A majority of the Northern Ireland Assembly has joined the international campaign supporting Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for a democratic Iran, while calling for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be designated a terrorist organization and the PMOI-led Resistance Units in Iran to be recognized for their legitimate struggle against repression.
The cross-party statement was signed by key political and legislative figures, including:
- Steve Aiken and John Blair, Deputy Speakers of the Assembly
- Andrew Muir, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
- Mike Nesbitt, Minister of Health
- Naomi Long, Minister of Justice and Leader of the Alliance Party
- Alan Chambers, Chair of the Audit Committee
- Daniel McCrossan, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee
- Matthew O’Toole, Leader of the Opposition and Chair of the Finance Committee
- Nick Mathison, Chair of the Education Committee
- Tom Elliott, Chair of the Agriculture Committee
- Joanne Bunting, Chair of the Justice Committee
- Kellie Armstrong, Chair of the Procedures Committee
The signatories emphasized that Iran’s human rights crisis is a matter of grave concern, citing more than 1,000 executions in 2024 alone. They expressed support for the Iranian democratic opposition’s platform, which calls for “No to mandatory hijab, no to compulsory religion, no to imposed rule,” as well as its broader “No to executions” campaign.
Northern Ireland Parliament Majority Stands in Solidarity with Iranian Uprising Against Tyrannyhttps://t.co/zXHDoHgOue
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 19, 2023
The statement also referenced the 2022 uprising, in which the Iranian people resoundingly rejected all forms of dictatorship—monarchic and theocratic alike—and demanded a democratic republic.
Backing the Iranian Resistance’s vision for a secular, democratic, and pluralistic future, the Northern Irish lawmakers declared: “Standing with the people of Iran in their desire for regime change is both sound policy and a moral imperative.”
They called on governments and institutions to place the Iranian Resistance and its organized network of Resistance Units at the center of principled Iran policy, especially in confronting the IRGC. “The IRGC must be declared a terrorist organization,” the statement says. “The role of the PMOI’s Resistance Units in the nationwide struggle against the IRGC must be acknowledged and supported.”
The endorsement places the Northern Ireland Assembly among a growing number of parliaments and political bodies across Europe and beyond that have formally backed Maryam Rajavi’s democratic platform and condemned the regime’s use of repression, execution, and ideological control to maintain its grip on power.