The EP statement calls the presidential elections held in Iran last month “fake”, in that “there were no opposition candidates”. President Hassan Rouhani was elected to serve a second term, but while Western media continue to refer to him as the regime’s “moderate,” there have been more than 3,000 executions during his first four years, statistically making Iran the prime state executioner per capita in the world.

The statement reads, “Rouhani’s minister of justice is a self-confessed murderer who was a member of the Death Committee, ordering the executions of over 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, mostly from the main opposition PMOI.”

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as the MEK, is the largest member of the Paris-based political coalition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s president, has the support of the EP. High on her agenda has always been the raising of attention about Iran’s record of executions. The EP initiative specifically calls on “the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council to set up a commission of inquiry into the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran.”

The statement also calls on European nations to “condition their relationships with Iran to a halt to executions and a clear progress on human rights and women rights,” meaning that European governments should set aside short-term economic gains and stand by their principles.

It has been reported that in Iran the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have gained control of over 40% of Iran’s economy. This makes it nearly impossible for any nation to have any trade relations with Tehran without financially supporting the IRGC.

While the Guards are responsible for repression of the Iranian people at home, they are also involved in Iran’s meddling across the Middle East. This is why it is important that there be a joint effort by the US, the European Union and Middle East countries to designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.

This past Saturday, July 1st, representatives of these nations, as well as dozens of other countries from around the world, attended the annual Iranian opposition rally in Paris, along with at least 100,000 supporters, including tens of thousands of members of the Iranian Diaspora. They joined NCRI President Maryam Rajavi to express their support for her 10-point-plan calling for a democratic, pluralistic and non-nuclear Iran.

The EP statement emphasizes the issue of human rights in the future of Iran, and the demand that executions, as well as the repression of women and minorities, will be abolished.