THE PRESIDENT OF THE IRANIAN OPPOSITION VISITS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
On May 24, at a personal invitation of MEP Zarzalejos, Maryam Rajavi, president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, participated in a meeting with more than twenty MEPs from different Member States and belonging to different political forces.
The European Parliament has shown for decades a strong commitment to the Iranian people and support for their legitimate aspirations for freedom, stability and democracy. However, this support has been accentuated in recent months following the murder by the police of Mahsa Jina Amini, the outbreak of peaceful protests throughout the country and the brutal repression that the regime is exercising on the demonstrators.
Thus, the European Parliament has spoken out on the events in Iran on three occasions in the last six months and has done so through resolutions that have been supported by almost unanimity of its members. The invitation to Ms. Rajavi, the highest representative of the Iranian opposition, is part of this context of support for the Iranian people who are demonstrating not only for women’s rights but also for the establishment of a democratic regime and who are suffering, therefore, an unprecedented escalation of aggression, imprisonment and executions.
During the meeting, the MEPs conveyed to Rajavi their recognition of the Iranian opposition and their firm support for the plan for the reconstruction of the country proposed by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which consists of the transition to a secular republic, the abolition of the death penalty, the defense of fundamental freedoms and rights, gender equality, the autonomy of national ethnic groups, the abandonment of nuclear weapons, a free market economy and, ultimately, the establishment of a democracy.
MEPs reiterated their call to the Council of the European Union to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and demanded that the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrel, abandon the policy of appeasement with the Iranian regime, as it has proved to be completely useless in counteracting the atrocities of the regime. They asserted that Iran today represents a very serious threat to international peace and security and recalled that proof of this is the direct involvement of the Iranian regime in the war in Ukraine by supplying arms to Russia.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, delivered a communiqué to those present in which she reiterated the institution’s support for the Iranian people and assured that no threat (in reference to MEPs sanctioned by the Iranian regime) could silence or intimidate the Parliament. Among the MEPs who participated in the event were Dolors Montserrat, former minister and current spokesperson and leader of the Spanish delegation of the European People’s Party Group and the Socialist.