     Khomeini, who drank from the chalice of poison of ceasefire 
     in the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, Khamenei could not agree to a 
     comprehensive deal with the P5+1. He says, ``I neither agree 
     nor disagree.'' This means that his regime is at an impasse. 
     The same situation prevails as pertains to the final, 
     comprehensive agreement. Whether or not Khamenei agrees to 
     it, the regime cannot escape the prospects of being 
     overthrown.


                 wrapping up the bomb-making structure

       Unfortunately, western governments, the United States in 
     particular, violated UN Security Council resolutions and 
     offered major concessions, propelling the regime closer to 
     the Bomb. I should therefore remind western governments that 
     the Iranian people and Resistance will not accept any 
     agreement that does not dismantle the regime's bomb-making 
     infrastructure. UN Security Council resolutions must be 
     implemented fully. Uranium enrichment must be halted 
     completely. All suspect sites, military or otherwise must be 
     inspected. And the regime must provide answers to the 
     military dimensions of its nuclear project and make its 
     nuclear experts available for IAEA questioning.
       P5+1 Leaders: If you do not want a nuclear-armed 
     fundamentalist regime, stop appeasing it. Do not bargain over 
     the human rights of the Iranian people and recognize their 
     organized Resistance which is striving for freedom. You are 
     gravely mistaken in thinking that there is no solution. There 
     is a solution for ending the mullahs' nuclear weapons 
     program: regime change by the Iranian people and Resistance. 
     As the Iranian Resistance's Leader Massoud Rajavi has 
     declared, ``Resistance against this regime is our duty and 
     our inalienable right. We have been and will be at war with 
     this regime. With or without enrichment, with and without 
     nuclear weapons, and under any circumstances, the struggle 
     for freedom is the inalienable right of the Iranian people.''


                   failures and flaws of Vali-e faqih

       Ladies and gentlemen: The regime's critical situation can 
     be seen in Khamenei's failures and in the erosion of his 
     standing. Khamenei has failed to unify the ruling clique. His 
     acquiescence to Rouhani's presidency reflects this failure. 
     This failure, however, was initially neither because of 
     international sanctions nor due to the economic crisis. The 
     most important reason was the Resistance and the Iranian 
     people's uprisings. Today, the regime's Supreme Leader and 
     its President have faced off, bashing one another on a daily 
     basis. The power struggle is reaching the final phase. 
     Rafsanjani has openly called for dividing the power and 
     authority of the Supreme Leader. For the first time, a rival 
     faction has taken shape against Khamenei. The pro-Khamenei 
     faction has significantly split and disintegrated. In other 
     words, the body whose task is to preserve the regime in times 
     of tension and turmoil is itself crumbling. Indeed, the 
     ruling theocracy has rotted at its core. All signs point to 
     the end of this decadent regime.


                     mullahs trapped in three wars

       Ladies and gentlemen: Today, the clerical regime has fallen 
     into the trap of three regional wars, in which it can neither 
     advance nor retreat. The bubble-like expansion of the ruling 
     theocracy has put it in a perilous predicament. In Syria, 
     what the mullahs built is teetering because it was erected on 
     quicksand. Although the clerical regime has spent billions of 
     dollars annually to prop up Bashar Assad, today the Syrian 
     dictator is gasping for air. I hope that on victory day, 
     Khamenei joins Assad before the International Criminal Court 
     for the slaughter of 300,000 Syrian men, women and children. 
     In Iraq, the clerical regime has lost its puppet government 
     of Nouri al-Maliki. This is the beginning of the regime's 
     demise not only in Iraq but also throughout the region. 
     Although the regime continues to commit genocide against 
     the Sunnis by the Quds Force that meddles in Iraq under 
     the pretext of fighting the ISIS, these efforts will prove 
     futile and will not restore the regime's losses. And in 
     Yemen, Khamenei sought to take over the country to gain 
     the upper hand during the nuclear talks and amid the 
     regional crisis. It, however, turned the largest regional 
     coalition against Tehran. When Bashar Assad is toppled or 
     when the regime's forces are defeated in Iraq or in Yemen, 
     the regime's entire front in the Middle East will 
     collapse. This regime lacks the capability to advance in 
     these three wars. On the other hand, if it retreats, it 
     will implode. Such an impasse thus attests to the 
     certainty of the overthrow of the velayat-e faqih regime.


               necessary eviction from the entire region

       Today, western and Arab world's policy makers stress that 
     ISIS and Bashar Assad are the two sides of the same coin. I 
     add that the Caliph in Tehran is the godfather of both of 
     them. The fact is that ISIS emerged out of the atrocities 
     perpetrated by Bashar Assad and Maliki committed on orders 
     from the clerical regime. I therefore call upon western 
     governments to refrain from taking sides with the Tehran 
     regime. In Iraq, do not collaborate with the regime's 
     Revolutionary Guards Corps and the so-called Shiite militias 
     who are a hundred times more dangerous than the other 
     henchmen. The solution in Iraq is to evict the mullahs' 
     regime forces, to empower Sunni power-sharing, and to arm the 
     Sunni tribes. The solution in Syria is to evict the Iranian 
     regime's forces and to support the people of Syria in 
     overthrowing Assad's dictatorship. The solution in Yemen is 
     to stand up to Tehran, as the Arab coalition has already 
     done. This must be pursued until the regime is uprooted all 
     across the region. Indeed, the solution is to evict the 
     Iranian regime from the entire region and to topple the 
     Caliph of regression and terrorism Iran.


                         an organized movement

       Ladies and gentlemen: When social conditions are ripe for 
     change, there is no element more vital than the existence of 
     an organized movement. This explains why the mullahs fear and 
     attempt to destroy the People's Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK) and the 
     National Council of Resistance of Iran. The mullahs have 
     always considered the PMOI's presence in Iraq as an 
     existential threat because they are the vanguard force in the 
     fight against religious fascism. The PMOI and the NCRI 
     hoisted the banner of peace in diametric opposition to 
     Khomeini's persistence on prolonging the Iran-Iraq war. The 
     PMOI formed the National Liberation Army. The PMOI and the 
     NCR foiled the nefarious conspiracies of the Iranian regime 
     and its appeasers, and nullified the unjust terrorist label 
     by winning in more than 20 courts in the United States, 
     Canada, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in Europe. The PMOI 
     and the National Council of Resistance discredited and 
     terminated the 15-year-long case opened by the French 
     Judiciary. They upheld the Iranian people's right to regime 
     change.


     Termination of prison conditions and blockade of Camp Liberty

       Dear friends: Over the past three decades, the mullahs have 
     endeavored to annihilate this movement more than anything 
     else. Their efforts include thousands of conspiracies and 
     churning out allegations particularly against the Resistance 
     Leader Massoud Rajavi. They have also fired 1,000 missiles at 
     PMOI and National Liberation Army bases in 2000. We all 
     recall that in an attempt to crack down on the June 2009 
     uprisings, the regime first attacked Camp Ashraf. Similarly, 
     the morning after his defeat during the Presidential 
     elections in 2013, Khamenei ordered a rocket attack on Camp 
     Liberty. And two years ago, when he decided to sign the

[[Page E1026]]

     nuclear accord, he ordered that Ashraf residents be 
     massacred. The mullahs' real aim is to annihilate the 
     residents of Liberty or secure their surrender to the regime. 
     This explains why the regime is hindering their relocation 
     out of Iraq, On the other hand, by repeatedly violating 
     international treaties and reneging on their written 
     obligations toward the Ashrafis, the U.S. and the UN have in 
     practice sided with the religious fascism ruling Iran. I once 
     again call on the U.S. and the UN to take urgent action to 
     protect the Camp Liberty residents and put an end to the 
     medical and logistical siege of the camp and its prison-like 
     conditions. If the United States does not guarantee that the 
     PMOI is protected against attacks by the terrorist Quds 
     Force, it must, at least, return part of its member's 
     personal arms for self-defense and protection purposes.


                             hope and cause

       Dear friends: Change in Iran is within reach because not 
     only has the regime rotted to the core, but Iranian society 
     is also ready for change and path to that change has already 
     been paved. This path has been opened and led by Massoud 
     Rajavi and this is his great mandate. When he left the Shah's 
     prison, Massoud asked: ``How could anyone shackle and enchain 
     a nation forever?'' In pursuit of the ideal of freedom, 
     Massoud Rajavi created a movement that has propelled Iran 
     towards freedom. Yes, the national uprising of June 20, 1981, 
     the National Council of Resistance and the National 
     Liberation Army, Ashraf City and Camp Liberty, are all 
     cornerstones that he shaped and inspired in order to secure 
     freedom in Iran. The late Ayatollah Taleqani said that 
     interrogators at Evin Prison feared Massoud Rajavi's name. 
     Now, the ruling mullahs and their cohorts also fear both his 
     name and his words because he has turned the forbidden word 
     of ``toppling the regime'' into a major movement that has 
     driven the religious fascism into an impasse. He has taught 
     the vanguard generation of Iran that in the struggle against 
     the velayat-e faqih's barbarism, the only gem blessed with an 
     eternal spirit is one's commitment to an ideal, having faith, 
     maintaining hope, being truthful, and making sacrifices. The 
     PMOI, which just this year will celebrate its fiftieth 
     anniversary, has advanced a struggle for a cause and ideal, 
     without focusing on what they will themselves gain from it. 
     Having an ideal means standing as resolute as a mountain, yet 
     flowing as freely as a river, and gripping ever so tightly 
     the banner of liberty despite all the storms and calamities. 
     It means shedding all fears of both the length of the 
     struggle and the enormous price it demands. This is the path 
     that guides the ship of freedom toward the shores of 
     salvation.
       From the PMOI founder Mohammad Hanifnejad and his 
     associates to young people who join our ranks every day, from 
     the men who believe in the ideal of equality to the 1,000 
     vanguard women who form the PMOI's Central Council, they all 
     have one thing in common. They have chosen the tradition of 
     sacrificing themselves without expecting any reciprocity. 
     They adhere to a tradition that has guided the actions of 
     vanguards and pioneers of freedom since the beginnings of 
     time; the tradition of embracing a fiery commitment and 
     remaining faithful to the idea that this world is defined by 
     change and not by destiny. Our Constitution is freedom, 
     democracy and equality With this ideal and this faith, we are 
     determined to build a free and democratic society. A century 
     ago, the Mojahedin of the Constitutional Movement sought to 
     realize ``justice, freedom, equality and unity.'' Afterwards, 
     the great nationalist leader of Iran, Dr. Mohammad Mossadeq, 
     rose up and said, ``The aim is to ensure that people 
     participate in every aspect of affairs, whether good or bad, 
     and take over the affairs of the nation.'' Subsequently, the 
     Fedayeen and the PMOI and other vanguard militants opened the 
     path to overthrowing the Shah's dictatorship. And now, our 
     Resistance--with a galaxy of fallen heroes and heroines from 
     Ashraf Rajavi and Moussa Khiabani to Sedigheh Mojaveri and 
     Neda Hassani to Zohreh Ghaemi and Giti Givechian--has arisen 
     to ensure freedom of choice for each and every one of our 
     fellow Iranians. We have rejected the ruling tyrannical 
     regime. We have rejected forcible and misogynous religion. 
     And we have rejected the Constitution of the velayat-e faqih. 
     Our Constitution is freedom, democracy and equality. Our 
     Constitution has not been drafted by the Assembly of Experts, 
     a collection of criminals. It has been engraved in the hearts 
     of each and every Iranian. And it will be drafted by elected 
     representatives of the Iranian people in a Constituent 
     Assembly. This Constitution is founded on a free, tolerant 
     and advanced republic. It is founded on pluralism, separation 
     of religion and state, women's equality and their active and 
     equal participation in political leadership. We believe in 
     equal rights for all ethnic and religious minorities and a 
     society devoid of torture and executions. My fellow 
     compatriots, who have gathered here, and my dear compatriots 
     who are hearing me right now all across Iran, are you ready 
     to expand the campaign for Iran's liberation and overthrow 
     the velayat-e faqih regime? Indeed, to carry out this great 
     responsibility, which will herald a glorious future, we 
     pledge before Iran's history and nation that we are ready, 
     ready, ready. Indeed, with the hope and faith in freedom, we 
     have gone through half a century of struggle against two 
     dictatorships. And we will continue with ever-greater hope 
     and determination until freedom and democracy reign supreme 
     in Iran. Yes, we can break the chains; And flow to the sea 
     like a river; With a radiant cause, we can; Destroy the 
     darkness of injustice; We can and we must sing in unison; In 
     every breath, of Iran's freedom; No doubt, the future belongs 
     to you; Hundreds of hails to you and your struggle.
       May victory be yours!

                          ____________________