Honorable Charlie Weimers
Vice Chair, European Conservative and Reformists Group
Member of European Parliament, Sweden
Her Excellency Giorgia Meloni
Prime Minister, Italy
Honorable Emmanuel Macron
President, Republic of France
The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak
Prime Minster of the United Kingdom
Honorable Olaf Scholz
Chancellor of Germany
Sent via email to above parties
Dear Honorable Madam/Sirs,
We are writing this letter as a diverse group of Iranians and Middle Eastern organizations
in the diaspora to bring to your attention the uprising that has been going on in our
homeland of Iran for the past six weeks. We would like to ask for your help to make your
policies and actions consistent with your core values as European leaders.
While the protests started against the murder of an Iranian girl, Mahsa Amini at the hands
of the Sharia Police, it soon spread to issues beyond mandatory Hijab and Sharia Law,
turning into a full-fledged movement to overthrow the entire Islamic Republic theocracy.
Hundreds of protesters, many of whom women and children, have been brutally killed by
the Islamic militia and armed plain-cloths agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corp (IRGC). They have used firearms, batons, and other deadly weapons to crackdown the
unarmed youths who are asking for their most fundamental rights of expression and
assembly.
Unfortunately, European governments have been far too complacent about the nefarious
actions of the Islamic Republic regime, both domestically and internationally.
November 2, 2022
From campaigns of assassinations of dissidents including an ex-prime minister exiled in
France, to coordinating with drug cartels, to igniting sectarian wars all over the Middle East
and creating waves of asylum seekers in Europe, the Islamic Republic has been a menace to
Europe’s security and stability for decades.
However, many European leaders by looking the other way, has succumbed to the bullying
trait of the Islamic Regime in Tehran.
Despite repeated failures, various European governments insists on the policy of appeasing
the terrorist regime in Tehran and trying to bargain with the different factions within the
regime. The regime knows this and capitalizes on this shortsightedness.
Islamic Regime officials have been too confident by threatening their European
counterparts a fabricated narrative that meddling into their affairs could open up floodgate
of refugees to the already over-taxed European Union.
Your years of silence and appeasement policy has empowered the nefarious Islamic
leadership in Tehran to openly admit to its role in providing Russia with suicide drones
to target civilians in Ukraine.
In the face of this blatant violation of international treaties, European governments have
thus far, exercised reluctance, to hold the Islamic Regime accountable. Europe suffers
from a lack of strategic vision and lucid policy to restore international order. It is vitally
urgent to bring this vision back in focus.
Given the strategic alliance between Russia and Iran, we believe Europe must treat them
with the same set of policies and extend its sweeping regime of sanctions and boycott of
Russia to the Islamic Republic. This is both pragmatic and ethical. The Islamic Republic has
sided with Russia in this war and must be treated as a Russian ally. Also, similar to
sanctions on Russian Oligarchs, members of the Iranian Oligarchy should be banned from
traveling to and be sanctioned in Europe as well.
We have seen evidence of Iranian regime officials using commercial and private flights to
send their families to Europe. In addition, these transfers of people and money has resulted
in many Iranians questioning Europe’s commitment to the values it represents. We think it
is good policy and good politics to extend the oligarch ban and sanctions to the Iranian
counterparts of the Russian oligarchs.
Therefore, we call for an immediate halt to trade with the Islamic Republic, and a
comprehensive regime of sanctions against not just regime officials, since they are
interchangeable, but the entirety of the regime.
Furthermore, we call upon all the European countries to immediately cut diplomatic ties
with the regime and recall their ambassadors in Tehran.
This move will send a strong signal to the Islamic Republic regime that it is no longer
tolerated as member of the international community, and it is time for it to let go of power
and allow the people of Iran to elect their own leaders.
The stark reality on the ground is a testimony to the resilience of the Iranians and their
determination to reclaim their integrity, self-respect, and destiny, so it behooves the
European nations to stand on the right side of history.
With Liberty,
American Mideast Coalition for Democracy
Persian American Civic Action Network
European Iranian Association for Peace and Friendship (EIAPF)
