An event held at the European Parliament on Wednesday saw elected representatives of European <br /> <br />states express their solidarity with the Iranian Resistance. The President-elect of the Iranian <br /> <br />Resistance, Maryam Rajavi, was in attendance at the meeting focusing on formulating a cohesive EU <br /> <br />policy on Iran relations in the wake of the July 2015 nuclear accord. Chairman of the Friends of a <br /> <br />Free Iran inter-parliamentary group, MEP Gerard Deprez, led the meeting entitled: “Post-JCPOA <br /> <br />Policy on Iran.” <br /> <br />The parliamentary gathering occurred just 5 days after legislative elections were held in Iran. Ms. <br /> <br />Rajavi branded these elections a “sham,” held without the participation of any opposition groups <br /> <br />and among only former and incumbent officials pre-approved by the mullah leadership. <br /> <br />Significantly, Ms. Rajavi focused on the meddling of Iran in regional conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen <br /> <br />and Lebanon as fuelling instability in the region, and providing further evidence discrediting closer <br /> <br />European- Iranian ties since the signing of the nuclear accord last summer. “All [the regime’s] <br /> <br />factions share common interests in domestic suppression and plunder of the public’s wealth, as well <br /> <br />as in exportation of terrorism,” she stated. <br /> <br />In her most defiant moments, Ms. Rajavi criticised the European Union’s turning a blind eye to the <br /> <br />continued human rights violations in Iran. “The failure to adopt a decisive policy on human rights <br /> <br />policy on human rights abuses in Iran will embolden the mullahs to resume their bomb-making <br /> <br />project and step up their warmongering in foreign lands, particularly the genocide of the people of <br /> <br />Syria.” <br /> <br />Ms. Rajavi recommended that correcting the human rights agenda become a necessary condition for <br /> <br />any future EU-Iran relations, not only for its moral imperative, but to ensure wider regional and <br /> <br />global stability. <br /> <br />Mr. Deprez invited speakers from the floor to share their thoughts on EU relations with Iran post- <br /> <br />nuclear deal. A number of MEPs expressed outrage at the favourable treatment of Rouhani during <br /> <br />his European tour last November. <br /> <br />Particularly, MEPs drew attention to the infringement of women’s rights inside the mullah regime; <br /> <br />Daniela Aiuto, MEP from Italy, stated that she was heartened to see the leading role played by <br /> <br />women inside the Iranian Resistance movement – a stark contrast to the absence of women from <br /> <br />positions of political leadership in Iran. With less than one week until International Women’s Day, <br /> <br />Ms. Aiuto expressed support for Iranian women resistors struggling against government oppression. <br /> <br />Similarly, Julie Ward, MEP for the British Labour Party, and member of the EU Committee on <br /> <br />Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, said that Iranian women were at the forefront of social <br /> <br />movements advocating for democracy and equality in their country. Ms. Ward spoke specifically on <br /> <br />the plight of Iranian bloggers and cartoonists, mentioning Narges Mohammadi, a veteran human <br /> <br />rights activist and defender of freedom of expression, who was arrested in May 2015 on as yet <br /> <br />unknown charges.
