One Year After Nuclear Deal, Senior US Figures to Attend Paris Rally For a ‘Free Iran’
to Paris next
weekend for what has become an annual show of strength for a major movement
dedicated to the downfall of the regime in Tehran.
On July 9, the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI )/People’s
Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (MEK) plans a mass “Free Iran” rally in the
French capital, following a series of round-table events a day earlier. Last
year’s event attracted a reported 100,000 Iranian expatriates and supporters.
Among the high-profile Americans who organizers say have confirmed their
attendance are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich – said to be a strong
contender to be Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate – who has taken
part in previous years.
Others include former ambassadors to the United Nations John Bolton and
Gov. Bill Richardson, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former FBI
Director Louis Freeh, and former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard
Dean.
Joining them, organizers say, will be former Homeland Security Secretary
Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend, former
Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph, former Attorney General
Michael Mukasey, and former Democratic lawmakers Sen. Robert Torricelli (N.J.)
and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (R.I.), among others.
Military figures are also on the list, among them former Marine Corps
commander Gen. (Ret.) James Conway, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. (Ret.) David Philips,
who was responsible for training the Iraqi Police after the 2003 U.S. invasion,
and Col. (Ret.) Wesley Martin, who served as senior anti-terrorism and force
protection officer for coalition forces in Iraq.
Supporters view it as a viable opposition to the clerical rulers in
Tehran, and say criticism leveled against it is largely due to a successful
lobbying effort on the part of the regime and its supporters. They also point
to the fact the NCRI/MEK has provided the West with valuable intelligence on
Iran. Notably, a then senior member of the group, Alireza Jafarzadeh, in 2002
helped to uncover Iran’s clandestine nuclear program.
After the fall of Saddam, MEK members in Iraq were disarmed by agreement
with U.S. forces and confined to Camp Ashraf in Diyala province. Iraqi
authorities in 2012 moved them to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base
near the Baghdad airport.
Some 2,000 members of the group are still housed at Camp Liberty, with
U.N.-led efforts underway to relocate them to a secure third country.
Both in Liberty and Ashraf, they have come under attack a number of times,
most recently last October, when 24 were killed and more injured in a rocket
attack claimed by an Iranian-backed Shi’a militia.
According to Shahin Gobadi, a member of the NCRI’s foreign affairs
committee, this year’s event in Paris will be especially significant because of
its timing.
It comes shortly after the first anniversary of the announcement of the
nuclear agreement reached between the U.S. and five other powers and Iran.“One
year after the nuclear deal,” Gobadi said in a statement, the event “provides a
different perspective on the situation and will offer a policy alternative to
Western countries’ approach by emphasizing that the voice of Iranian people
must be heard.”
The Paris event also takes place one week before the Republican National
Convention and two weeks before the Democratic National Convention. The
administration’s Iran policy has featured prominently during the presidential
campaign, with presumptive nominees Trump and Hillary Clinton taking very
different stances on the issue.
Gobadi noted the planned attendance of prominent Americans from both sides
of the political spectrum.
“In the midst of a very contentious U.S.
presidential campaign, there will be bipartisan support at the July 9 event for
the goals and aspirations of the Iranian people.”
Gobadi said the event will provide Iranians with the opportunity to
highlight that the notion of “moderation” under President Hasan Rouhani is “a
total myth.”
“The only solution for Iran is regime
change by Iranians and the organized resistance,” he said. “The first step to
that effect will be imposing further sanctions on the clerical regime for
flagrant human rights abuses and its role as the main state-sponsor of terror
the world over.”
Apart from senior American attendees, organizers listed prominent European
participants including former French, Italian and German cabinet ministers,
other European officials and lawmakers, and French-Colombian politician Ingrid
Betancourt, who was held hostage by Colombia’s FARC rebels for six years before
being rescued in 2008.
They said senior politicians and activists from Islamic countries would
also take part, “including a delegation from the moderate Syrian opposition who
are themselves victims of the Iranian regime’s support for Bashar Assad’s state
machinery of terror
Source: CNS News, 1 July 2016
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