On December 16, an international convention was held in Paris, gathering leaders from all over the #world to discuss the best policy for dealing with the Iranian regime. There is a hope that these conferences will help the International Community to build a consensus regarding the policy going forward into 2018.
The speakers included senior political figures, former military commanders, and experts from the U.S., middle east, Europe and representatives of the Iranian opposition. This represented a diverse range of the political spectrum, allowing for multiple viewpoints, as well as a variety of factors to be considered.
Leaders speak for change in Iran
The speakers included General James Conway, former Commandant of the U.S. Marines; John Baird, former Foreign Minister of Canada, Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Gilbert Mitterrand, President of France Libertés; Michele de Vaucouleurs, member of the French National Assembly and President of the Parliamentary Committee for Democratic Iran; Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, former German Minister of Justice; Rama Yade, former French Minister for Human Rights.
Iran act in the region
A number of speakers elaborated that #Tehran’s belligerence in the region is not a sign of its strength, but its weakness in the face of acute crises in various areas, in particular, social and economic problems at home.
The speakers called on the international community in general and the EU, in particular, to adopt a principled and firm policy vis-à-vis Tehran and to side with the Iranian people’s desire to have democracy and a respect of human rights. Many called on the EU to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on its list of terrorist organisations.
Speakers call on governments
More than a dozen dignitaries from the US, France, Canada, EU and the Middle East who addressed the conference, condemned Tehran’s gross Human Rights Violations, nefarious conduct in the region, including sponsoring terrorist and extremist groups, and its continuing ballistic missile program.
The speakers pointed out that Tehran’s policy and conduct have not changed subsequent to the nuclear agreement, and that Tehran has been emboldened in pursuing its destructive policies.
Many of them called on their own governments to change their policies regarding how they deal with the regime, making relations conditional on addressing human rights violations and a moratorium on executions.
“We call on the French government to condemn the appalling violations of human rights in Iran. We recently hosted in our town hall an exhibition on the 1988 massacre in Iran. We are committed to this cause until freedom is restored to the people of Iran,” said Jean-Francois Legaret, Mayor of Paris’ 1st District.
In the end, the biggest victims of the Iranian regime are the Iranian people, who want and are going to continue to call for a change in the regime to address the social and economic damage caused throughout the country by the mullahs and their military arm, the IRGC.