![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/02\/alejovidalquadras.jpg\" "\\"alejovidalquadras\\"")
NCRI – A European-American Conference was convened on invitation of the Friends of Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament on February 7, in relation to the current political situation in Iran and the region, and the necessity of protecting Ashraf residents, members of the Iranian opposition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alejo VIDAL-QUADRAS, Vice-President of the European Parliament<\/strong>: Thank you, thank you very much Jim.\u00a0 Mrs. President, dear friends, it is a great pleasure to welcome you again in our house, Mrs. Rajavi.\u00a0 And as Jim as just said, it\u2019s also a great pleasure to warmly welcome our American guests, Governor Howard Dean, Senator Torricelli, and Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and of course our good friend John Bruton, Prime Minister of Ireland.<\/p>\n Last week, the so-called Supreme Leader of Iran said that his regime would continue with its nuclear weapons project, intensify its presence and influence in Iraq and work for the rule of Islamic parties in the region.\u00a0 He also emphasized it\u2019s not the first time they said that Israel should be destroyed.\u00a0 He also instructed his internal political opponents not to protest if they are not elected in March elections and not to, and I quote, \u201cHelp the enemy but to submit to and obey the will of the Guardian\u2019s Council.\u201d\u00a0 So we can imagine what kind of elections can be held in a dictatorship of this sort.\u00a0 (Many speech) and the developments of the past months clearly prove or demonstrate four realities.\u00a0 First, the Iranian regime has no intention to abide by international laws and will not give up its oppression, terrorism and nuclear program.\u00a0 The second reality is that the regime relies mainly on our weak policies, on the weak policies of the West.\u00a0 It sees the European sanctions as indeed painful but they are convinced they will unite the country more strongly.\u00a0 Third, the only solution to get rid of the nightmare of this fundamentalist totalitarianism that soon could be armed with nuclear weapons, the only solution to get rid of it is to bring democratic change to Iran.\u00a0 And fourth, this regime is paradoxically weak, vulnerable, and plagued by internal and external crisis.\u00a0 A change of regime is needed if the West were to deprive the regime of its assistance, and it would instead to lend its support clearly to the democratic opposition this change could be possible.<\/p>\n These four realities or these four principles must be our guide in our relations with Iran.\u00a0 But regrettably, our governments overlook them for economic interest, short term policy considerations or some other reasons that sometimes are not transparent.\u00a0 Therefore, they have consistently failed in the policies towards Iran.\u00a0 The West\u2019s weak policy towards Ashraf also emanates from this same problem.\u00a0 Ashraf residents are a tool to achieve a democratic Iran in a region free from insecurity, unrest, and fundamentalism.\u00a0 Therefore, protection of Ashraf residents is not just a humanitarian cause which it is indeed, but a key issue to peace in the Middle East and throughout the world.<\/p>\n We have discussed widely on these matters with the special representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Iraq, also with the special envoys of Secretary of State Clinton and her representative for Foreign Policy and Security Policy of the European Union over the past few days.\u00a0 Let me mention some of the points we have dealt with these representatives.<\/p>\n As Ashraf residents and President Rajavi have declared countless times, we want a peaceful solution that protects both the lives, the human rights, and the dignity of the residents.\u00a0 They are brave people; they are committed people and we all know they will never relinquish their ideals to save their lives.\u00a0 The issue of Camp Liberty turning into a prison or not should be given special attention by the United Nations representative in Iraq.\u00a0 The minimum guarantees that the residents are asking for should be provided and I underline that these requests are really minimum.\u00a0 If residents were to be deprived of their assets and vehicles, denied adequate space and freedom of movement and be under constant surveillance by police, Camp Liberty would not be a transition resettlement installation, it would be a prison.\u00a0 And in this case, I fully agree, we must all fully agree with the residents that they should not accept a transfer because if they accept to be transferred to a prison they are in risk to lose not only their lives but their human dignity.\u00a0 We encourage the Secretary General Special Representative in Iraq not to agree to such conditions and instead ask the government of Iraq to facilitate the transfer from Ashraf to Camp Liberty in a way that respects the standards applicable to the refugees.\u00a0 These minimums are achievable if there is sufficient political will to claim them.<\/p>\n The most important issue is the resettlement of Ashraf residents in European or in general Western countries.\u00a0 We are working on this.\u00a0 We are working actively on this.\u00a0 We have organized in the European Parliament a task force and a committee with several member states for the issue settlement.\u00a0 I am following this issue in my own country and many of my colleagues are urging the governments to accept the residents especially and initially to most critically ill and wounded.\u00a0 But the above-mentioned issues and concerns we have about Camp Liberty need to be solved as soon as possible.<\/p>\n Finally, I want to have a very special thought for Ashraf residents to address them directly.\u00a0 Dear friends in Ashraf, you have provided us with one of the greatest examples of resistance in modern history, 33 years of struggle against cruel dictatorship intensifying these last nine years.\u00a0 Whenever the solution comes, whenever the democratic change comes to Iraq, you will know that you have been the driving force for the uprising in Iran and symbols of resistance and dignity in the region and the world over.\u00a0 Mrs. President, I congratulate you sincerely for your leadership and I (bring) today to you that you can count on us to find for our friends in Ashraf a peaceful, dignified solution and we are really expecting to have all of them among us very soon.\u00a0 Thank you \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NCRI – A European-American Conference was convened on invitation of the Friends of Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament on February 7, in relation to the current political situation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-11683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ashraf-liberty","8":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/02\/Brussels-conf-2.jpg\" "\\"Brussels-conf-2\\"")
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n