The Western policy of appeasement towards the regime in Iran only fuels its terror – says our guest author, who has had his own life-threatening experience with this.
Tages Spiegel, 30 October – A guest article by Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Almost exactly one year ago, on November 9, 2023, a gunman commissioned by the Islamic Republic of Iran tried to kill me in front of my house in Madrid.
This was the natural consequence of the mullahs’ regime putting me at the top of its death list because I had resisted its machinations and supported Iran’s democratic opposition for many years.
Iran’s state terrorism knows no borders. In 2018, an annual rally of tens of thousands of Iranian exiles at the gates of Paris under the banner of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) was the target of a terrorist attack.
In the aftermath of this event, it was revealed that the mastermind of the planned act was an Iranian diplomat in Vienna who was supposed to kill NCRI President Maryam Rajavi.
Had this attack not been thwarted by European law enforcement agencies, it would certainly have killed hundreds, if not thousands, of participants, including numerous Western dignitaries.
Not even the Revolutionary Guards end up on the EU terror list
The planned bombing should have triggered immediate political changes to combat the Iranian terror threat, but presumably those responsible did not take this danger seriously enough because of the appeasement policy that has characterized Europe’s strategy for three decades.
The same applies to the attempt on my life, in which a bullet destroyed my jawbones. I am not the only one who has survived a threatening encounter with the regime’s agents and mercenaries in recent years.
“The policy of appeasement in Europe’s relations with the Islamic Republic is deeply rooted.”
Alejo Vidal-Quadras, ex-EU politician
Foreign policy leaders in the European Union have so far refused to classify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization, despite the fact that this has been demanded by the majority of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of several member states.
This shows how deeply rooted the policy of appeasement is in Europe’s relations with the Islamic Republic. This appeasement has endangered my life and that of countless other staunch opponents of the Iranian regime.
It has also strengthened Iran’s support for regional terrorist groups and directly contributed to the danger of a large-scale war, that now hovers over the Middle East.
But no one has been hit harder by the regime’s impunity than the Iranian people themselves and their organized resistance. This is the biggest factor missing from our Iran policy.
The Iranian resistance is ready to replace the dictatorship
The 2022 uprising showed the entire world what many Western politicians like me have long recognized: that the Iranian resistance is a viable democratic alternative to the existing theocratic dictatorship, and that the Iranian people would do well to implement this alternative.
Furthermore, the demonstrators in Iran have made it clear that they reject both the ruling theocracy and the monarchy.
A new policy was to begin with the terror listing of the IRGC – the regime’s most important tool for suppressing resistance at home and pursuing opposition activities abroad.
Subsequently, Western governments should demand accountability from the representatives of the regime who are involved in terrorism and the serious human rights violations in this repression.
