At the Free Iran 2026 World Summit in Paris, Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former Vice President of the European Parliament, delivered a blistering critique of Western foreign policy and a powerful declaration of solidarity with the Iranian Resistance. Dr. Vidal-Quadras sharply rebuked the French government’s decision to ban the diaspora’s major rally in Paris, warning Western nations that engaging, cooperating, or making deals with Tehran amounts to complicity with absolute evil.
Reflecting on his 25-year personal dedication to the movement alongside Maryam Rajavi, Dr. Vidal-Quadras declared his involvement with the resistance as the proudest achievement of his political life. He directly addressed the regime’s leadership, asserting that their campaign of domestic terror, executions, and transnational repression only strengthens the resolve of the opposition.
Dr. Vidal-Quadras presented an undeniable verdict on four decades of European diplomacy, stating that decades of “constructive dialogue” and carrot-and-stick approaches have fundamentally failed. Instead of moderating, the regime has intensified state terror—evidenced by 853 executions since the start of the year and 33 political prisoners executed since March 19, including members of the MEK.
He concluded by arguing that the only viable path forward is to abandon appeasement and officially recognize the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Highlighting Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan as a roadmap for a secular, democratic, and non-nuclear republic, Dr. Vidal-Quadras called on Europe to stand with the Iranian people and the brave Resistance Units fighting for true liberation.
The full text of Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras‘ speech follows:
.@VidalQuadras: I say to the #French government and other Western governments that if you engage, make deals, cooperate, or sit at the same table with evil, you become part of evil. #NCRIAlternativehttps://t.co/EgNOPquEDA
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 20, 2026
Dear Mrs. President, dear Maryam Rajavi.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends.
First of all, I want to say, do not change this photograph of me. Because I look much younger and much more handsome than I am, so [please keep] this photograph, okay?
Well, it is a great joy for me, a great pleasure to share with all of you, once more, a summit of the Iranian Resistance. I could not remember how many of these summits I have attended in the last years. And, of course, [this one we are at now] is wonderful, and it’s full of enthusiasm and a wonderful atmosphere, but we have a certain disappointment. Because our big rally that had to take place in Paris has been banned by the French government.
And this is really disappointing. But do not be too sad about it. Because as I said once to the Iranian regime leaders—because they watch this, so they are watching it now, live, so we can talk to them. And as I said once to them, I repeat it today:
Listen, Supreme Leader, and all the rest of the criminals. Listen.
Today, you have maneuvered to stop our rally. But you must know that every slander you say about us, every attack you [make on] us, every bullet you shoot at us, every innocent that is hanged in your sinister prisons, makes us stronger!
So, go on! Because your days are finished!
Robert Torricelli was thanking you, Mrs. President, [for] your tremendous contribution to your country. And he was absolutely right, because what you have done will never be fully compensated.
But I want to thank you on a personal ground. Robert Torricelli did it politically, let’s say, and I want to thank you on a personal ground. I don’t know if you remember the first time we met. Well, probably you do not; it would be presumptuous on my part to think [so], but I remember very well. I remember very well. It was 25 years ago. 25 years ago. Here, in this compound in Auvers-sur-Oise.
And we talked; we talked for quite a while. I was Vice President of the European Parliament at that time. And you did not notice, but that day, you recruited me. And since that day, I have worked with you and with the Resistance for our noble and shared cause.
And let me tell you, and that’s why I thank you, that besides my family, and besides my own country, Spain, the most rewarding, and satisfactory [thing], and [what] I am most proud of in my political and personal life, has been to work and to be part of the Iranian Resistance.
The former Foreign Minister of Canada has said something that I consider crucial, essential. You have said the Iranian regime is evil. Evil as was the Nazi regime, as was Stalinism. This is not a question of political difference, no. It’s a deep, moral issue. It’s evil. And I was extremely pleased to hear you say it so clearly and so bravely.
Yes, this regime is evil. And I want to say to the French government today, and to other Western governments, that if you engage with evil, if you make deals with evil, if you cooperate with evil, if you sit at the same table with evil, you become part of evil.
And let me convey to you a message that I’ve been repeating for years, and also many of you have also repeated for years. For more than four decades, Europe has pursued one policy after another toward the Iranian regime. The name has been changing: critical dialogue, constructive dialogue, constructive engagement, carrot-and-stick approach. But all these names meant exactly the same thing. The underlying assumption never changed: the idea was that the regime could be persuaded to moderate its behavior through dialogue, concessions, and economic incentives.
El Gobierno francés ha prohibido en el último momento la manifestación en Paris en la que decenas de miles de iranís iban a protestar por las ejecuciones de prisioneros políticos. Los gobiernos occidentales son cómplices de la dictadura criminal de los ayatolás. Su cobardía da…
— Alejo Vidal-Quadras (@VidalQuadras) June 20, 2026
For 45 years, we have persisted in this policy. And after 45 years, the verdict is unmistakable: that policy has failed. And not only failed, it has been counterproductive. And most of all, it has failed the Iranian people, who [have] always been its first victim.
While Europe searched for non-existent moderates, the regime intensified repression. Since the beginning of this year alone, 853 people have been executed. Since March 19, 33 political prisoners have been executed, including eight members of the MEK. While more political prisoners, including 12 charged with membership in the MEK, remain on death row. This is not moderation. It is pure and hard state terror.
Nor has appeasement brought peace to the Middle East. The people of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen have paid the price for Tehran’s interference and its network of proxy militias. Even after two devastating wars, the regime has not abandoned its support for proxies. Its nuclear ambitions remain unresolved.
A dictatorship whose survival depends on repression at home and aggression abroad cannot be transformed by diplomatic formulas. The very nature of this regime does not allow any internal opening or flexibility.
For years, many of us warned that appeasement would not moderate the regime. It would embolden it. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened. So, the question today is not whether the old policy failed; this failure is undeniable. The question is: what should replace it?
The answer is neither endless negotiations nor military intervention. The answer lies with the Iranian people and their organized resistance. Europe should recognize that there is a democratic alternative: the National Council of Resistance of Iran, under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi.
Her Ten-Point Plan offers a clear roadmap for a democratic republic based on free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, judicial independence—by the way, I would like to have judicial independence in Spain as well—the abolition of the death penalty, respect for minorities, and a non-nuclear Iran living in peace with its neighbors.
These are not merely European values. These are universal democratic values. Europe must also recognize the right of the Iranian people to resist tyranny and determine their own future. It should acknowledge the heroism of the Resistance Units, who are putting their lives on the line every day by targeting the Revolutionary Guards and other repressive agencies.
The French Government has forbidden in the last minute the rally in Paris of tens of thousands of Iranians in protest for the executions of political prisoners. The Western democracies are accomplices of the criminal regime of the ayatollahs. Their cowardice is repulsive.
— Alejo Vidal-Quadras (@VidalQuadras) June 20, 2026
Our responsibility is not to choose Iran’s next government. But we must recognize the organization that has led the resistance for more than half a century and paid the price. We all know what is the price to be paid fighting this regime. And Mrs. President, we are ready to pay the price.
A strategy that ignores the best instrument to achieve its goal does not seem very intelligent. We must also hold the regime accountable for its crimes, demanding an immediate halt to executions, maintaining pressure on the Revolutionary Guards, and engaging politically with the democratic alternative. The Iranian people do not ask Europe to liberate Iran for them. They only ask that Europe stop placing obstacles in the path of those who are fighting for freedom.
So, let me say, to finish my intervention, let me say it once again. Perhaps one of these times they will listen; one never knows. After 45 years, one lesson is beyond dispute: appeasement has failed. The time has come to stand with the Iranian people, their organized resistance, and their aspiration for a free, democratic, and non-nuclear republic.
And as Abraham Lincoln said: “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
Thank you.