Wednesday, 23 January 2008
NCRI – Speaking to a meeting in Atlanta on Monday, January 21, Professor Raymond Tanter, president of the Iran Policy Committee said, “The most powerful tool the United States can use to put Tehran’s rulers on alert that gross violations of human rights must end is to empower the Iranian people for democratic change.”
“To this end, the United States should remove the terrorist designations of the main, democratic Iranian opposition groups. The evidence behind such designations is specious, and the hampering of the democratic opposition jeopardizes U.S. national security interests,” he reiterated.
Speaking on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, Professor Tanter explained King’s position on human rights abroad, which is based upon one fundamental principle: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
He went on to describe how impressively Dr. King’s legacy continued after his death and that “The ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. were a critical source of inspiration to democratic movements” around the world.
On human rights and democratic opposition in Iran he said, “The main opposition groups, the Mojahedin-e Khalq and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in stark contrast to the regime, are democratic, inclusive of women, and have as one of their highest missions the protection of human rights in Iran. In fact, NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi has looked to Dr. King’s Birmingham Letter as a source of inspiration as the Iranian people are terrorized by those ruling Tehran.”