Maryam Rajavi Message to U S Senate 15Dec2015

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran addressed a Senate Briefing on December 15, 2015 in the Kennedy Caucus Room in a broadcast from Paris. She said, in part: 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– whether Shiite or Sunni – their ideological pillar and their plan of action are essentially the same. Moreover, all of them, from their inception to their expansion, have relied on the fundamentalist regime ruling Iran. Absent the fundamentalist regime in Iran, neither the idea of an Islamic Caliphate, nor disbanding of borders, nor the resort to massacres under the banner of Jihad, would have existed. Horrific acts perpetrated by DAESH (ISIS) or the Boko Haram today are all inspired by the mullahs of Iran, who have done the same against the Iranian people for decades. The regime is carrying out the same type of atrocities via the terrorist Qods Force, the Hezbollah, and the so-called Shiite militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. The same mindset that prompted Khomeini’s fatwa to murder Salman Rushdie later massacred people at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The same mindset that prompted Khomeini’s fatwa to murder 30,000 Iranian political prisoners brought about the cleansing of the Sunnis in Iraq and the slaughter of fans in Paris and the health workers in California. This is the same evil spirit that led to the assaults on women prisoners in Iran and Yazidi women in Iraq. But more than its ideological impact, let’s look at its practical policy. If it were not for the massacre of the people of Syria by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to keep Assad in power, Syria would not have become the breeding ground for DAESH (ISIS). If it were not for the harmful meddling of the mullahs and the horrific suppression by the puppet of Iran Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Iraq, DAESH would have never found the opportunity to occupy part of that country. The formation of the US-led international coalition in 2014 to confront DAESH was a positive step. But the shortcoming of coalition’s strategy was a decisive policy vis-à-vis the mullahs’ regime which is the source of crisis in the region. Destroying DAESH depends on removing Assad in Syria and on evicting the Iranian regime and its affiliated militias in Iraq. Despite any differences with Assad and the clerical regime in Iran, DAESH is practically in their camp. DAESH’s prime target has 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 by the Iranian people and Resistance. For this reason, the mullahs spare no crime to destroy this Resistance, including missile attacks on its defenseless members in Camp Liberty in Iraq because they view as their main threat. Allow me here to express my gratitude for the decisive positions taken 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 Liberty, I would of course like to especially thank Senator McCain and Senator Jack Reed for their initiative concerning the residents of Liberty, which was included in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. Today, residents of Camp Liberty are in an extremely vulnerable, insecure position and under siege. The United States had made a commitment to protect them officially and in writing, but it failed to uphold that commitment. On October 29, 24 residents lost their lives in the missile attack that was directed by the mullahs. So far, 141 innocent refugees have been killed in seven attacks and 27 have lost their lives because of an inhumane siege. I call upon lawmakers to urge the U.S. government to put Camp Liberty under the aerial protection of U.S. Air Force. Preventing another humanitarian catastrophe in Liberty and protecting the Iranian freedom fighters goes beyond and above the interests of the Iranian people. It is vital to confront the evil of Islamic fundamentalism guided 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.