Iraanse Oppositiebeweging uit kritiek op EU beleid tegen kernwapens (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Despite strong US and European concern surrounding the Iranian regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, laid bare this week by the WikiLeaks release of hundreds of US diplomatic cables, EU policy is off the mark and European governments are failing to provide support to internal opposition movements, the leader of one such group has said.
Speaking in the European Parliament on Wednesday (1 December), Maryam Radjavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI, also known as the PMOI, the People's Mojahedin of Iran), added that fresh talks between Iran and Western governments, represented by EU high representative Cathy Ashton next Monday and Tuesday in Geneva, would merely provide Tehran more time in which to build a nuclear bomb.
"To get rid of the regime you need regime-change by the Iranian people," Ms Radjavi said when questioned by EUobserver.
"We are proud to have gained the support of many parliamentarians worldwide," she added. "But no governments have yet expressed any support [for the PMOI] but we hope they will listen to the call of the MEPs."
Roughly 400 MEPs signed a petition last week, calling on the United Nations to provide greater protection for residents living in the Ashraf camp inside Iraq, home to some 3,400 exiled Iranians and the principle base of the PMOI. Collaboration between the Iraqi government and Tehran has seen the camp besieged over the past year, say observers.
"Now the situation in Ashraf is of difficulties and restrictions," said Spanish centre-right MEP Alejo Vidal-Quadras, one of the chief supporters of the petition which was organised in record time by PMOI personnel in Brussels. "People are denied medical treatment and 140 loudspeakers have been bombarding the camp with psychological propaganda for 11 months."
Mr Vidal Quadras said it was vital the US remove the PMOI from its terrorist blacklist, as the EU did in 2009, so that the group can effectively carry out advocacy work.
In addition, the group of MEPs are calling for a UN protection unit to be stationed beside the camp, something the multilateral body says is highly difficult to do without military support. Support was formerly provided by the US military, but the task was handed over to the Iraqi government in January 2009.
While the PMOI and MEPs who have signed the petition strongly deny the group has engaged in terrorists activities, some media reports have suggested otherwise. The group was founded in the 1960s, but its top leadership and members fled the country roughly 20 years later, after reportedly carrying out acts of terror inside the country.
Senior diplomats from the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China will also participate in next week's talks between Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili and Ms Ashton, who's European external action service formally came into being on Wednesday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told national reporters this week that his uranium enrichment programme would not be negotiated away. Instead, he said he was willing to discuss nuclear co-operation.
The PMOI argue that further talks are useless however. "Experience has shown that the more you negotiate with the Mullahs, the less you achieve," said Ms Radjavi. "New negotiations with them will just provide more time to acquire a nuclear bomb. We believe the only language that the Mullahs will understand is boldness. By this I mean tougher economic sanctions."
Another PMOI official said the current sanctions against Iran were in many cases being circumvented via Iraq, with EU companies amongst those lobbying against tougher restrictions due to fears their profits could be hit.
"The EU is Iran's biggest trade partner," the official said. "It should stop buying Iranian oil."