Cross-Party Meeting in UK Parliament Addresses Iranian Regime’s Actions

Cross-Party Meeting in UK Parliament Addresses Iranian Regime’s Actions
In a gathering at the UK Parliament on Tuesday, October 24, cross-party members of parliament,

uk parliament meeting 24 oct 2023 (1)
Written by
Shamsi Saadati

In a gathering at the UK Parliament on Tuesday, October 24, cross-party members of parliament, along with experts in Middle Eastern affairs and counter-terrorism, as well as representatives from various Anglo-Iranian Associations, convened to discuss the destabilizing actions of the Iranian regime in the region and the outlook for popular protests within Iran.

During the meeting, speakers underscored the Iranian regime’s active role in inciting further conflict in the Middle East, with the aim of securing its own survival in Tehran. This strategy is explained as a response to its inability to suppress the burgeoning popular uprising and the escalating demands for genuine democratic change. Despite a year of violent state repression and a record number of executions, the regime has been unable to quell these demands.

The consensus reached during the meeting was that the UK must respond with a resolute policy toward Tehran. This policy would hold the regime accountable for its involvement in terrorism and regional hostilities, while also lending support to the democratic aspirations and resistance efforts of the Iranian people.

One of the key calls during the meeting was for the UK Government to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, and the attendees expressed their support for the protests led by Iranian women.

Professor Lord Alton of Liverpool, co-president of the British Committee for Iran Freedom, said, “The export of terrorism and the destabilizing the Middle East and beyond have been a key feature in the Iranian regime’s playbook to secure its survival and iron grip on power at home. Be in no doubt, the regime knows that the people of Iran and their democratic aspirations is the one serious threat to its totalitarian theocracy.

“It is, therefore, crucial to understand that one of the most pressing geopolitical challenges unfolding in the Middle East today is the struggle between the religious dictatorship and the people of Iran over who should rule Iran. Events unfolding in Iran and the region during the last year should convince those who still doubt this fact.

“For four decades, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has been acting as a parliament-exile to advance the struggle for a democratic change in Iran.

“NCRI President-elect, Mrs. Rajavi has put forward a Ten-Point democratic platform for the future, which contains the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people and offers a true and viable popularly supported alternative to the current regime.”

In a video message to the meeting, Mrs. Rajavi stated, “I have emphasized many times since two decades ago that the regime’s warmongering in the region is one hundred times more dangerous than its nuclear program.

“Khamenei and his Revolutionary Guards have started a vicious war in the Middle East to escape their overthrow. If it were not for this regime, the current war would not have happened. The regime pretends to defend the cause of Palestinians while in reality, the regime is their enemy.

“Khamenei has stated that if he does not fight in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, he must fight with protesters in Tehran and other Iranian cities.

“Unfortunately, the Western countries have ignored three decades of warnings and revelations of the Iranian Resistance about the regime’s warmongering, particularly the role of the IRGC and the terrorist Quds Force and its proxies.

“Since two decades ago, we have insisted that the IRGC must be designated as a terrorist entity. Any delay in this regard will enable the IRGC to increase its influence, pursue its nuclear projects using European facilities, export terrorism and warmongering, and have access to equipment used for suppression in Iran.”

The NCRI President-elect called on the UK Parliament and Government to “recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the regime and the legitimate fight of Iranian youths against the IRGC.”

Professor Walid Phares, the Co-Secretary General of the Transatlantic Parliamentary Group on Counterterrorism and National Security and Foreign Policy advisor to several US Presidential candidates, joined the meeting from the US via video link.

Addressing the conference, Professor Walid Phares emphasized the Iranian regime’s control over various terrorist organizations for over the last 30 years. He stated that Tehran is portrayed as the central authority, operating a joint war room in Tehran itself while supporting and leading militias in various Middle Eastern countries via the IRGC and the Quds Force.

Professor Phares stated, “Since the Mahsa Amini killing and all of the revolts, demonstrations, and protests that we’ve seen inside Iran, every region of Iran and around the world, that is the threat to the regime more than anything else in the region.”

Professor Phares called for the designation of the IRGC and all its branches as a terrorist organization. He stressed that this description is vital for taking financial, political, and further measures against these terrorist organizations. He also highlighted the importance of supporting the opposition of Iran to bring about democracy and freedom.

MP Bob Blackman, co-president of the International Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran (ICPDI) said, “In the Parliament, there are serious concerns about not only the regime in Tehran but how it reaches out to its tentacles across the Middle East and into this country as well.

“Our Government should proscribe the IRGC, which is the settled view of the House of Commons on all the political parties. When you are dealing with terrorists, it is very simple, you just cannot give in to them.

“We have got to make sure that we have a very firm policy on Iran. Instead of rewarding [the regime] for terrorism and warmongering … all democratic countries must unite behind the brave people of Iran and give them their opportunity.

“The only credible organization that can do that is the NCRI. The only credible person that I have ever come across to do with Iran is Madam Rajavi. We must tell the mullahs in unequivocal terms, their time is up. They must succumb to the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. We have got the democratic alternative and that can be an outstanding success.

“So our government should be recognizing the Iranian people’s right to defend themselves against the IRGC and the other suppressive forces, recognizing the NCRI and Madam Rejavi as the democratic alternative to the regime, and Ashraf 3 as a bastion of a free and democratic Iran.”

MP Alex Sobel said, “The prescription of the IRGC here is a minimum action … The UK’s strongest role is its financial center and should close down [regime’s] abilities to move money in and out of the United Kingdom to trade, to process their own financial institutions.

“My experience of Iran and my personal story of Iran in recent times is the same story that Maryam Rajavi told.

“The vision we see from the NCRI and Maryam Rajavi is that Iran can become a force for good in the world, instead of a force which is destabilizing the world and is the cause of millions of deaths. How much better a world would we have?”

MP Jim Shannon said, “The continued policy of appeasement in recent years, has emboldened the regime to widen its influence, to believe that it can go further in destroying the lives of so many, with little or no consequences, and to limit the rights of dissidents in exile. Enough is enough.

“Today, I echo the Iranian people’s call for a democratic republic and I provide my full support for Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan. Let us all redouble our efforts so that the images we see today will never be seen again.”

MP Marie Rimmer paid tribute to the indomitable spirit of Iranian women and said that “their courage and spirit will not be crushed” but will usher in democratic change.

In a message to the meeting, MP Mary Glindon said, “[I] convey my solidarity with the Iranian people, striving for a free and democratic state, and assure them of my commitment to support your good work in any way I can.”

Azadeh Zabeti, co-president of the Committee of Anglo-Iranian Lawyers in the UK, and Musa Zahed, founding director of the Middle East Forum for Development, also spoke at the meeting.

They stressed that the UK and the West should acknowledge the struggle of the Iranian people to change the regime to establish a free and democratic Iran and back the organized opposition.

They also asked the UK Government to proscribe the IRGC to stop the regime’s destabilizing activities and intervention in the region.

Lord Lucas, the Rt Hon. Lord Whitty, and Baroness Meyer CBE, member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, also attended the meeting.

 

Cross-Party Meeting in UK Parliament Addresses Iranian Regime’s Actions

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