![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/02\/billrichardson.jpg\" "\\"billrichardson\\"")
NCRI – On Saturday, February 11, coinciding with the 33rd anniversary of the anti-Monarchial Revolution in Iran, in a great gathering in Paris, thousands of Iranians, while being supported by a number of prominent European and American dignitaries, reminded that a major development is on the way in Iran and a democratic change, as a solution to avoid an unprecedented regional and international crisis, is at hand.<\/p>\n
Bill RICHARDSON,<\/strong> former Ambassador to the United Nations and Governor of New Mexico (2003-2011):\u00a0 Thank you very much.\u00a0 Enchante d\u2019etre ci avec vous.\u00a0 I want to thank Mrs. Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance movement, this is a distinguished panel.\u00a0 American, European, African, military, diplomatic, politicians.\u00a0 The politicians are the best ones (you\u2019ll).\u00a0 [laughter] Foreign minister, and the great government of Norway, the chairman of our panel today.\u00a0 But I also want to pay tribute and thank you, those of you in the audience that are here, that have your blood, your families, your sweat, your heart, your soul in this issue.\u00a0 And I see you here smiling, cheering, sometimes sleeping.\u00a0 [laughter] But I want to thank you for being here and being part of this great movement.\u00a0 [applause] We each have ten minutes, but nobody ever follows it.\u00a0 I will try to do that.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here, I\u2019m an American and I like to make lists.\u00a0 You know, we like to do that.\u00a0 It\u2019s an annoying habit, but I made lists of five things that I would hope after this meeting we\u2019re all united.\u00a0 And I think we are, obviously, because we\u2019re like-minded, we care about what\u2019s happening in our countries and the international community.\u00a0 But I think if there\u2019s one objective that we all want here is the need for democracy in Iran, one.\u00a0 Two, we need to protect the residents and the human beings who have suffered enough at Camp Ashraf.\u00a0 Protect them from attacks, protect them to make sure they keep their human rights, if they move to Camp Liberty that this be an adequate facility, that it be a protected facility.\u00a0 There are so many guarantees that are needed.\u00a0 Number three, for that to happen, and for this movement to be strengthened, my hope is that the United States government delists the MEK.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s critically important.\u00a0 [applause]<\/p>\n And several speakers mentioned this, because there\u2019s an Arab Spring that started in Tunisia with a young fruit vendor burning himself.\u00a0 And what he did caught the imagination of freedom-loving people everywhere, especially in the Middle East, in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Yemen, and in Syria, I Syria today.\u00a0 We\u2019re having to stand today, we have to, with the people of Syria because their government is repressing them, like they do in Iran.\u00a0 Because in the United Nations last week, a resolution to put sanctions and condemn Syria was vetoed by Russia and China.\u00a0 And so what has to happen is an international coalition, a coalition of the willing led by the United States and the European Union, but also by people, by social media, by the Internet, by the young, by women, by those freedom loving people like you in the Middle East, in Europe, and around the world.\u00a0 So it\u2019s that more urgent that we stand behind a nation that right now their own people are being killed by their government.\u00a0 Not just repressed, killed.\u00a0 And I think those of you from Iran can sense that\u2019s what\u2019s happening too in your country.<\/p>\n My last point is that we take advantage of this period.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very important period, these next three months or six months or until the end of the year, because it\u2019s a year full of interesting conditions, political movements, elections, temperatures in various countries, and I think it provides us with some unique opportunities for this issue to move forward.\u00a0 So that when we have another conference like this, we know that the people of Ashraf are safe and protected.\u00a0 [applause] So first, again, that we make every effort through the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, NGOs, to make sure these human beings that have already been hurt in some massacre at Camp Ashraf, whether they move or not, to Camp Liberty that they be protected and just afforded the same human rights as anybody.<\/p>\n What is the other situation that affects what\u2019s happening now?\u00a0 And that is in my country we\u2019re about to have a presidential election, in case you haven\u2019t heard.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a presidential election that decides what foreign policy is going to be made.\u00a0 And this is an issue that is growing in the American peoples\u2019 view and I believe the American people are very much with the Iranian resistance.\u00a0 They\u2019re with you.\u00a0 But that has to translate into political action.\u00a0 [applause]<\/p>\n Number three, what is another factor today?\u00a0 And that is the internal politics and foreign policy of Iraq.\u00a0 The United States has withdrawn its troops.\u00a0 Iraq is developing a new government, a coalition government.\u00a0 Many thinking that it\u2019s not heading in the right direction.\u00a0 The government of Iraq has not been friendly to the issue of Camp Ashraf, but it is hopefully a democracy that will listen to its friends and the European Union and the United States and individuals like you.\u00a0 But that is a very volatile situation, what is happening in Iraq.<\/p>\n Number four, at this very moment the United States is considering whether to delist the MEK.\u00a0 In other words, the meetings are taking place; should it happen, should it not happen?\u00a0 There are many more experts on this issue, military, national security that can say more about this.\u00a0 It seems to me it\u2019s clear they should be delisted.\u00a0 It seems to me that courts and international public opinion and the European Union and many others around the world feel that what we need now is to strengthen the Iranian resistance, to strengthen the ability of those that want democracy and speak for democracy to be moving forward.<\/p>\n I mention the situation in Syria.\u00a0 What does this have to do with Iran?\u00a0 Well, it has to do a lot with Iran.\u00a0 Syria is a client state of Iran.\u00a0 Syria is supported by the government of Iran.\u00a0 Hamas, Hezbollah with weapons, with international funding, with support, and the client state of Iran, Syria, is in trouble.\u00a0 Maybe Assad will hang on a little longer.\u00a0 But eventually the tyrants in history go down.\u00a0 And I think it\u2019s just a\u00a0 matter of time.\u00a0 And so this is why I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s been a very good year, last year and this year, for Iran.\u00a0 Look what\u2019s happened in Syria.<\/p>\n Lastly, I will go to international, European and U.S. policy towards Iran.\u00a0 Now, I know that talks with Iran have failed.\u00a0 The international community wanted them to stop their nuclear weapons, as they should.\u00a0 But Iran refused.\u00a0 The talks in Turkey, they laughed at the international community.\u00a0 They led the international community on.\u00a0 \u201cOh yeah, we\u2019ll have a dialogue.\u201d\u00a0 Not a thing, nothing.\u00a0 So they continue with their nuclear ambitions, which are unacceptable to the international community, which should be.\u00a0 But what has changed in the last year is sanctions because more countries are involved, are starting to work.\u00a0 Not perfectly, but they\u2019re working.\u00a0 They\u2019re including oil embargos by some countries.\u00a0 They\u2019re including banking sanctions.\u00a0 They\u2019re including the Iran central bank.\u00a0 They\u2019re including ways that money is transferred, to the point where Iran made a very irresponsible threat that they were going to block the Straits of Hormuz for oil shipments to come in.\u00a0 And thankfully the international community and the United States has contingency plans, and Saudi Arabia stepped in and said, we\u2019re not going to let this action of Iran jeopardize oil shipment.<\/p>\n It is still a very dangerous situation.\u00a0 But Iran is taking those very irresponsible steps because it\u2019s being bit, and things are different.\u00a0 Not perfect for you or for me, but they\u2019re starting to feel these.\u00a0 They\u2019re starting to feel the international pressure.\u00a0 They\u2019re starting to feel their client states in Syria get squeezed.\u00a0 So, it\u2019s a little bit of a different situation, and this is the time to put the pressure on.\u00a0 This is the time to make some tough decisions.\u00a0 This is the time to protect human beings at Camp Ashraf.\u00a0 This is the time to have this coalition of the European Union and the United States and individuals like you.\u00a0 Ensure that the resistance, that the group that is assembled here by Mrs. Rajavi stays strong, remains strong, uses social media, uses young people, uses women, uses the message that is being sent by this conference.<\/p>\n And so I am here once again with you.\u00a0 And I love to have these conferences in Paris.\u00a0 I love these conferences internationally that bring so many people together.\u00a0 And I want to thank those that have been on this issue long before I have.\u00a0 The Europeans, the Africans, the Middle Easterners, the Norwegians.\u00a0 I see a very good friend in America, what you see here is Republicans and Democrats.\u00a0 A little few more Republicans, but that\u2019s okay.\u00a0 My friend Spencer Abraham who was secretary of energy after I was.\u00a0 And he was a very positive bipartisan secretary.\u00a0 My friend, Governor Ed Rendell, he\u2019s in my party.\u00a0 And we used to\u2014we\u2019ve worked together for many years, and I\u2019m delighted he\u2019s taken an interest in this international issue.\u00a0 Anyway, I\u2019ve said enough.\u00a0 I appreciate you.\u00a0 I want you to know that I am on minute number ten, and I will give you now the best part of my speech.\u00a0 Le fini.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 [applause]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NCRI – On Saturday, February 11, coinciding with the 33rd anniversary of the anti-Monarchial Revolution in Iran, in a great gathering in Paris, thousands of Iranians, while being supported by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-11700","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