Freedom fighters unite Friday in a massive undertaking. 10,000 locations throughout the world will join together in a plea to create a fair, free democracy in Iran.
It is a bi-partisan gathering of international relations scholars, government officials, and military experts. The Summit Event is designed to help rally the Iranian people–and governments around the world–to demand change for the increasingly isolated and challenged state of Iran, a country where dissonance is not allowed.
Over the weekend, the Iranian regime secretly executed and buried a prominent protester and popular wrestling champion, Navid Afkari–despite the public outcry and international campaign to save him. It was the latest horror out of Tehran; the Iranian government has recently provoked domestic and international outrage amid news that multiple young pro-democracy protesters have been executed by the regime.
This week, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported that the regime arrested more Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) supporters. In May, fearful of more young people joining the MEK’s ranks, the regime arrested two elite university students and accused them of supporting the democratic organization. As a standard practice, the regime is reportedly torturing the two award-winning students to make “confessions.”
10,000 Locations Worldwide Join the Fight for Freedom
It is amid this tension that the main Iranian resistance movement holds its massive summit in an effort to encourage world governments to adopt a stronger policy vis-a-vis the ruling clerical regime and its crimes.
The Alliance for Public Awareness and the Organization of Iranian American Communities, among the organizers of the Trans-Atlantic Summit on Iran Policy, scheduled for on September 18 at 10:45 AM EST, say the online event will link 10,000 locations worldwide. The Keynote address will be given by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Additional speakers include a bipartisan slate of decorated officials from both sides of the Atlantic, and both sides of the political aisle. Among them are multiple members of the US House and Senate, including Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), Chair, Senate Republican Policy Committee; Chair, Senate Rules Committee; Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member, Foreign Relations Committee; Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ), Member, Armed Services Committee; Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Water and Power, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), House Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Chief Deputy Whip, Democratic Caucus; Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), House Judiciary Committee.
Speakers also include, former national security advisor General James Jones, former US senator, and vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman, former army vice-chief of staff General Jack Keane, former State Department official ambassador Robert Joseph, former Senator Kelly Ayotte, Fmr House Speaker Newt Gingrichand a number of high-profile dignitaries from Europe and Canada, including Giulio Terzi, Italy’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pendeli Majko, the former Prime Minister of Albania, Bob Blackman, a member of UK Parliament, among many others.
American journalist Trish Regan, the founder of Trish Intel, will emcee the event. “I am honored to be part of such a massive global effort to promote the voices of those that cannot be heard,” Regan says. “It is critical we recognize this quest for freedom and do all that we can to create a fair, democratic environment in Iran. The people must be heard. Their safety, their future depends on it…and, as does the safety and future of the world.”
Indeed, the safety of the world is at stake. The international community is currently struggling to curtail the Iranian regime’s terror activities and nuclear program. According to a recent report in Politico, intelligence officials have evidence that the Iranian regime intended to assassinate the American ambassador to South Africa to revenge the U.S.’s killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was a top Iranian military terrorist responsible for a series of deadly attacks including two bombings in the Western Hemisphere, both in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the early 1990s.
With a UN arms embargo scheduled to expire in October, world governments are concerned about Tehran’s access to arms, which it is believed would find their way into the hands of terrorist proxies throughout the Middle-East. As such, Friday’s event will feature a “global debate on policy on Iran, including the re-imposition of six previous UN Security Council resolutions.”
The Trans-Atlantic Summit on Iran Policy will also urge the UN General Assembly, which is expected to hold its 75th session later this month, to condemn the regime’s extrajudicial murders on the basis of political beliefs.
Participants will particularly draw attention to calls for justice for 30,000 political prisoners massacred in Iran in 1988. The massacre marked one of the worst crimes against humanity since World War II. The victims were chiefly members of the main opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), which has attracted a significant following inside Iran.
Summit Preview
One of the highlights of Friday’s summit, which will also be broadcasted into Iran, will be a display of the growing activities of MEK Resistance Units inside Iran.
In several major cities around the world, including Washington DC, Iranians and international dignitaries will also hold events in person.
Developments in Iran, including persistent anti-regime uprisings, have shed a brighter light on the plight of the Iranian people and the regime’s gross human rights abuses to prevent further uprisings.
Amnesty International said in a damning report this month that the regime has escalated its ruthless suppression of pro-democracy protesters, particularly those detained during the nationwide November 2019 uprisings. The report highlighted “mass arrests, disappearances and torture” of at least 7,000 detainees, including electric shocks, sexual violence, and mock executions.
According to reports, dozens of protesters are currently on death row and at the risk of execution.
Friday’s Trans-Atlantic Summit will call for international investigations and immediate intervention to stop the new wave of executions by the regime. You can watch live, online, via Zoom beginning at 10:45 am EST.
