Reporter: US vice-president? Joe Biden? says he is prepared to engage in direct talks with Iran over its contentious nuclear program but only if Iranian were serious. Meanwhile in Paris? dignitaries from across the world have been meeting to discuss regime change in Iran. Howard Dean is there. He is the former chairman of US democratic national committee and he ran for the 2004 democratic presidential nomination. I asked him first about Mr. Biden’s comments.
Howard Dean: It is always a good thing to talk? but I will be very much against lifting any of the sanctions? I think the sanctions got to be stronger. Talking with Iran in the past has provided absolutely nothing. So? while I am always willing to talk? I think we have to assume that they are going to talk in bad shape as they have in the past.
Paris, February 2, 2013 - Dear Madame Rajavi, members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, members of the French Committee for Democratic Iran, ladies and gentlemen, dear Iranian friends, many nice words and wise words have already been said, and it is difficult to add. Iran as a country and Iranian people as a nation among others have a great and rich culture. The great history and the dignity of Iranian people are well known and admired. As other civilized nations, Iranian people have the full right to free self-determination, peace, freedom, rights and civil liberties, legitimate democratic government established by popular vote. Things which are so evident and natural for a majority of world nations are unfortunately not available for present day Iranian people. If people are murdered and executed, there is no right to life. If people are tortured, inhumanely treated, corporally punished and mutilated, if they are prosecuted for their religion and convictions, freedom of expression there is no freedom. No equality, no civil society, no democracy. No nation merits such conditions and treatment. These medieval violations of human rights accompanied with nuclear threats to outside world must not continue. Those who are responsible must be brought to justice.
Paris, February 2, 2013 - Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. [French and Spanish] That's all I know in both languages. I want to just a personal note, I have been attending these events for two years and I have seen the growth not just in terms of numbers and intensity of the support and the crowds and the leadership. It's my honor to be with so many distinguished political leaders from Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the United States, Republican party, Democratic party, presidential candidates, Madame Rajavi. I also note the enormous strength of your movement and how stronger it has become in the last two years and the intensity and strength of the crowds. And I have noticed that the women are the loudest and the most passionate. [applause]
Paris, February 2, 2013 - As dramatic change continues to race across the Middle East, there’s a secret war going on in Washington and in other capitols of the world on the future of policy towards Iran—the most strategically important and dangerous country in the region. Now, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the MOIS, is fully engaged in this battle. In fact, they’re probably directing it. They suborn America and other countries’ media, think tanks, and even the general public. Now even in ancient times nations and governments, even communities, have relied on intelligence as an essential guide to statecraft. For example, the Persian Empire, the moguls of India, and even the city state of Venice, Italy utilized intelligence in a systematic manner as an essential feature of the government. And it’s evident from these histories that there are different objectives. Intelligence was always supposed to be a reflection of the culture and the value system of a society. In the past, some of that was used for conquest to vanquish enemies, but when the modern state evolved, a fundamental change occurred in the nature of intelligence as an instrument of the government.
Paris, February 2, 2013 - Madame president, honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen, the video clip that you have just seen has revived on me very painful experience. It was me who first visited Ashraf and did the body count. I reported what I saw on the ground and UNAMI did not show any interest in making the report public. I had to make the report public through irregular, unusual way of reporting. And I passed the report to Geneva that made it public. It is [0:00:51] (history). [applause]
Paris, February 2, 2013 - Thank you very, very much. It's a pleasure to be with you again. I flew in last night from Washington where John Kerry was in his first day as the new United States Secretary of State taking over for my former boss, Hillary Clinton, someone who like Madame Rajavi also provides an extraordinary example for women in the world. Now, on Secretary Kerry's to-do list there are some significant challenges. There is the emerging crisis in Mali, and I wish to pay tribute to the French government for its intervention in Mali and the success that it has achieved thus far. There are several countries in transition—Tunisia, Egypt and Libya—and it is difficult to determine at any one moment whether they're moving forward, sideways or backwards. We know that their democratic development will not proceed in a straight line and will be the work of a generation. And I completely agree with the comments made a moment ago that there is a real danger that these revolutions are being hijacked away from the women who in Tahrir Square and other places have called for a change in their respective countries. There is the tragedy that continues to unfold in Syria, with the accompanying challenge of developing an effective Syrian opposition building up its credibility and legitimacy both outside and particularly inside the country. Iran has been a significant factor in protecting the existing government despite a death roll that now has risen above 70,000 people killed with hundreds of thousands displaced either inside Syria or in neighboring states such as Turkey or Jordan. And let me join in saluting the courage and determination of the Syrian opposition in confronting this extraordinary violence perpetrated by the Assad government with the help of the Iranian government. [applause] Their courage is extraordinary, as we know, shared by the people at Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty.
Paris, February 2, 2013 - Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for your very kind introduction. I want to thank Madame Rajavi for her extraordinary speech. And I ask after you've heard the speech of Madame Rajavi, who do you think should be president of Iran, Ahmadinejad or Madame Rajavi? [applause] [chanting] Those values of gender equality, of separation of mosque and state, freedom, of abolishing the death penalty, those are not just Iranian values. Those are American values and we should be supporting those who wish to spread democratic values around the world.
Paris, February 2, 2013 - Thank you, very, very much. And I have to confess that that does make me feel welcome, so I'm grateful. Callista and I are delighted to be with you today. This is the fourth time I have worked with you, and in the short time I've been directly involved we have seen progress, for example, in your legal status in the United States—progress that did not seem possible a few years ago. Things are developing. It was totally appropriate that your master of ceremonies it eh attorney who first took up the case and who in the last 11 years has made such a difference in making sure that the world understands that this is a movement for freedom, for democracy, for equality, not a movement for terrorism. And so I commend your master of ceremonies for the great work he did. And I commend your leader for the extraordinary courage she has shown in standing up to a dictatorial regime quite capable of killing, torturing and assassinating. It is an honor to be with you today. [applause]
Paris, February 2, 2013 - Good evening all to you. It's really an honor to stand here. And first of all maybe I'd like to give best wishes from Estonian Parliamentarians who couldn't attend in this event, and best wishes all to you and to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi as well. I take the risk to say that Estonians really understand what Iranian people are living through nowadays. And it's very simple way, because we lived under Soviet occupation five decades, more than 50 years under Soviet Russian occupation. Russia, which is now ally of mullah regime in Europe. So, with killings, executions, deportation and huge, huge pressure from the regime. And I think that every people, every single person of free world must even try to understand the difficulty of fighting against dictatorship, against criminal regime. And I think everyone must try to support these kind of fightings. And I think everyone in here agrees that Iranian regime, what it is today, is a great danger to the whole, whole world. We must remember it. If every day people are executed, (systematically) killed, that's not normal. You know, dictatorships and dictators are like cancer or AIDS, we can't live peacefully in the world when regime like mullah regime, Iran, continues its existence. It must be stopped. [applause]
Paris, February 2, 2013 - My brothers, my sisters, I thank you. Before I start I'd like to do the same thing I've done the past two times, to make a point to all our guests here. Everybody in this room who has a loved one—a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, a father, a mother—at Camp Ashraf or Camp Liberty, please stand. Members of the panel, this is how real the situation is. Here are the people who have a very strong, vested interest of the situation at Camp Liberty and Camp Ashraf, and I share with you. They are my brothers and my sisters there as well and we need to fight to get them out. [applause] Thank you, thank you.