DEMOCRACY & HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

CONFERENCE THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2025

16.00-17.15 hrs

It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to address you again this evening and I am glad this time that I can join you in person, albeit on Zoom. But please allow me to congratulate all the amazing volunteers and supporters of the Democracy & Human Rights Association for the work that you do and the time and effort that you all devote to restoring democracy, equality and human rights, together with the establishment of a secular society, for the beleaguered people of Iran. This is a campaign that involves us all. I have devoted the last quarter century of my life to exposing the tyranny and injustice of the theocratic regime that oppresses the Iranian people and at last, we can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

The mullahs are at their weakest point ever, with the collapse of their key ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the decapitation of their proxy affiliates Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, their ‘axis of resistance’ is now in meltdown. But like a wounded beast, this is when the theocratic regime could become even more dangerous. As anticipated, President Donald Trump has ramped up his maximum pressure sanctions campaign on the Iranian regime. Trump was concerned that the Biden administration had softened the American approach to the regime, enabling it to increase its oil production revenues. President Trump is now saying that he is open to a political negotiation with the mullahs, where they would have to agree to stringent terms for nuclear decommissioning and to stop ballistic missile production and sponsoring terrorist proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.

As they seek to re-establish their crumbling hegemony in the region, it is unlikely that they will ever agree to such terms. In a panic response to Trump’s new sanctions strategy, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week: “If the main issue is ensuring that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, this is achievable and not a difficult issue”. But such daydreams were shattered when the elderly and fanatical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “I’m brave enough myself to say death to America.” As we know only too well, crowds of the mullahs’ paid supporters have in the past readily chanted “Death to America”, but this was the first time the Supreme leader ever uttered the words himself, a clear indication that Trump’s new ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions campaign has found its mark.

While China is now the biggest client for Iranian oil, the strong, new sanctions strategy will cripple the Iranian economy, already struggling with surging inflation and a collapsing currency. The mullahs’ ability to sidestep punitive sanctions while Joe Biden was in the White House will now come to a shuddering stop, as the Trump administration endeavours to drive Iran’s oil exports down to zero.

Last week former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated: “As the past four years have shown, enriching and enabling the malign Iranian regime only leads to war and terror. As Trump demonstrated, the best way to avoid these outcomes is through massive and effective sanctions on Iranian oil exports, which allow the regime to prop up its dysfunctional economy, fund terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, and inflict pain and suffering on the Iranian people”. Pompeo concluded: “Now is the time not only for maximum pressure to return with support for the organized opposition within Iran, but also for the White House to fully support our ally Israel in its mission to ensure Iran never reaches its goal of creating a nuclear weapon”.

Western appeasers should learn from past mistakes that appeasement simply emboldens the mullahs to spread their warmongering and terror abroad, while further repressing their own population at home. With the Iranian economy in freefall, the mullahs are desperately seeking a renewed deal with the West where sanctions could again be lifted in exchange for nuclear concessions. But there is no point in futilely seeking diplomatic solutions with illusory ‘reformist’ factions in Tehran, such as the new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, who some ill-informed political leaders regard as a ‘moderate’. Pezeshkian is a puppet president, blindly following orders from Khamenei, the Supreme Leader. He is also far from ‘moderate’, having presided over at least 774 executions since he took office last August.

That’s why we celebrate the courage of the Iranian people as they fight injustice and tyranny. Resistance Units from the main democratic opposition movement are burgeoning across Iran, filled with courageous young men and women, sick of oppression and desperate for freedom and justice.  Last weekend over 20,000 ex-pat Iranians gathered in Paris for a major rally to celebrate the 46^th anniversary of the overthrow of the dictatorship of the Shah. Sadly the 1979 revolution was hi-jacked by the mullahs and the people of Iran have suffered almost another half century of tyranny as a result. But they have said enough is enough. The huge rally in Paris sent the clearest possible message to the U.S., the UN, the UK and the EU. 95 million Iranians are clamouring for regime change. They don’t want Western intervention, but they do want moral support. They risk their lives every day to overthrow the theocratic oppressors.

But courage alone cannot break chains—it needs allies, and that is where your role becomes so vital. Through the work of the Democracy & Human Rights Association, you amplify the voices of those who risk everything for freedom. You ensure that their sacrifices are not forgotten; that their stories are heard, and that they know they are not alone. Thank you for your solidarity, your generosity, your tireless devotion and belief in a better future.