PARIS // The former Saudi spy master Prince Turki Al Faisal called for the overthrow of the Iranian government yesterday as he addressed a gathering of opposition dissidents.
“The end of your struggle will be sooner rather than later, I want this regime to be overthrown,” Prince Turki told delegates at the annual rally held in Paris.
The event organised by the National Council for Resistance in Iran (NCRI) brought together dissidents and activists living in exile from Iran around the world.
Prince Turki, who served as the Saudi intelligence chief for more than 20 years and was also the Saudi ambassador to the United States, became the highest ranking Arabian Gulf speaker to address the rally.
He said the Iranian regime’s animosity with its Gulf neighbours started soon after the revolution of 1979, when it started to threaten the stability of Arab countries.
“Ayatollah Khomeini said that he will export his revolution and directly threatened our existence, furthermore his suppression of Arabs, Armenians, Azeris, Balouchis, Sunnis and Shiites still continues,” he said.
Maryam Rajavi, leader of the NCRI, accused Iran’s leadership of supporting the massacre’s committed by the Syrian regime and called for an end to Iranian meddling in iraq and Yemen.
“So long as the regime’s occupation of Syria, Iraq and Yemen continues, one cannot confront Daesh effectively,” she told thousands of activists.
She said regime change in Tehran was the only solution to improve stability in the region.
Among those attending the two-day conference are officials, politicians and activists from a host of countries. They include former Algerian prime minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Spanish prime minister Joze Luis Zapatero, the former US Congress speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Mr Gingrich called for a more aggressive American stance towards Iran adding that the NCRI should be recognised as the legitimate democratic alternative to the Ayatollah regime in Iran.
“When I go back to America I will let them know that there are hundreds of thousands of Iranians around the world supporting the democratic opposition,” Mr Gingrich said.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
