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| Maryam Rajavi |
Dear Friends,
I
thank you for supporting the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom and
human rights.
It
is inspiring to see a significant group of distinguished personalities
demonstrating admirable realism, believing that the solution to the vital
crisis in the Middle East is to confront Islamic extremism, especially the
religious dictatorship ruling Iran as the epicenter of fundamentalism and
terrorism, and also to stand with the struggle of the Iranian people and the
Iranian Resistance.
This
Resistance is committed to liberate Iran from tyranny and barbarism, to restore
that nation’s great civilization, to cultivate peace and coexistence, and to
end the reign of fear and terror under the name of Islam.
Our
world, from Asia, the Middle East and Africa to France, Belgium, Denmark and
the United States, has been targeted by a common enemy: extremism under the
name of Islam.
Its
followers may have different faces – Shiite or Sunni – yet their ideological
pillars and their plan of action are essentially one and the same.
Moreover,
all of them, from inception to expansion, have relied on the fundamentalist
regime ruling Iran.
Without
the fundamentalist regime in Iran, the idea of an Islamic Caliphate, or the
desire to erase national borders or the massacres under the banner of Jihad
would not have existed or happened.
The
horrific acts perpetrated by the likes of DAESH or Boko Haram today are all
inspired by the mullahs of Iran, who have carried out the same type of crimes
against the Iranian people for decades.
The
regime is carrying out the same sort of atrocities through its terrorist Qods
Force, Hezbollah and so-called Shiite militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and
Yemen.
The
mindset that motivated Khomeini’s fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie
(in the 1980s) is the same outlook that led to the massacre at Charlie Hebdo in
Paris.
The
mindset that motivated Khomeini’s fatwa to murder 30,000 Iranian political
prisoners (in 1988) also inspired the cleansing of Sunnis in Iraq and the
slaughter of people in Paris and health workers in California recently.
This
is the same evil spirit that led to assaults on female political prisoners in
Iran or Yazidi women in Iraq.
But
beyond its ideological impact, let’s consider its practical policies.
If
it were not for the massacre of the people in Syria by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is working to keep Assad in power,
Syria would not have become the breeding ground for DAESH.
If
it were not for the harmful meddling of the mullahs and the horrific
suppression carried out by the Iranian regime’s puppet in Iraq, former Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki, DAESH would not have found the opportunity to occupy
swathes of that country’s territory.
The
formation of the US-led international coalition in 2014 to confront DAESH was a
positive step. But the coalition’s strategy lacked a decisive policy vis-à-vis
the mullahs’ regime in Iran, which is the source of the regional crisis.
Destroying
DAESH depends on ousting Assad in Syria and on evicting the Iranian regime and
its affiliated militias from Iraq.
Despite
some differences with Assad and the clerical regime in Iran, DAESH is, in
practice, on their side. The prime targets of DAESH have been moderate Syrian
forces.
Let
me be clear, the ultimate solution to fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism
under the name of Islam is the overthrow of the religious fascism ruling Iran
at the hands of the Iranian people and Resistance.
For
this reason, the mullahs spare no opportunity to commit crimes meant to destroy
this Resistance, including missile attacks on its defenseless members in Camp
Liberty in Iraq. This is because the mullahs view the Iranian Resistance as an
existential threat.
Allow
me here to express my gratitude for the decisive positions adopted by Senators
McCain, Schumer, Menendez, Blunt, Shaheen and Tillis in condemning the recent
missile attack against Liberty.
On
behalf of the Iranian people and the residents of Camp Liberty, I would of
course like to especially thank Senator McCain and Senator Jack Reed for their
initiative concerning the residents of Liberty, which became part of the 2016
National Defense Authorization Act.
Today,
the residents of Camp Liberty are in an extremely vulnerable and risky
situation and they remain under siege.
The
United States had made a commitment to protect them officially and in writing,
but it has failed to uphold that commitment.
On
October 29, 24 residents lost their lives in the missile attack that was
directed by the mullahs.
To
date, a total of 141 innocent refugees have been killed in seven attacks and 27
have lost their lives as a result of the inhumane siege.
I
call upon lawmakers to urge the U.S. government to put Camp Liberty under the
aerial protection of the U.S. Air Force.
The
prevention of another humanitarian catastrophe at Camp Liberty and providing
protection for the Iranian freedom fighters transcends the interests of the
Iranian people alone.
Such
measures are vital to confronting the evil of Islamic fundamentalism
orchestrated by the mullahs of Iran, who in order to prevent their overthrow in
Iran, are setting the whole region on fire.
The
overthrow of the mullahs in Iran will guarantee peace and security in the
region and the world.
I
thank you all very much.
