Senator Joe Lieberman(left), Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator Torricelli in the Free Iran Global Summit July 17, 2020

According to information tallied by the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), over 77,000 people have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic.The high mortality rate in Iran is indeed the direct result of the Iranian regimes deliberate inaction and cover-up of the novel coronavirus since its outbreak.

The nationwide Iran protests in November 2019 and peoples general boycott of the regimes sham parliamentary elections highlighted this truth that peoples conflict with the regime has reached an irreversible point. The Iranian regimes forty years of oppression, violence, wrong economic policies, and export of terrorism have brought nothing but poverty and destitution for the Iranian people. On the other hand, the Iranian society has turned into a powder keg. To prevent the explosion of the publics hatred, the Iranian regime criminally used the COVID-19 outbreak as a momentum and a tool to control the society. Denying the existence of the virus, deliberate inaction, cover-up and downplaying the crisis and thus forcing people back to work were part of the regimes plan to control the society. In addition, the regime and its apologists have been trying to spread fear and despair among people and somehow paralyze the real force of change.

Meanwhile the Iranian Resistance, particularly the MEKs Resistance Units, have been spreading a message of hope with their ongoing activities across Iran, from posting banners to helping victims and collecting real information of the dimension of crisis and exposing regimes criminal policy of herd immunity.

In order to echo the Iranian peoples desire for regime change and support the MEKs Resistance Units, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) held the Free Iran Global Summit, for three days, connecting over 30,000 locations from more than 100 countries in four continents to Ashraf 3, the MEKs headquarters in Albania. This event enjoyed the support of over 1000 renowned politicians.

The NCRIs Free Iran Global Summit spread the message of hope among all Iranians. In addition, it showed the world there is a viable and powerful alternative. A capable alternative that removes any obstacle on its way to bringing change inside Iran.

The Iranian regime is engulfed with crisis. The countrys economy is collapsing due to the regimes misuse of funds and institutionalized corruption. People are grappling with COVID-19, economic hardship, and oppression. Fearing the eruption of a new uprising, and to legitimize its rule, the regime and its apologists try to discredit their viable alternative.

In this regard, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, made important remarks on the first day of the Free Iran Global Summit.

Maryam Rajavi, distinguished participants, and all of us who are gathered here in order to move forward with a free, democratic, and peaceful Iran. Im joined, as you can see, by your great representative, advocate, friend, Bob Torricelli, and your equally staunch supporter, Senator Joe Lieberman, two great American leaders and two people who are very, very staunch defenders and advocates of a free, democratic, and peaceful Iran. Its an honor to be with them and its an honor to be with you. And its very exciting to be part of the largest virtual gathering in the world, connecting people on Zoom. I cant imagine it. From 102 countries, almost 30,000 different locations.

The event, most importantly, is broadcast live in Iran to the people of Iran who are living under terror, tyranny, oppression, and lets say to them that this gathering is for them. This is to let them know that their fight for freedom is supported around the world. That there are freedom lovers, both Iranian and of all nationalities, that support you at the highest levels of their governments.

The people of Iran through their protests, starting in November of 2019 and almost continuously every week, every day, have demonstrated the great desire they have for freedom and theyve demonstrated in a way in which theyve put their lives on the line. That is a very, very powerful demonstration of just how strong the desire for freedom is in Iran. IN the very early days of those protests, over 1,500 people were killed by the murderous regime of terror. And the people of Iran have made it clear to the whole world that if they could have their way, and theyre going to have it, they would want a free Iran, a democratic Iran, a peaceful Iran, an Iran ruled by law, an Iran where people can practice their religion, and an Iran in which women are treated the same as men. Those are precisely the goals of the National Council of Iranian Resistance, precisely the goals of MEK, and they are the goals enunciated by Maryam Rajavi in her very, very brilliant and universal 10 principles, which are completely consistent with the highest values of the United States and similar governments.

Two slogans during the protest I think are vital to show how the people of Iran feel, because you can see these signs consistent through many of the 300 or so protests, or more, that have taken place. And it says, Reformists, hard liners, the game is over. And then theres one that says, Down with the dictator. Now, its one thing for me to say that and to hold that sign here in America or in the United Kingdom or France or Germany or wherever else you are. It is another thing to hold that sign in Tehran. Thats a mark of death. Its very likely, very possible, youre going to be singled out to be one of those people whos shot down in the street if you oppose the regime. It is surely likely youre going to be murdered if you support the MEK or any similar movement. Theres just no question about that. And despite that and despite the 1,500 murders right at the beginning that continue to this day, the protests are not slowing. The protests are not lessening. Theyre becoming greater and greater and greater.

As stated in the letter that was signed by the 31 U.S. dignitaries to set forth our belief, we say as a group there is a beacon of hope in this dark landscape. The one organization that has done more than any other, including government, to free Iranian citizens from tyranny and the world from fundamentalist-inspired terrorism, is the National Council of Resistance of Iran, NCRI. The NCRI strives relentlessly to ensure that hope for democracy and an end to injustice and tyranny remains alive in Iran. Additionally, with continual media outreach, publications and meetings, it sustains international attention on the ongoing assault against humanity, and may I add, by the regime of terror.

The NCRI is under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi, a woman who has the respect of all of us. Shes been a hero. She is a dedicated leader with tremendous, tremendous understanding of the plight of the Iranians and whats needed to bring Iran to a democratic alternative for the regime. I outlined before her clear program of principles about freedom of religion and of course gender equality, the mere fact that shes a woman leading a group like this is revolutionary. Can you imagine, can you imagine when this terrible regime falls, and it will fall, and shes the interim leader, to have a woman as the head of state. I believe it will completely transform a great deal of the Middle East and a great deal of the world.

The NCRI under Madame Rajavi offers for us the universal vision of freedom. Going back to the Old Testament and all through civilizations this has been the quest of the human heart, the human soul. And again, thats illustrated by the fearless people in Iran who demonstrate for freedom despite the fact that they can see that their lives can be taken. It happens right in front of them. The MEK is the main component of the NCRI, and with its network, its the driving force for change. And thats the reason why the regime is singled out for murder.

There are those Iranian apologists here in America and in the West, people who are paid by the Iranian regime, who said the NCRI and the MEK dont amount to much. Theyre a cult. They have very few followers. They have no chance to replace the regime. But then if you listen to the words of the Ayatollah and his puppet, Rouhani, just over the last year, two or three times the Ayatollah and four or five times Rouhani have said that the only threat to their regime, the only organization that has any change to put together a government to replace them, is the NCRI and the MEK. I mean, its amazing they would admit that, but they do. Its equally amazing that the corrupt Western press suppresses that. I can only attribute that to the power of the lobbying organizations for Iran who have sold their souls to the regime of terror. But we know the truth. And they know the truth. They know that this organization is a total threat to them, and when they see today this gathering of people taking advantage of Zoom and the new modern methods of communication, and our ability to broadcast all throughout Iran despite their best efforts to block us, they realize they have a formidable foe. They realize and can foresee how this group could easily stand up an interim government that could be a bridge to a permanent Democratic free prosperous and wonderful Iran, because the Iranian people deserve that. And the Iranian people can sustain that.

The economy in Iran is collapsing. And thats a tragedy. No one wants to see that. Its horrible to see these demonstrations. And the one that sticks in my mind, I know it goes back about a year, but I cant get it out of my mind, is the man who was standing there asking for four or five hundred dollars

equally poignant and desperate signs. People are starving. Even when Iran was getting a flow of money like the 1.7 billion dollars in cash that I will never understand that was delivered to Iran as the price of the ill-fated nuclear agreement, people in Iran were starving. And now with the much more effective sanctions that have been in effect since the new administration came into power in Washington, the sanctions have been crushing. And now with coronavirus adding to it, the level of poverty and the level of hunger and the level of pain in Iran is heartbreaking.

The only solace is that this is what happens when revolution takes place. This is what happened to the Soviet Union that led to the collapse of a much, much bigger empire. All of Eastern Europe. And its tragic that its not recognized that this regime is on the brink right now. Particularly with its handling of coronavirus, in which they allowed thousands, 70,000 or more of their people to die, without any help. The government at one point allocated $1 billion to help the people, which would have been totally insufficient. And only 30% of it has been distributed. Everybody in Iran knows that the reason that the people of Iran are suffering is not only the sanctions, its not only coronavirus, its the fact that they still allocate tremendous sums of money to terrorist groups all over the world. Theyd rather send people to bomb us in Paris or to kill some of you in America than to feed their people.

Theyd rather allocate money to renegade criminal groups that want to wreak havoc in Europe or in the United States than feed their people. And everyone in Iran knows that. Thats why theyre not only religious maniacs, theyre just plain, common criminals. Theyre crooks, thieves. When people say mullahs, they have this religious concept. To me, the mullahs are like the people who ran the mafia, the people I prosecuted who ran the mafia and extorted their people, extorted the Italian American people, and subjugated them, except this is on a much bigger scale. And the Ayatollah is like the head of the mafia. Hes a very wealthy man, the Ayatollah. And I do question his religious sincerity. No man can be a man of god that is a mass murderer. Completely hypocritical. And then he asks people to sacrifice their life for the cause of tyranny. But does he sacrifice his life? Hes not the one going out there and doing the suicide bombings. Nor are the fat mullahs who are living wonderful lives off the misery of their own people. This has to be recognized. And its only going to be recognized with the advocacy of a group like the NCRI and MEK. Theyre the group that is the most courageous and the most honest about whats going on in Iran.

Experience has shown that dictatorship doesnt change on its own. The old saying, a leopard doesnt change its spots, is quite true. Particularly a dictator. And despite all of the concessions provided under the JCPOA, the Iranian regime didnt change one bit. In fact, it got worse. It continued its oppression of the Iranian people. It continued its march to becoming a nuclear power. And it continued to be the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. And since American has ceased to comply with that agreement, has cut it off, and has stopped sending them billions of dollars in cash, the countrys been under maximum pressure. And weve got to keep that pressure up to remove the ruling theocracy.

Regime change in Iran is within reach. Dont listen to the pessimists and dont listen to the Iranian apologists who are paid to say that. Its within reach. The same things are happening in Iran that have happened numerous times in other countries. When we wake up one morning and were surprised and we find out, oh my goodness, the Berlin Wall is coming downoh my goodness, the Soviet Union is no morePoland is becoming freeit happened over a long period of time. It happened with the same conditions were seeing now. But when it happened, it happened like that [snaps]. And thats whats going to happen here.

And thats the goal of the NCRI and thats the goal of Maryam Rajavi. Its very, very simple. The goal is a free Iran that will be a contributing nation to peace in the world, to a better world. This is the heritage of the Iranian people. This is one of the great civilizations that goes back to time immemorial. How much has the Persian civilization given to us? And how much more can it give to us if its allowed to be free? The goal of Maryam Rajavi and all of us here is not to impose anyone on the Iranian people. The goal is to see regime change.

There is a shadow government to handle the interim so we dont have the situation that we had in Iraq several years ago, so the government can continue and the people can start to prosper immediately. But within less than a year, the goal is to have free and fair elections, to establish a rule of law from day one, to make sure that women participate in the government to the same extent as men, and in society, and that all of you are free to practice your religion as you see fit, or not practice religion, and to immediately end the nuclear program and to make clear that Iran was to rejoin the community of civilized nation. That will be interim. And then the Iranian people will decide who do they want, what kind of constitution they want. Thats the goal of this organization and the millions of people that support it, and the people that are watching today.

Its all going to happen. Its all going to happen the way I say. Were going to wake up one morning and were going to be surprised that the regime fell. Its teetering right now. And when that happens, youre going to have your name etched in that great book of liberators. And the one whose name will be in the largest, boldest print will be Maryam Rajavi. Stand with Maryam Rajavi. Stand with Maryam Rajavi. Stand with Maryam Rajavi. Thank you.

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