A majority of Italian Senators say Iran ties must be based on respect for human rights

NCRI - On the eve of a visit to Rome by the Iranian regime's President Hassan Rouhani, a majority of Italian Senators announced in a statement on Thursday that they urge the government of Italy to put human rights before economic relations with Iran.

At a conference in the Italian Senate, the lawmakers also condemned the October 29 rocket attack on thousands of members of the main Iranian opposition group People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) in Camp Liberty, Iraq. Two dozen Iranian dissidents were killed and many more were injured in the terrorist attack on the camp by agents of Iran’s fundamentalist regime.

Among the speakers in Thursday's conference were former Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, Senator Lucio Malan, Senator Stefania Pezzopane, Senator Silvana Amati, Senator Luigi Compagna, former lawmaker Elisabetta Zamparutti, and former European lawmaker Struan Stevenson. A message to the conference was read out on behalf of Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance. Shaqayeq Azimi, a young PMOI member, testified at the conference about the arrest of her parents in Iran last month due to their support for the PMOI.

The statement signed by a majority of Italian Senators pointed out that the human rights situation has sharply deteriorated under Rouhani, whose two-year tenure has seen at least 2000 executions in Iran.

Iran has the highest level of executions worldwide per capita, the lawmakers said, adding that any economic relations with Iran’s regime must be based on an end to executions and respect for human rights.

The statement also urged the United Nations and the United States to live up to their obligations to protect the residents of Camp Liberty and force Iraq’s government to lift its blockade on the camp.