In a message to a meeting at the European Parliament organized by the intergroup Friends of Free Iran on November 22, former vice president of the European Parliament Alejo Vidal-Quadras, who was the target of an assassination attempt on November 9, expressed his gratitude for the support and solidarity he has received.
He commended the courage and determination of those organizing the event, highlighting their commitment to European values of democracy and freedom and refusing to be intimidated by the Iranian regime.
He called for a fundamental change in the European Union’s policy towards Iran, one that changes ineffective appeasement and negotiation with firmness, perseverance, and strength, including sanctions, diplomatic pressure, international isolation, and support for the Iranian democratic opposition. Mr. Vidal-Quadras stressed that it is time to prioritize the Iranian people and their aspirations.
The full text of the message follows:
Dear Mrs. President, Maryam Rajavi, dear co-chairs of Friends of Free Iran, Javier Zarzalejos and Milan Zver, dear colleagues and friends.
On November 9th in Madrid, I was shot in the face with intention to kill me, but miraculously, my life was preserved, although the bullet destroyed my jaw. My current state of health is of a slow recovery and it will take some time until I am at full speed. I am sure I will count with your help to make my return to work as early as possible.
First of all, I want to thank all of you from the depth of my heart for the many expressions of solidarity and support I have received from you since I was victim of this terrorist attack. Most specially I want to send my gratitude to President Roberta Metsola for opening yesterday’s plenary session mentioning my case and of course to my dearest friend Maryam, our leader and inspiration for the affection and most caring attention given to me during these days. They will always remain in my memory.
The second thing I want to do is to congratulate you for your courage and determination holding this event after what happened to me. This reflects your unweaving commitment to our European values of democracy and freedom and your personal bravery not letting the criminal Iranian regime intimidate our Institutions. It is for me a great honor having participated together with many of you of the highest moral collective project of all history: the European Union.
As a third idea, let me remind you that the Iranian regime uses four methods to impose its malignant will upon us. The first one is based on the panic Western governments feel for an Iran equipped with nuclear weapons. From that perspective, the JCPOA is purely tactical to buy time until they achieve their goals. The second is hostage taking and hostage swapping. The mullahs arrest innocent western visitors to Iran and after exchange them for convicted terrorists serving sentence in European or American territories. The third element relies on obscure interests of some big Western companies operating in Iran. On that particular point, doing business wit Iranian dictatorship is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. And the fourth and last method is the capacity of the Iranian regime to plot and execute terrorist attacks as the one I have recently suffered. We must not forget that if you accept blackmailing once you will be blackmailed forever.
Finally, let me state very clearly to you that the EU policy in relation to the Islamic Republic of Iran has to change and this change must be as profound as effective. For decades, the West has tried to appease, to negotiate, to dialogue and to make concessions. We have now all the evidences that this approach has not worked and it will never work. One can make the effort to compromise with a rational enemy. Reaching an agreement with irrational Absolute Evil is just impossible. The Iranian Regime does not want to find some balance of power between us, it wants to sweep us away from the earth surface. As far as we do not understand and accept this terrible truth we will fail and we will be defeated.
There is only one intelligent policy to be applied by the West in relation to the Iranian Regime, both principled and practical, and it is that of firmness, perseverance and strength. The right combination of sanctions, diplomatic and political pressure, international isolation and full support to the Iranian democratic opposition as expressed in the ten points plan of Mrs. Rajavi is the only way to succeed. Any other strategy is a waste of time. There are two certain paths to failure: asking for the impossible and postponing the inevitable. We have made both mistakes along the last 40 years in relation to the Iranian theocracy. It’s time to change. It’s time to live up to our ethical and political standards. It’s time to take the side of the Iranian people with no hesitation. It’s time to win.
Thanking you again for your friendship in these difficult moments for me, I hope to meet you soon in better conditions.