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Iran: U.S. lawmakers underline need for democratic change in Iran

Panel of speakers at the congressional briefing on Iran - Oct 20Maryam Rajavi: There should be a firm policy on Iran to include referral of the regime’s nuclear and terrorism files to the UN Security Council; stop mullahs’ meddling in Iraq and remove the PMOI from the terror list

NCRI, October 22  – In a briefing on the Capitol Hill initiated by a group of  U.S. Congress members from both Democratic and Republican parties on October 20 entitled “Growing Strategic Threat from Iran, Support for Democratic Change,” speakers called on the Bush administration to support democratic change in Iran and remove the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), the main Iranian opposition movement, from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Panel of speakers at the congressional briefing on Iran - Oct 20Maryam Rajavi: There should be a firm policy on Iran to include referral of the regime’s nuclear and terrorism files to the UN Security Council; stop mullahs’ meddling in Iraq and remove the PMOI from the terror list

NCRI, October 22  – In a briefing on the Capitol Hill initiated by a group of  U.S. Congress members from both Democratic and Republican parties on October 20 entitled “Growing Strategic Threat from Iran, Support for Democratic Change,” speakers called on the Bush administration to support democratic change in Iran and remove the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), the main Iranian opposition movement, from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

In their joint statement, the group said, “Iran’s ongoing efforts to secure nuclear-weapons capability present a unique and troublesome challenge to the civilized world.” The group included Republican Representatives, John Boozman of Arkansas, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Tom Tancredo of Colorado; and Democratic Representatives William Lacy Clay of Missouri, Bob Filner of California and Ed Towns of New York.

The briefing was chaired by Congressman Lacy Clay and among speakers were members of Congress, experts on Iran and women activists. They condemned human rights violations in Iran and mullahs’ sponsorship of terrorism.

In his address, Senator Jim Talent, a prominent Republican from Missouri, said: “In Iran today, we have a regime that threatens the United States and threatens the interests of world peace and freedom in a number of ways.” He then added: “It is a regime that supports terror throughout the Middle East and around the world. It is a regime that is actively seeking a nuclear weapon and it is a regime that is oppressing its own people.” Talent underscored the importance of the U.S. support to Iranian people as they seek freedom and democracy.

The Arkansas Republican member of the Congress, John Boozman, who sits on the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives, noted that he and 323 of his congressional colleagues had co-sponsored the Iran Freedom and Support Act.

“I am concerned that under the new President, the country’s nuclear program is under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” Boozman said. “Iran has a terrible human rights record. A recent report said their human rights record is even worse than it was before.”

The President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, addressed the meeting via a live satellite link-up from her residence in Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris, outlining components of a firm policy vis-à-vis the regime in Iran which should include: “Referral of Iran’s nuclear program to the Security Council; putting an end to Tehran’s meddling in Iraq; and removing the MeK from the list of terrorist groups.” (Full text of Mrs. Rajavi’s speech will appear on this site)

Congressman Clay expressed concern over Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism which posed a serious challenge to the international community, particularly as it was targeting Iraq and said: “We have reached the point where the fate of Iraq has become inextricably linked with the future of Iran and democracy in that country.”

While praising Mrs. Rajavi’s role in leading the Resistance to the clerical regime, Rep. Lee of Texas said: “We in the U.S. Congress have widely differing and sometimes contradictory views on many things, but we all agree on the need to support the Iranian Resistance.”

Raymond Tanter, a former National Security Council staff member who co-chairs the Washington-based Iran Policy Committee, noted that an IPC study showed that state-controlled media in Iran devoted by far more attention to the PMOI than any other opposition group. He said it was necessary to remove the PMOI from the list of terrorist groups, if the U.S. wanted to adopt a firm, forward-leaning policy on Iran.

Professor Donna Hughes, an authority on women’s studies, said the Iranian regime’s misogynous policies have spread to other countries in the region. Another academic, Carol Fontaine, praised the role that women played in the Iranian Resistance against the mullahs’ regime.