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On the anniversary of Iran\u2019s 1979 anti-monarchial revolution, three parliamentary groups from the United Kingdom, Italy, and France, issued separate statements, paying tribute to this revolution, sadly hijacked by the ruling clerics. They also supported the democratic revolution in the making in Iran, which rejects any form of dictatorship while referring to the popular slogan of \u201cdown with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Mullahs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday’s nationwide protests against the regime with popular chants of \u2018Down with the dictator\u2019 and \u2018Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader\u2019 are the continuation of that popular dissent and the culmination of sacrifices made by the people of Iran and their popular resistance movement to end the religious dictatorship for a free, democratic and secular republic,\u201d read the statement by the British Committee for a Free Iran (BCFIF), on February 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe reject any form of dictatorship: be it that of the mullahs who give themselves \u2018divine\u2019 legitimacy to violently repress the people; or the old monarchical dictatorship, which gave itself legitimacy through a bond of blood and kinship to also repress the population. Therefore this slogan that reaches us from the streets of Iran, \u201cdown with the oppressor, be it Shah or Mullah,\u2019 is also our motto,\u201d read the statement by the French Committee for a Democratic Iran (CPID), on February 9.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran has been the scene of anti-government protests for five months. The uprising then spread throughout the country and in more than 280 cities. Iranians of all walks of life, especially women and young people, risking their lives, took to the streets demanding the end of the religious dictatorship and the establishment of a democratic republic based on the separation of religion from the state, equal rights for men and women, a non-nuclear Iran without the death penalty,\u201d wrote the Italian Parliamentary Group for a Free Iran (CIL), on February 9.<\/p>\n
Below is the full text of the BCFIF statement<\/a>, as well as the original PDF files of the CPID and CIL statements<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Saturday, 11 February, marks the anniversary of the anti-monarchy revolution in Iran in 1979. What millions of Iranians had hoped would be the beginning of a democratic change and progress in their country soon became a nightmare as the mullahs stole the popular democratic revolution by usurping power and imposing a religious dictatorship on the people.<\/p>\n Ever since, the people of Iran led by courageous women have expressed their opposition to and challenged the religious dictatorship with protests and brave acts of defiance, paying the highest price to realise their democratic aspirations.<\/p>\n Out of this popular dissent grew an organised resistance for a free and democratic Iran embodied in and led by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its president-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi<\/a>.<\/p>\n Today’s nationwide protests against the regime with popular chants of “Down with dictator” and “Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader” are the continuation of that popular dissent and the culmination of sacrifices made by the people of Iran and their popular resistance movement to end the religious dictatorship for a free, democratic and secular republic.<\/p>\n The ongoing popular uprising in face of regime’s violent repression and deadly crackdown shows that the people of Iran are determined to take back their country and realise the democratic revolution the mullahs stole 44 years ago.<\/p>\n The international community, Western democracies in particular, must stand with the Iranian people and their organised resistance movement as they write a new chapter of Iran’s history.<\/p>\n The UK, her allies and international partners can and ought to do this by recognising the Iranian people’s right to determine their own future and their right to self-defence in face of the regime’s violent repression.<\/p>\n Moreover, the UK and the international community should recognise that the Iranian people have a viable democratic alternative to end the religious dictatorship in Iran represented by the NCRI and NCRI president-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s 10-point<\/a> democratic platform for future Iran.<\/p>\n On the anniversary of the last revolution in Iran, the UK government should publicly and officially support this Iranian solution for a free, democratic, and secular Iran as, today, the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people converge with the security and economic interests of the UK.<\/p>\n Bob Blackman MP<\/p>\n Co-President of the International Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran (ICPDI)<\/p>\n Prominent member of the British Committee for Iran Freedom 11 February 2023<\/p>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t