Live Reports: MEK’s Free Iran Rally Outside the Warsaw Summit
13:45: Homayoun Sim-Laqaee addresses the MEK’s Free Iran rally on behalf of the Iranian communities in Europe outside the Warsaw Summit:
The MEK and NCRI are the only movements with a clear plan for freedom and democracy in Iran as they are reflected in Mrs Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan. This reflects the freedom and democracy that we want for the Iran of tomorrow.
The fake ‘alternatives’ to the regime that have been formed by the Iranian intelligence ministry only aim to discredit the MEK, but they will not lead anywhere.
The time has come for the downfall of the mullahs with the leadership of Mr Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian Resistance.
We call for the IRGC and MOIS to be placed on the EU and US blacklists. This is the demand of every Iranian.
The Iranian people’s resistance has to be recognised as the alternative, and the mullahs’ regime must be thrown out of the UN.
13:35: Matin Doustmohammadi, a representative of the Iranian youth associations in Europe, tells the MEK’s Free Iran rally in Warsaw:
We had 40 years of repression. But I am proud that in these 40 years, the MEK and their supporters continued their Resistance. I salute the MEK’s “Resistance Units” inside Iran that are leading all the protests.
The regime is not paying any price for its crimes. If Western government want to respect their own laws, they should arrest the regime’s agents and put the IRGC on the blacklist and expel the diplomat-terrorists of this regime.
We are here also to support Mrs Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan for freedom and democracy.
Let’s hope that in the near future we will join hands to bring down this regime and sing the songs of freedom. “Down with Khamenei, long live Rajavi.”
13:25: Malieh Malek Mohammadi, speaking on behalf of the Iranian communities in Europe, tells the MEK’s Free Iran rally in Warsaw:
The mullahs’ regime sees no way other than resorting to terrorism against its democratic opposition as we saw in Europe and in Albania.
They want to discredit the Resistance but they don’t have a chance as the world is watching and seeing the truth.
It’s the era of uprisings and of the overthrow of the mullahs. This opposition, the MEK, has more than forty years of experience. Time has come for payback for the dictators in Iran. Democracy and freedom will come to Iran.
13:20: Javad Dabiran, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), addresses the MEK’s Free Iran rally in Warsaw: Forty years after the downfall of the Shah’s dictatorship, it is time for the overthrow of the mullahs. This regime has brought nothing but misery and corruption and death and killings. So, it is time they go. They have only faced one strong opposition, that of the MEK (PMOI).
Forty years ago, the slogans were freedom, democracy and independence. Today the people of Iran are repeating the same slogans.
In the past four decades, the people of Iran have risen up. We have gathered here to declare our full support for NCRI President-elect Mrs Maryam Rajavi, the People’s Mojahedin (MEK) and its “Resistance Units” inside Iran.
The terrorism plot of the Iranian regime against the biggest rally of the Iranian opposition in Paris last June should be condemned by the international community. The Iranian regime’s human rights dossier should be referred to the UN Security Council. This regime must be expelled from the UN and in return, the NCRI should be recognized as the democratic alternative to the regime by the nations of the world.
13:10: Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Prime Minister of Algeria, addresses the MEK’s Free Iran rally in Warsaw: The MEK is the only force capable of freeing Iran. If we love peace and stability in this region, we need to eliminate the threat of Iran’s regime. And in order to do that, the only option is to support the Iranian Resistance led by Maryam Rajavi. I hope and pray to God that next year we can hold this meeting in Tehran.
13:05: Zbigniew Cichoń, a member of the Polish Senate from the PIS party, addresses the MEK’s Free Iran rally outside the Warsaw Summit: As Polish people, we have previously experienced a regime that oppresses people. We have become a sovereign state.
We have a lot of very good ties with Iranians going back to the WWII when you hosted our army that was leaving the Soviet oppression and going through Iran to fight the fascists. As a nation you have a right to fight. This is a dream that will soon become true. It will become true because our dream in Poland became true.
I believe very soon Iran will become a free state, a state of rule of law, not the rule of a few individuals against the people. Long live a free Iran. Long live free happy Iranians.
13:00: Former US Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli tells MEK supporters at the Free Iran rally in Warsaw: There is no better place to speak about freedom then here in Poland. For 70 years they were negotiating with their oppressors to obtain their freedom.
Today we want to have the same for Iranian people. We spoke to those nations that are not here. We understand your desire for accommodation. We have tried to negotiate with Tehran. There has been negotiations with Tehran for 40 years. But they answered with terrorism. The lives of the thousands of martyrs laying in their graves are a testimony that this regime it not negotiable.
A government that murders its opponents, cannot be trusted to respect the nuclear agreement. a murderous regime cannot be a trustable regime.
Those nations who believe we have no other choice than to accommodate Iran, we say to them: We are the choice! The democratic alternative. The thousands and thousands of Iranians who have risked their lives in the streets of Iran, they are the choice. The NCRI is the choice, Mrs Maryam Rajavi is the choice.
12:55: Senator Ryszard Majer, a prominent member of the Polish Senate, and Vice President of the Foreign Affairs Committee from the PIS party, addresses the MEK’s Free Iran rally in Warsaw: We respect freedom and solidarity. Are those values important to you? Yes, every nation needs freedom and solidarity, freedom to decide for themselves. Also in Iran freedom for Iranian people is necessary for the entire world.
As a Pole I understand this. For many years there was no freedom of assembly, no freedom of speech, for all of those who wished for change. Today I admire all of the efforts of Maryam Rajavi who works for solidarity and well-being in Iran.
Those actions are very important, they are conducted in a peaceful manner. I have met with people who work with her, who are dedicated to change. They’re belief in respect for life and solidarity are not just empty words. We can talk about the future, looking back, thanks to your efforts your nation will be free and democratic and also full of solidarity.
A free Iran is necessary for all of us. The world needs a free Iran.
12:40: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani addresses the MEK’s Free Iran rally outside the Warsaw Summit: It’s a great honor for me to be here with you to make a very important point to the government officials attending the Warsaw Summit. In order to have peace and security in the Middle East, there needs to be change of the theocratic regime in Iran. It must end. The Iranian regime is the greatest source of dissention. I commend Maryam Rajavi for her courageous leadership in her struggle for a free and democratic Iran. The Ayatollah’s regime is the number one state sponsor of terrorism not only in the Middle East, but in the whole world.
The Iranian people have a right to freedom and democracy. They have a right to be free. We will soon achieve the dream of seeing Maryam Rajavi in a free Iran. We have the answer to who will be the alternative to the regime. Maryam Rajavi has laid out a 10-point program which we should support.
12:30: A video message from Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi is being broadcast at the MEK’s Free Iran rally outside the Warsaw Summit.
12:20: Marcin Święcicki, a Member of the Polish Parliament and former Mayor of Warsaw and a former minister for foreign economic relations, addresses the rally. He is also a long-time friend of the Iranian Resistance and the MEK members in Ashraf. He says: The NCRI movement has a 10-point plan which among other things calls for abolishing the death penalty. We want to see the establishment of peace and democracy in Iran.
12:10: The rally by the MEK’s supporters is underway in the Polish capital outside the Warsaw Summit. There are chants of “Democracy, freedom with Maryam Rajavi”.
12:00: Answering a question from an Albanian journalist about the expulsion of the Iranian regime’s ambassador from Tirana over his role in terrorism against the MEK, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says:
I have great respect for the government of Albania. They welcomed a number of people (from the MEK) and saved their lives. In Iraq, the regime was slaughtering this people.
There was a plot in Albania to bomb the MEK’s Persian New Year celebration, and that led the Albanian government to expel the Iranian ambassador.
The same thing happened in France in June; there is an Iranian diplomat arrested in Germany who is now in jail in Belgium over this plot. I think we should throw out all the Iranian regime’s diplomats for committing these acts of terror.
11:55: Senator Zbigniew Cichoń, from Poland’s PIS party, tells the press conference:
We Polish people have a special attitude towards the Iranian nation, because during the 2nd World War, they had taken care of thousands of Polish soldiers who were crossing through Iran. They were hosted with great hospitality.
Now the Iranian nation has to obtain its dignity and be a nation of complete freedom. We have to give the Iranian people the help they need to obtain human rights.
Thousands of Iranians are in jail for demanding their rights. Even the lawyers who defend them end up in jail. All Poles are in solidarity with you.
11:50: Senator Ryszard Majer, Vice President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Polish Senate, tells the NCRI’s press conference outside the Warsaw Summit:
Respect for the right of Iranians and freedom for the Iranian people is needed for the whole world. As a Pole, I understand this desire. For many years we lived under dictatorship. Prisons were full of political prisoners who wanted freedom of expression.
Today, Mrs Maryam Rajavi wants to bring freedom and democracy to her people. In this movement, respect for human rights and freedom are not just empty slogans.
11:45: Former US Senator Bob Torricelli tells the NCRI press conference outside the Warsaw Summit:
The people of Iran want regime change. They are a good people, a talented people who should not be condemned to live in poverty and repression. I congratulate the government of Warsaw for their courage to hold this conference. The people of Poland never gave up the desire for freedom and they won, so will the Iranian people.
11:40: Former Algerian Prime Minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali told the NCRI’s press conference outside the Warsaw Summit:
We are here as messengers of peace. We want stability of the Middle East and all neighboring countries.
The main menace is coming from state terrorism by the Iranian regime, and we see that violence in countries like Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
So we are here to support the Iranian people. This weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Shah’s dictatorship. The people of Iran got rid of a dictatorship but got into a worse dictatorship of the mullahs.
The Mujahedin-e Khalq has more than 50 years of resistance. We have seen a lot of sacrifices and over 120,000 have been executed by the mullahs’ regime.
This is why the sacrifice of the Iranian people is not only for freedom in the Middle East but for the whole world.
11:35: Marcin Święcicki, a Member of Parliament from Poland and former Mayor of Warsaw and a former minister for foreign economic relations, told the NCRI’s press conference at the MEK’s Free Iran rally:
I am here to support the democratic opposition in Iran. I have already participated in a few meetings of the Iranian opposition in Paris, and as Mayor Rudy Giuliani said, the regime tried to bomb these rallies.
Poland had to fight for its freedom, and the Iranian people are doing the same. That’s why we support the democratic opposition in Iran against a regime that is suppressing its people.
We support the 10-point plan of Mrs Maryam Rajavi, equal rights for men and women, rights for minorities, religion and freedom of choice.
I am certain that this fight for democracy and to abolish a regime that does not respect human rights will be a successful one.
11:30: Rudy Giuliani speaking at the NCRI’s press conference at the MEK’s Free Iran rally in Warsaw:
Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world. We should not be doing business with a regime that supports terror. The Warsaw Summit should be focused on how we change Iran. How do we change their behavior against their people. The last two Free Iran conferences I attended, the regime tried to bomb them; the last one was in Paris.
We believe the alternative to this regime is Madam Maryam Rajavi, and this organisation, the MEK, is at the core of that movement. We want to see a non-nuclear Iran. A free Iran. So that the people of Iran can have their country back. We want to see a democratic Iran. A non-monarchy, non-mullah dictatorship.
11:20: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaking to reporters prior to the NCRI’s Free Iran press conference outside the Warsaw Summit
11:00: Iranian opposition activists practicing drums outside the MEK’s Free Iran rally opposite the Warsaw Summit.
09:00: Supporters of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin (Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK) and NCRI will hold a large rally in the Polish capital later today in support of democratic change in Iran, as key members of the international community attend the Warsaw Summit whose focus is on Iran and its destabilizing role in the region.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Algerian Prime Minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former US Senator Robert Torricelli and several Polish Members of Parliament and Senators are among scheduled speakers of the rally.
Poland and the United States are co-hosting the “Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East” in Warsaw on February 13-14.
The rally by the MEK‘s supporters will echo the voice of the people of Iran for a change of regime by the people and their organized Resistance. They will show their support for Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point plan for a free republic base on separation of religion and state, gender equality and a non-nuclear Iran. The Iranian protesters will state the NCRI coalition, over which Maryam Rajavi presides, is the democratic alternative to the mullahs’ regime.
Live reports to follow from the MEK’s Free Iran rally.