Ahmadinejad UN Speech: Head of Iranian Opposition Group Speaks to Iranian Dissidents

Thousands of supporters of Iran’s principal opposition group People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally today in front of the UN Headquarters to demand the expulsion of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the UN and voice support for the Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi’s call for a democratic, secular and non-nuclear republic in Iran.

The rally, organized by the pro-democracy Iranian-American communities across the United States, called on the U.S. President Barack Obama and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to ensure the safety and security of 3,400 MEK members in Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, by declaring Camp Liberty a refugee camp.

Addressing the rally via a live satellite link from Paris, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said Secretary Clinton’s decision to de-list the MEK was “a correct decision which sets aside a serious obstacle on the path of the Iranian people and Resistance to achieve democracy in Iran. This decision was long overdue. Nevertheless, we welcome this decision and we hope it would lead to a new policy on Iran.”

Excerpts from Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s speech

New York Rally - September 26, 2012

Congratulations to you a thousand times over for the great victory of the Iranian Resistance, namely the revocation of the unjust terrorist designation of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

You won and the mullahs and their advocates lost.

In a courageous act, Secretary of State Clinton has informed the US Congress of her decision to de-list the MEK.

This is a correct decision which sets aside a serious obstacle on the path of the Iranian people and Resistance to achieve democracy in Iran.

This decision was long overdue. Nevertheless, we welcome this decision and we hope it would lead to a new policy on Iran.

We set our sights to the future, to an Iran which is free and devoid of suppression.

The time has come for the world to witness the true image of the Iranian Resistance for freedom by setting aside the false allegations.

The mullahs and their lobby in the United States spared no effort to try to maintain this unjust label.

In order to continue their survival, the mullahs embarked on the greatest campaign of demonization against the Iranian Resistance.

They are accusing you with all kinds of allegations that include being a cult because you persevered and refused to kowtow to the religious fascism. WHAT A CULT!

They disparage the combatants of freedom for their sacrifices on the path of the Iranian people’s freedom. This is merely a shameful invitation to surrender to the mullahs.

But surrender has no place in the traditions and history of the Mojahedin, Iranian Resistance, the Iranian people and you.

We will not rest until regime change and the establishment of democracy in Iran. Never, never, never!

I extend my deepest gratitude to the distinguished political personalities and members of the Senate and House for forming the largest bipartisan coalition of the US history in support of the PMOI, removing the terrorist label, a firm policy on Iran and defending the rights of residents of Ashraf and Liberty. I also thank the PMOI legal team for their excellent work.

Against all odds and barrage of false allegations by lobby of the Iranian regime they stood firm in their conviction for justice, for freedom and their own values.

The current situation and the removal of the terror label is the result of the Iranian Resistance’s perseverance in defending the ideal of freedom, as well as the result of your unrelenting efforts, my fellow compatriots, and it is also the result of determination on the part of residents in Ashraf and Liberty.

So, I call on all of you to embark on a campaign hundred times greater for democracy in our beloved homeland Iran.

And I call on the younger generation, women, and my daughters and sons inside Iran to make every effort to realize aspirations of the people of Iran.

Today, there are two options: prolonging the mullahs’ regime or regime change.

On the one hand, you have the mullahs’ regime, suppression, repression, execution and torture in Iran; export of terrorism and fundamentalism, meddling in Iraq, active support for Assad’s dictatorship and pursuit of nuclear weapons and threatening global peace and security.

On the other side you have the Iranian Resistance with a clear demand: The overthrow of the clerical regime, and the establishment of a republic based on the separation of church and state.

We seek a free Iran, free elections, plurality, respect for human rights, rejection of ethnic and religious discrimination, gender equality, economic development, construction and friendship, and respect for international laws and conventions.

We seek a nuclear-free Iran, which would promote peace and security.

We are fighting for popular rule and people's sovereignty. In the free Iran of tomorrow, we do not recognize any other yardstick and announce in advance that we will abide by the people’s vote. This is the Iran that we are seeking.

We ask all governments, especially members of the Security Council, to compel the Iraqi government to respect the lawful refugee rights of the residents, and uphold their right to ownership of their property.

The government of Iraq must end the repressive restrictions in camp Liberty as they await for their resettlement.

The United Nations must declare Liberty a refugee camp in order to prevent inhuman pressures and restrictions by the Iraqi government.

We ask the international community and all governments to stand with the Iranian people.

We desire a definitive end to the policy of appeasing the religious dictatorship and supporting the Iranian people’s right to resistance and freedom.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi is the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) for the transitional period to hand over sovereignty to the Iranian people, once Iran’s ruling tyranny is overthrown. Mrs. Rajavi has directed the Resistance's international campaign to expose Tehran's bid to acquire nuclear weapons, its export of terrorism and human rights violations in Iran.