VIDEO: Maryam Rajavi’s message to U.S. Senate conference

“Human Rights and Democracy in Iran”

9 March 2016

Distinguished speakers, 

Honorable lawmakers,
Dear friends,

As we speak, Iranians across the world are preparing for the arrival of Nowruz, which marks the beginning of spring and the new Iranian year.

Nowruz tradition which is a symbol of change, has been celebrated for thousands of years. It symbolizes the end of the gloomy days of winter being replaced with the bright days of spring.

The arrival of the Nowruz and spring for the Iranian people carries this simple but vital message: the spring of freedom is also inevitable. It might be postponed but cannot be stopped.

Nowruz for the Iranian people is a symbol of hope and far more, it heralds the end of theocratic regime and establishment of freedom and democracy.

Our oppressed people truly deserve a new life and a society based on democracy and human rights.

A couple of weeks ago, the mullahs held a so-called election.

But that was a sham, where all candidates had to prove their loyalty to the ruling theocracy.

The election sham was nothing more than a competition between two groups of regime officials in charge of torture, execution and export of terrorism.

A number of Khamenei’s representatives, the current Minister of Intelligence and three former Intelligence Ministers, all of whom have been responsible for mass murder and assassinations abroad, were among the candidates endorsed by the so-called moderate faction.

This is what moderate mullahs are all about.

The role of Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the pillars of this faction, in directing terrorist attacks in 1990s in Argentina, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Geneva and Istanbul is common knowledge.

Recently, the head of the regime’s Human Rights Council explained that most of the executions are carried out based on a law ratified by a Council chaired by Rafsanjani.

As for Hassan Rouhani, I should recall that in addition to 2,300 executions during his tenure, two deadly assaults were carried out against Camps Ashraf and Liberty.

He is the head of the Supreme National Security Council and no such attacks could be launched without the Council’s approval.

During his term, the mullahs’ interference in Syria has dramatically expanded.

Recently, Rouhani gave a medal of honor to his Defense Minister for improving the regime’s ballistic missile system.

That minister, Hossein Dehghan, was one of the commanders who masterminded the 1983-bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut from behind the scenes.

Why do the mullahs need absolute crackdown at home and terrorism and warmongering abroad so much?

Because democracy in Iran and stability and peace in the region is their noose.

For this reason, the mullahs’ regime is the main source of instability in the entire region and the destructive war in Syria and the massacre of the Syrian people.

The regime has currently 60,000 Revolutionary Guards and agents in Syria.

In reality, the presence of the Revolutionary Guards and paramilitary groups affiliated with the Qods Force in Syria and Iraq is the main cause for the rise and expansion of DAESH.

The Revolutionary Guards and their agents are eliminating the moderate opposition in both countries.

The Iranian regime is not an ally for the international community against DAESH, on the contrary it is in an overt and covert coexistence with DAESH.

For this reason, it would be impossible to confront the danger posed by DAESH unless and until the mullahs’ forces are driven out of Syria and Iraq.

I take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the firm policy of the U.S. lawmakers against fundamentalist regime in Iran and commend the bipartisan friendship and support of lawmakers to my oppressed fellow country men and women in Iran and for their steadfast solidarity with the residents of Camp Liberty.

Despite their deception, the ruling mullahs do not have the will nor the capacity to change their brutal conduct.

For this reason, human rights in Iran continue to be violated and Camp Liberty remains at risk.

Expanding your valuable support for the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom will be more impactful than ever before.
As we celebrate Nowruz, I wish all of you and the great nation of America every success.

Thank you very much.