The LICRA (International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism) was present on Monday, March 13, 2023, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg alongside the association Iran Hamava, in support of the Iranian people on the occasion of the Iranian New Year.
Joint statement during the press conference
Joint statement by Nathalie Loiseau, Member of the European Parliament, and François-Xavier Bellamy, Member of the European Parliament.
We wish a happy new year to the Iranian people, a great nation and an ancient civilization that has inspired the world.
The uprising of the Iranian people since the assassination of Mahsa Amini — who refused to wear the veil and was suppressed by the Islamic regime — shows that the Iranian people, beyond their own culture, are deeply attached to universal values: freedom, equality between men and women, and the separation of religion and state.
The Iranian regime’s response confirms its brutal, anti-democratic, and reactionary nature. Arrests, violence, arbitrary detentions, and executions are the marks of a regime that has turned against its youth and its population.
We strongly condemn the use of toxic gas against girls and young women and call for the prosecution of those responsible. The Iranian state bears the responsibility for protecting the students and pupils of its schools.
At the same time, the Iranian regime continues to pursue a nuclear program that worries the international community, even though a new agreement was possible. It has chosen to strengthen its alliance with Russia by providing it with weapons used in Ukraine against civilians. It continues its regional destabilization efforts in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, and develops hybrid warfare tools for other regions of the world.
It is up to the Iranian people to choose their own leaders. It is up to the international community to send a clear message to the Iranian authorities: No to nuclear proliferation, no to regional destabilization, no to human rights violations.
The European Union has acted by expanding the list of Iranian individuals and organizations under sanctions. We have requested the inclusion of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations. We are aware that the legal criteria are strict, and we call on everyone in Europe who can help move in this direction to do so.
We call for the release of all prisoners of conscience, journalists, and lawyers currently detained, for an end to all legal action against them, and for a ban on all forms of intimidation.
We unequivocally denounce the “hostage diplomacy” through which the Iranian regime detains foreign nationals under incomprehensible pretexts and attempts to use them as bargaining chips with their home countries. We urge member states not to give in to this blackmail and call on the European Union to adopt a coordinated and united policy on this issue.
Source: https://news.dayfr.com/trends/1577781.html