The 100,000 people that showed up at the events in Paris, all your support throughout the last 3 or 4 years, it would not have been possible without the bravery and the courage of the people originally in Camp Ashraf who are now in Camp Liberty. It would not have been possible without all of my colleagues here, all of whom took some risk and had a great deal of courage in supporting this. All of that is true and they all deserve great praise and it is a wonderful impetus for what we can do going forward; how much more we can achieve.
But every effort like this, that is so complicated, so difficult and so diverse needs a leader. It needs one person that can bring it all together. It needs a person who has to sometimes make very difficult decisions, sometimes decisions that put human life at risk, even the human lives that you regard as the most valuable, and that leader was in fact Madam Rajavi. [applause] Without her that would not have been possible. And I know, having been at some of the very critical meetings and telephone conversations and other things that happened over the summer, our admiration --I know I can speak for all my colleagues-- our admiration for you Madam Rajavi is limitless. You showed us strength, and you showed something that sometimes is missing, wisdom, restraint, and without that we wouldn’t be where we are today, which is why I am so encouraged that we can accomplish so much more under your leadership. [applause]
We have with us today a parliamentary delegation from Egypt, and a delegation of people from Syria, who oppose the regime. And I am very very glad they are with us today. [applause]
But we know in our understandable satisfaction and even joy in having achieved a goal that seemed a couple of years ago impossible: delisting; and in our recognition of all that can come from it, we don’t want to lose sight of what the real goal is. What the real goal has been from the very very beginning; it is the reason we are all here, people of all different diverse backgrounds, because we seek a peaceful, a lawful, a democratic, non-nuclear Iran. That is our goal, that’s our desire, that’s our wish, that’s our dream. [applause]
But, before we can even talk about that, we have to remember the people who put their lives most at risk, some of whom have lost their lives to make even what we have achieved possible, and that is the people originally at Ahsraf and now at Liberty. [applause]
They are still very much part of this agenda and as Governor Rendell said, we are not going to rest until every single one of them is safe, safely out of Iraq, relocated to the United States, to Europe, to other parts of the world where they can work with us to achieve these results. First of all, without delay, Liberty should be designated a refugee camp by the United Nations now, not later, today, it should be done. It should have been done before, it should be done now. [applause]
And second: ambassador Kobler must live up to the promise that he made to me directly, to my colleagues directly, when we all met, he gave us his word that the property of the people of Ashraf would be sold, that it would be done fairly and that it will be done properly and so far he has reneged on that promise, he has not lived up to that promise and we are going to continue to dog him until he does. You don’t get away with breaking promises not to us; we will make sure that he keeps that promise. [applause]
And finally on this issue, my government the United States and other governments now should expedite the relocation process. There is no longer any excuse not to. They used the designation as an excuse not to go forward with it. That designation as it should have been, has now been changed. It should have been changed a long, long time ago. Probably never should have been done in the first place. But at any event, that designation is now gone and the relocation process should move ahead immediately without any further delay. Any further delay is an absolute basic denial of people’s human right and dignity. [applause]
The goal, the dream, of course, is a free, democratic, non-nuclear, peaceful Iran. And very often goals like that are closest when they seem the furthest away. I think back to the cold war and just a few month before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the freedom coming to Poland and the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe, it seemed so far far far away, it seemed like something that we wouldn’t see in our lifetime, then in a matter of months it all came about. There is a reason for that. The reason for that is that when we are outside a country where oppression is operating day in and day out, where murder happens, where people are tortured and executed, we don’t, those of us outside of that, maybe many of us never lived through that, don’t realize the pressure that that develops; the tremendous pressure that that develops. We don’t realize how difficult it is for people who live in regimes like that, of which Iran is now the primary example. How difficult it is for them to express themselves. How difficult it is for them to speak out.
How are we going to be able to measure how much support is there in Iran? When the people of Iran, if they were to express such support, they would be imprisoned, they would be tortured and they would be murdered. How could we possibly assess that? Well, we can’t properly assess that. But we know because of what we have seen. What we saw during the cold war, and what we have seen during the Arab spring that those desires are there, that opposition exists, that the opposition that was able to change Egypt, that was able to change Libya, God willing will be able to change Syria, [applause] there is no reason not to believe that that same desire doesn’t exist among the good people of Iran who have had suffered so much. And in this particular case, even more so, if I may say, than in the case of Egypt or Libya or Syria. There is a very, very clear alternative like there was in Poland with Solidarity. There is a very clear alternative and the alternative is staring my government right in the face. This coalition that Madam Rajavi has been able to put together. Let’s just remind everyone of what the principles are of this coalition, so that we are we clear on it because there has been so much liable, there has been so much lying, there has been so much horrible things that has have been said in order to prevent delisting and in order to prevent this organization from really rising and we really should really clear the air.
Here is what this organization stands for today and stood for from the very beginning of her leadership. It stands for, number 1: democracy. Number 2 the rule of law. Number 3 respect for human rights, respect for the rights of women. I would like the cameras just to show how many women are here. How many women are here in this audience? [applause] You are the key. [applause continues]. Please look how many women are here! [applause continues] Look at that!
Number 4, respect for property. Number 5, free speech. Number 6, freedom of religion. Number 7, a secular government, and number 8 a non-nuclear Iran. These are the goals of this organization. These are, I hope, the goals of my country for Iran. These should be the goals of any descent country.
So, let’s review some of the facts. Where are we in that process of getting to our ultimate goal? Right now, the regime in Iran continues to murder, to brutally suppress the Iranian people, hundreds of thousands have been killed, imprisoned and tortured by the regime. Last week, the week before, today! The regime, you know, is detested by the Iranian people. They attempted to rise up of two years ago. Deplorably, didn’t get the support that they should have gotten at that time. Who knows what could have been accomplished if they did.
It is quite clear that the Iranian regime is ever closer to being a nuclear power, having nuclear capacity. Just read today’s New York Times about that, and the reports on how much closer they are than even Prime Minister Netanyahu might have thought. And, Iran continues to be the prime, most important supporter of the brutal regime of Assad in Syria and continues to prop up that regime. As it is, without doubt the biggest sponsor, the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. So, in short, this regime is a danger to global peace and security probably one of the greatest dangers in the world to peace and security. And now it wants to become a nuclear power. May I add just one additional warning to why Iran should not become a nuclear power? A great deal of what I read and a great deal of the debate has to do with their ability --if they become a nuclear power-- to attack using missiles, delivery systems, to attack possibly Israel, to attack Saudi Arabia, to attack possibly American interest in the region or who knows where else. But here is my concern as someone who has dealt with terrorism, I think for 40 years, I don’t remember, it’s been so long.
I am afraid that a country and a regime that is the biggest sponsor of state terrorism in the world, I am afraid of them having nuclear material. What does it mean to be the state sponsor of terrorists? What it means is that you hand terrorist groups weapons. You hand them ammunitions. You hand them money, support and people. If you have nuclear material, how easy would it be to hand those terrorist groups that you are already handing guns and ammunitions and weapons and bombes, how easy would it be to hand them nuclear material? Let them develop dirty bomb and then ignite that bomb in New York or Washington or Paris or London or…? And then when you are faced with the accusation that you did it, do what the Iranian regime has done now for 4 decades: lie. I mean like they lied about the plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington a year and a half ago. This regime cannot be trusted to have nuclear weapons. They are too dangerous, they are too irrational, they are too suicidal in what they can inspire in other people and they have learned a lesson that unfortunately could really hurt us; they have learned a lesson that they can get away with lying and so far they haven’t been taught the opposite of that. So here is what the position has to be of my government and all descent governments in the world: no how, no way, never will Iran become a nuclear power. Never to be allowed. [applause]
It seems to me that it is time to rethink what we’ve been doing. There are 3 possible options, right? For my country for the United States. One would be to continue what we’ve been doing which is seeking to negotiate with the ayatollah and with the regime. That strategy has been a failure. That strategy of seeking to negotiate has only led to Iran getting closer and closer and closer to becoming a nuclear power. You would have to be hiding your head in the sand not to recognize that. The President has written letters to the ayatollah. President has publically asked that they negotiate with us. The president has privately asked for them to negotiate with us and they have refused to do it and they have just gone straight ahead as fast as they can to becoming a nuclear power. Now we read that the United States maybe hopeful that very very soon we will be able to negotiate. For me that would be the worst possible result. Because I believe that if Iran agrees to negotiate, it is quite clear with the history of this regime, the history of the mullahs, the history of Ahmadinejad and whoever is to succeed him, that would just become a cover for continuing to become a nuclear power. I think it will be worse, the worst development if they agree to negotiate than, believe it or not, where we are right now. Because it would put us and particularly those of us, in the United States, who follow this desire to negotiate, it would put them to sleep. It would allow Iran to continue to build up while they talk. Talk talk talk talk talk, keep us talking, keep us negotiating and at the same time enrich enrich enrich, continue to multiply the centrifuges, put them deeper into the ground and make fools of the United States as they have succeeded in doing for quite some time now, as they move forward to becoming a nuclear power. This would be a terrible terrible result. But that is one option that we continue on the path that has so far brought them within possibly months of being a nuclear power.
The second option has to be the last resort and one that none of us want to see happen, which is of course a military strike to try to remove their capacity to being a nuclear power. No one wants that to happen, no one is advocating that, everyone realizes that it must be on the table and it must be realist for any other option to work, but there has to be a last resort.
And then the third one is an option that hasn’t been considered. Hasn’t been considered but should be and I believe this is the option that would work. And here is what it is called: regime change in Iran! [applause]
The negotiations have proven that they are not going to work. The sanction have done all the damage they are going to do and have only made the regime that much more strong in its position that it wants to move ahead as a nuclear power. A military strike, although it is on the table and has to be on the table is a very very difficult and undesirable result. So regime change is the right answer. And regime change is possible. Regime change is possible because there already exists an alternative to the regime in Iran. We’ve had regime change is situations that were much more fluid than that. We have had regime change in situations that weren’t as drastic as that. The situation under Mubarak in Egypt was horrible. The situation under Qaddafi in Libya was horrible and the condition presently under Assad in Syria is intolerable but the condition under the mullahs in Iran has got to be one of the worst histories of oppression in the last 100 to 200 years. Maybe exceeded only by Hitler and Stalin.
So, it is there. It is possible. It can be done. The alternative exists. The alternative is this coalition that has been put together. And this coalition has already achieved things that people thought were impossible to achieve. So, as we keep in mind our commitment to the people in Liberty, and not lose sight of that goal that I outlined at the beginning, we’ve got a long term goal that I am not sure it is going to be that long term, which is regime change in Iran. It is realistic, it can happen. Three or four years ago no one predicted we would have a world without Mubarak, a world without Qaddafi, maybe we are going to have a world without Assad. [applause] If that all can happen, we can have a world without the ayatollahs. [applause]
Like Governor Rendell, I look forward to Madam Rajavi coming to the United States, because I think that people of the United States need to hear directly from her about exactly who you are. You don’t wear uniforms.
You are not a cult. You are a group of people who share with all freedom loving people in this world the desire for your country to be free; the desire for your country to respect human rights;the desire for your country to allow you to choose the leaders of your country; the desire to live in your country and to reignite the great tradition and history of the Iranian people which is something to be admired; something to be treasured.
You are good people who desire just exactly what all good people desire all throughout the world. I have learned that in working with you now for 3 years or 4 years watching you under great great pressure; watching Madam Rajavi and all of the people that work with you under great great pressure. So I am very very hopeful that as you are introduced to the people of the United States we are going to find, people of the United States are going to find that we are one. We are one in our desires, we are one in our goals, we are one in our aspirations and you are our best hope for being able to have a free and democratic Iran.
Thank you and God bless you!