The former Minister for Foreign Trade and Minister for Transport and Communications in Finland, Mr Kimmo Sasi, spoke at a high-level conference near Paris on 30 June as part of the “Free Iran World Summit”. He spoke in a panel on European policy and Iran. Here are some extracts from his speech:
We say that the European Union is the moral superpower of the world. I think that is quite true and we have a very high human rights agenda. But sometimes we make too many declarations, and we should be more effective in implementing those human rights, especially where they are most violated. I think after Ukraine we should have more realpolitik in the European Union, and we should be able to change the circumstances around us.
An essential threat
We know that Iran is a major threat to European countries. First of all, they export military power to the Middle East, Syria, Lebanon, which causes problems in the European area. Then Iran supports terrorism, and the worst thing is that a lot of terrorism by Iranians takes place on European soil. Five years ago, in this conference they tried to attack us, they tried to kill people in Europe. A few days ago, they tried to attack an Israeli target in Cyprus, and a few days ago they attacked an NCRI headquarters here in Paris. It is unacceptable that this should happen on European soil.
Then Iran is a nuclear threat, soon we may see missiles that can target the European Union area. In addition, today the Russians are using mainly Iranian drones in Ukraine to kill innocent Ukrainian people, destroy infrastructure and ultimately try to destroy Ukrainian democracy.
The right to overthrow extremist government
I think we have to be consistent to be successful. It’s not good to be soft one day and hard the next. We have to be firm all the time. That means we have to ask: is there hope for change in Iran? In 40 years we have seen that there is no hope. There is a worse government today than at any time in those 40 years. They are crueler than any government before.
But there has to be regime change, otherwise nothing will change in the world. The policy of appeasement is very problematic for the opposition because it undermines their ability to work. So we have to show that we want regime change in Iran. But it also takes into account the history of Iran. We have to have an opinion, but we have to leave the regime change in Iranian hands. They have to make the change. But we have to say that they have the right to overthrow an extremist government and to change the political landscape of Iran.
Then I think we should not cooperate with the clerical government in Iran. We have three categories of sanctions. They are quite weak at the moment, so we should have stronger sanctions against Iran. The Revolutionary Guards would also be sanctioned. This is one of the worst terrorist and corrupt organisations, not only in Iran but in the world.
We should not give in to the blackmail of the Iranian government. And as I’ve seen in this case, it’s a worst-case scenario. They try to kill people in the European Union, then the Iranian government takes hostages and then exchanges them, and as long as this can go on, there is no end to it. So, we have to say no to the hostage-taking diplomacy that they are using.
I believe and trust in regime change because people want a better future and they see how things are in the western countries, the standard of living, and the truth is that if Mrs. Rajavi’s ten-point plan is implemented, Iran will change into a developed democracy and a country that can actually have a good standard of living for its people. And then, of course, if there’s a regime change, we have to give technical assistance to Iran to make it happen smoothly, and then we have to promise to give economic assistance and to cooperate freely and to bring the Iranian economy into the world markets so effectively that people can actually see very soon that there’s a rise in the standard of living in Iran.
A dictatorship can fall
As mentioned in this seminar, we have seen that the Soviet Union could fall, a dictatorship could fall, and this can happen in Tehran. When people see that the economy is going down, that there is no hope, that there is no bread or food in the shops, and you see corruption like the Revolutionary Guards, into whose pockets the money goes, and then people in Iran know that they are being lied to, like in the Soviet Union, but sometimes at a moment they need some moral in society in the information.
And when these are fulfilled, I think it’s time for change in Iran. The demonstrations have been a good start to regime change. But there can also be a moment. When we see Russia trying to destroy Iran’s independence, we know that Russia will lose, Russia must lose. That moment when Russia loses can lead to a situation where those countries that are allied with it could have a chance for upheaval at that moment. Democracy will always win and that is the way forward.
Dear friends, we want a good life and Mrs Rajavi’s Ten Point Plan is the way to give a good life to the Iranian people and we trust that this program will win.