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Iranian Opposition Leader Denounces UN’s ‘Moral Failure’ in Scathing Rebuke as Hundreds of Iranians Decry UN Appointment of Iran Regime Envoy at Geneva Rally

Geneva, Switzerland, November 3, 2023 – In a stirring convergence of outrage and solidarity, hundreds of National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) supporters thronged outside the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva today. The demonstration, fueled by fervent speeches and resounding denouncement, was a direct response to the United Nations’ decision to appoint an envoy from the Iranian regime as chair of the UN Human Rights Council’s Social Forum.

As the keynote speaker, Maryam Rajavi (picture below), the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), delivered a powerful message that sharply criticized the international community’s approach to the Iranian regime.

“To those involved in appeasement, to those who undermine human rights and the historical progress of the contemporary world, hear this clearly: No bargain can rescue a regime that subsists on torture and bloodshed from its destined collapse,” Rajavi declared. She emphasized the futility of attempting to stabilize a regime that has consistently demonstrated its reliance on oppression and violence.

Rajavi articulated her profound disappointment in the United Nations, an institution conceived from the aftermath of global wars and a collective commitment to prevent future atrocities. Today, she lamented, the UN finds its integrity tarnished by allowing the Iranian clerical regime, notorious for its human rights abuses, to occupy positions within its human rights frameworks.

“This is not merely a lapse in judgment; it is a moral collapse,” Rajavi stated, referring to the UN’s decision to appoint an envoy from Khamenei’s government to the chair of the UN Human Rights Council’s Social Forum. Her speech highlighted the absence of accountability for the Iranian regime’s long list of crimes, including the killing of 120,000 of Iran’s brightest, which have gone unpunished by the UN, the Security Council, or its member states.

The NCRI President-elect brought to light the unaddressed genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the Iranian regime, particularly the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, belonging to the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and other groups 35 years ago. No significant strides, she noted, have been made in bringing the regime’s leaders to justice.

Rajavi painted a vivid picture of the ongoing brutality within Iran, where the blood of 750 victims from the 2022 uprising and 1,500 youths and teenagers from the 2019 uprising still stains the nation’s prisons and city walls. Despite these atrocities, the international community’s response has been limited to brief expressions of concern rather than concrete actions to halt the regime’s criminal activities, she said.

Questioning the UN’s decision, Rajavi pointedly asked, “Isn’t this regime the world’s top record holder of executions? Isn’t state terrorism known by the name of this regime? Isn’t it true that the mullahs’ regime has committed major terrorist crimes all around the world, from Latin America to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East?”

“Appeasement with this regime has failed. The clerical regime will inevitably crumble in the face of the Iranian people’s uprising and the Freedom Army. This day will be a moment of shame for all those who contributed to the erosion of universal human values,” Mrs. Rajavi underscored, adding, “The clerical regime must be ousted from the UN institutions, and its leaders prosecuted for committing genocide and crimes against humanity.”

Mohammad Mohaddessin, NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee chair, delivered a fiery condemnation of the UN’s decision and the broader implications of such an appointment. “The Iranian regime’s envoys are chairing a UN body at a time when innocents are being killed on both sides in the Middle East because of the regime’s warmongering. The presence of the regime’s envoy at the UN is an unforgivable concession to a regime which is the worst violator of human rights,” stated Mohaddessin.

Mohaddessin spoke powerfully against Western powers’ policies of appeasement, “You are feeding a crocodile, but that crocodile will ultimately devour you.” He detailed a history of Western concessions to the regime that only served to embolden it further.

Mahnaz Salimian, the senior Secretary of the NCRI, underscored the dissonance in the UN’s decision with pointed questions. “How could this appointment be sanctioned, given the regime’s blatant disregard for human life, evidenced by the 1,500 lives taken during the November 2019 uprising and the 750 in September 2022? The regime’s track record as the source of Middle East instability is undeniable. So, with these severe realities laid bare, why would you enable this regime’s envoy to take up such a pivotal chairmanship within the UN?” Ms. Salimian asked the UN officials.

Representatives of Iranian youth and women associations, along with international human rights defenders, took the podium to voice their support for the Iranian people’s quest for justice and freedom. They called for the international community to reject the regime’s legitimacy and to stand with those who resist its oppressive rule.

The event concluded with a resounding demand for accountability and a change in policy that would align with the highest interests of the Iranian people, who continue to yearn for a future defined by freedom, justice, and human dignity.