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Brussels MP Aït-Baala: Iranian People Reject Dictatorship and Aspire for Democracy 

Latifa Ait Baala 1 1

“The Iranian people today reject this dictatorship and obviously and legitimately aspire to a republic, a democratic republic, a secular republic,” said Mrs. Latifa Aït-Baala, a member of the Brussels Parliament, addressing a grand rally on March 20 in Brussels in solidarity with the Iranian people’s uprising. Aït-Baala also stressed the need for the European Union to blacklist the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).  

 

Below is the translation of Mrs. Aït-Baala’s speech, revised and edited for clarity.  

 

Dear friends gathered here today in this symbolic place, which bears the name of a former Belgian European commissioner who is also a liberal. I am moved.  

So we know that today, unfortunately, this freedom that brings us all together is confiscated for the people of Iran, for these people that you are here today, in particular, confiscated by the mullahs’ regime. We have come together to claim this freedom. This is also the meaning of my commitment to your side. For several years, and no later than March 4, I had the immense good fortune to meet women and men particularly mobilized on the occasion of the International Day for Women’s Rights. On this occasion, I was very happy to be able to meet and speak with Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, who is an important source [of inspiration].  

Maryam Rajavi has been a tireless leader of the main opposition movement against the mullahs for at least four decades. And we know how difficult it is for women to be political leaders, especially in countries where, unfortunately, political Islamism has obviously taken over. And I must admit that the courage of Mrs. Rajavi, and her determination, is also today a force of inspiration for the protest movement in Iran, behind which many women rally today. And today, we see these women who basically are the leaders of the resistance unit of the country. And, of course, you have to greet them, encourage them, and applaud them.  

Latifa Aït Baala, Member of the Brussels Parliament- March 20, 2023

While today the Iranian people around the world show us how much, after this uprising, they are determined to continue to lead the fight. And unfortunately, after the sad death of Mahsa Amini, these people today aspire to a radical change of regime after the dictatorship of the Shah, which they rejected and which opened the doors to the mullahs’ regime. 

The Iranian people today reject this dictatorship and obviously and legitimately aspire to a republic, a democratic republic, a secular republic. And this is indeed the raison d’être, especially today, of this regime, which unfortunately does not protect its population, its people. This regime continues to be a threat not only to the population but it is also a threat to security, both national and European and, I would say, even global. This regime of the mullahs constitutes a threat to security, whether for its people but also, and unfortunately, it must be said, this regime today also resorts to policies that must be denounced throughout the world, in particular, because there are abuses committed against the people, but also because this regime also participates in hostage-taking. Unfortunately, a regime has practiced terrorism by instrumentalizing the country’s diplomacy. But fortunately, there is awareness. 

Fortunately, there is a whole series of measures that, in any case, are called upon. I hope so, in my hope to be taken into consideration both by the United Nations, but also by the European Union, and its Member States to put the Islamic Revolutionary Guards on the European list of terrorist organizations, as it was recently requested in resolutions by the European Parliament, but also in the Belgian Parliament because too many resolutions have been adopted. I believe that now we have to take action.  I would say that this Iranian New Year sees the Iranian spring in the wake of freedom and democracy in Iran. 

Thank you, and well done.