Lord Maginnis, an independent member of the UK House of Lords and member of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF), in his July 7 article, Essential to Counter to Iran’s Regional Misconduct, for the Huffington Post, says that: “Little attention has been paid to Iran’s role in not only propping up a dictatorship in Syria, but in fuelling a sectarian strife there and in Iraq that has created and sustains groups like Daesh. Iran’s behaviour has been nothing short of criminal, and its ongoing involvement in the spread of terror has to be confronted in order to obtain a durable peace in the region.

One of the messages at the “Free Iran” rally will be a condemnation of Iran’s role in the massacre of the Syrian people and a demand for an end to Iran’s assistance to the Assad government.

Lord Maginnis states that: “Iran’s policy of aggressive expansion has not slowed down after the nuclear deal, but has in fact intensified during the Presidency of that over-rated and so-called “moderate” Hassan Rouhani. Besides the continuing military and logistical involvement in support of the Syrian dictatorship, there is support of Shiite militias in Iraq, and ongoing support for armed groups in Yemen. Behind each of these conflicts is a callous strategy by Tehran designed to expand its sphere of influence and gain a stronger foothold throughout the Middle East.”

Further, he says, “In Iraq, Tehran has taken advantage of the calamity created by Daesh in order to reassert its hegemony in the country. Despite the removal of its chief ally in Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, the rampant sectarian repression inflicted by his government continues and Iran continues to pour its military and logistical strength into the conflict. This includes armed forces, and the presence of IRGC commanders to lead Shiite militias, many of whom should clearly be deemed guilty of war crimes.”

According to Lord Maginnis, Iran’s assistance to the dictatorship of Assad allowed the chaos from that country to spill over into Iraq, left a bloodbath in Syria, genocide in Iraq, and a crisis in Yemen. 

He say that it is, “long past is the time to end the West’s policy of appeasement towards the mullahs in Tehran. It only emboldens their lust for power and expansion. The international community must meet its responsibility to effect an end to Tehran’s inflammatory actions in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. The U.S., with the U.K., has surely some obligation to identify with the Iranian people and with their organized resistance, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).”

Their President-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, put forth the NCRI’s 10 point plan for a democratic Iran. The support shown by the rest of the world at Saturday’s “Free Iran” event, will display their powerful international sympathy. The Rouhani regime’s extreme sensitivity to the activities of the Resistance and Mrs. Rajavi points out Tehran’s Achilles heel, which is the growing dissent in Iran. 

Lord Maginnis concludes, “Three years after the emergence of the front it is ever more evident that finding ‘moderates’ in his ruling theocracy is mere wishful thinking – a dangerous delusion. Confronting Iran for its egregious conduct at home and its belligerence in the region is an essential first step to avoiding further sectarian bloodshed and future warfare. The Western governments should surely recognise this reality.”