A group of European former and current Members of Parliament (MEPs) and other experts gathered at the European Parliament in Brussels on January 23, 2024, to launch a document produced by the Friends of a Free Iran (FOFI) Intergroup on the Iranian regime’s interference in European institutions.

Event:

The document, titled “Iran Experts Initiative: A Covert Operation to Manipulate European Policy and Demonize the Iranian Opposition,” details how the Iranian regime has been using a network of so-called “Iran experts” to influence European policies and decision-makers. These experts have been peddling misleading information designed to demonize the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its primary component, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).

The document also exposes how the Iranian regime has been using the Experts Network to penetrate governments, think tanks, and advisory groups at the highest levels, and to spread regime propaganda in Western media.

Speeches:

Speaking at the event, Javier Zarzalejos, Member of the European Parliament from Spain, said that the Iranian regime’s interference in European institutions is a matter of grave concern and called for an end to the failed policy of appeasement with the regime.

Struan Stevenson, former MEP and co-chair of the In Search of Justice (ISJ) Committee on the Protection of Political Freedoms in Iran, said that the Iranian regime’s disinformation campaign is a central part of its strategy for survival and warned that the regime is hoping to use “Realpolitik” to dictate that governments around the world should accommodate the regime by making concessions.

Farzin Hashemi, a senior member of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the Iranian regime’s interference in European institutions is just the tip of the iceberg and that the regime is using a variety of tactics to suppress the Iranian people’s desire for democracy.

The speakers at the event urged the European Union to blacklist the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in its entirety and to stand by the Iranian democratic opposition movement. They also called on the international community to support the cause of a free and democratic Iran.