Wednesday, 1st February 2012
The situation in Iran
Note: This speech was delivered to a special plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels in the presence of Baroness Ashton, EU Representative for Foreign Affairs on 1st February 2012
President,
The lessons of the Arab Spring hold true for Iran just as much as for any oppressive government anywhere in the world. Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and their fascist colleagues in Tehran are not immune to the winds of change that are sweeping across the Middle East. They see the writing on the wall and that is why they are intensifying their efforts to build a nuclear weapon so that they can reassert their authority in the region and hold the free world to ransom.
We have surely by now recognised the abject failure of our policy of appeasement. Our attempts to appease the mullahs simply provided the regime with time to continue its promotion of terrorism worldwide and its construction of nuclear weapons at home, against a background of desperate oppression and human rights abuse.
I welcome tougher sanctions against this brutal, terrorist regime in Iran. It is worthy of note that they are one of the few remaining countries who still support Assad in Syria. There is no place for dialogue with these tyrants. Let us instead openly work for regime change and support the main opposition to the Iranian mullahs - the MEK.
STRUAN STEVENSON, MEP
