On September 22nd, the first day of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, leaders from hundreds of countries around the world gathered as the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran captured international attention. Thousands of Iranian-Americans held a rally in front of the United Nations headquarters, protesting against the religious dictatorship of the Iranian regime.
These Iranians expressed that neither war nor appeasement policies are the solution, and the international community should impose strict economic sanctions on Iran. “We are here to tell the world that the Iranian regime does not represent the Iranian people,” said Nasir Sharif, Chairman of the Iranian Democratic Association of California. “They execute people at will, and the world should condemn such actions.”
According to Sharif, the Iranian people gathered in front of the UN to support the main opposition to the Iranian regime, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in their quest to “establish a free democratic republic.”
“We do not believe in war or appeasement policies,” stated Reza Tand, another Iranian-American leader and Chairman of the New England NCRI. “The solution lies in supporting the desires and struggles of the Iranian people for freedom. The world should stop appeasement policies, sanctions are working, we should not allow them to engage in international trade. We should hold them accountable under international law, which I believe will be more effective and bring democracy and freedom to Iran.”
Both individuals emphasized that the Iranian resistance organization is actively opposing the current Iranian regime internally. “We need to support the Iranian people,” Sharif said. “This dictatorship has executed 120,000 people during its 47 years in power, and we condemn anyone supporting the Iranian regime.”
Tand pointed out that there is a known support from the Chinese Communist regime for the Iranian government. “We believe that those committing crimes against humanity should be legally held accountable, no matter where they are!”