Free Iran: Giant rally in Paris
Friday, July 8, 2016
Victory Star: The Grand Gathering for a Free IranJuly 8, 2016htt...
Victory Star: The Grand Gathering for a Free IranJuly 8, 2016htt...: The Grand Gathering for a Free Iran July 8, 2016 https://ricochet.com/grand-gathering-free-iran/ Claire Berlinski, Ed. https://...
The Grand Gathering for a Free Iran
July 8, 2016https://ricochet.com/grand-gathering-free-iran/
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Today I’ll be attending a roundtable discussion for journalists in Paris prefatory to tomorrow’s Free Iran event. Some 100,000 people are expected to attend tomorrow, including Iranian expats and their international supporters, along with “hundreds of political, social, and cultural dignitaries from the world over.”
According to the
invitation,
As you are aware,
there are various issues related to Iran that are of major concern to the world
community. These include the country’s flagrant human rights violations, its
meddling in the region (especially in Syria), its export of terrorism and
extremism, and its ballistic missile tests.
In the midst of
serious debate about the trajectory of events inside Iran and the correct
approach to long-term Western policy toward the Islamic Republic, a major
international event is scheduled to take place in Paris on July 9 to address
this pressing issue. Tens of thousands are expected to attend the event, titled
“Free Iran.” They include Iranian expats and their international supporters,
along with hundreds of political, social, and cultural dignitaries from the
world over.
A large bipartisan
group of American experts and policymakers will take part and address the
event. It will include senior officials from the past four administrations who
have been involved in key US national security policies, and they will be
joined by former senior US military commanders.
Among the topics to
be addressed by speakers at this gathering are: assessing the situation and
trend of events one year after the nuclear deal; Iran’s destructive role in
exporting fundamentalism and Islamic extremism; prospects for a solution to
Islamic extremism in general and the correct policy regarding the Iranian
regime in particular.
The event is
newsworthy from various perspectives:
· One year after the
nuclear deal, it provides a different perspective on the situation and will
offer a policy alternative to the Western countries that emphasizes the voice
of native Iranians.
· In the midst of a
very contentious US presidential campaign and political season, the event will
take place one week prior to the US Republican National Convention and two
weeks prior to the Democratic National Convention. The partisan nature of those
events and their speeches will stand in stark contrast to the rare
bipartisanship represented by the American delegation to the July 9 event.
· A sizeable number
of young Iranians who have fled Iran recently (after the nuclear deal or during
Rouhani’s presidency) will take part in the rally and will provide a unique
perspective on the situation currently faced by people living under the thumb
of the Iranian regime.
· Iranian-American
pastor, Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned in Iran since 2012 for advocating Christianity
and was released earlier this year, will be among the group of Christian clergy
who will take part in the July 9 gathering.
· There will be a
very senior group of politicians and activists from Muslim countries, including
a delegation from the moderate Syrian opposition (including those who took part
in the Geneva talks).
This is today’s
schedule:
Panel
one:
Crisis in the Middle East, Prospects and Solutions (14:30 to 16:00)
Moderator: Alejo Vidal
Quadras, President ISJ, former Vice President of European Parliament
Panelists:
Frédéric Encel, Scholar of
geopolitics, teaches international relations at the ESG Management School
Agnès Levallois, Specialist in
contemporary Arab world, project manager at the International Diplomatic
Academy
Philip Crowley, Assistant Secretary
of State from 2009 to 2011 and former senior director of public affairs for the
United States National Security Council and Special Assistant to the President
for national security affairs
Marc Ginsberg, US ambassador to
Morocco from 1994–1998 and former Deputy Senior Adviser to the President of the
United States for Middle East Policy
Panel two: One year After
Nuclear Deal (16:15 to 17:45)
Moderator: Lincoln
Bloomfield Jr.,
Chairman of the Board of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a non-partisan security
think tank in Washington, D.C. and served as the assistant secretary of state
for political military affairs from 2001 to 2005
Panelists:
Mitchell Reiss, President and CEO
of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia, former director of policy
planning at the U.S. Department of State with special emphasis on Iraq, Iran
and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Bruno Tertrais, Senior Research
Fellow at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique
Robert Torricelli, Member of the US
Senate from 1997 to 2003 and served 14 years in the U.S. House of
Representatives before being elected to the Senate.
Robert Joseph, United States
Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Under Secretary of State for
Arms Control and International Security until 2007
Frances Townsend, Former Homeland
Security Advisor to the President.
Panel three: Developments in
Iran and the Role of Opposition (18:00 to 19:30)
Moderator: Lincoln
Bloomfield
Panelists:
Kenneth Blackwell, Former Mayor of
Cincinnati and a former Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights
Commission
Linda Chavez, Founder and
Chairwoman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, author, commentator, and radio
talk show host and a Fox News political analyst and has a syndicated column
that appears in newspapers nationwide
Howard Dean, Governor of Vermont
from 1991-2003, CNBC Contributor, Founder of Democracy for America, Chairman of
Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009, Candidate for the Democratic
Nomination for President in 2004
Struan Stevenson, President of the
European Iraqi Freedom Association, former President of the European
Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq and Co Cahir of Free Iran
committee and author of the book “Self-Sacrifice, Life with the Mojahedin”.
If it’s permitted, I
could try Periscoping the discussions, if you’d like to watch them.
I’ll share my notes in the comments beneath this post. Please ask any
questions that occur to you. I’ll try to ask them on your behalf.
You can read more about the event here. Tomorrow’s speakers
include Newt Gingrich, Ambassador John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani, Louis Freeh,
Michael Mukasey, and General James Conway.
One of the other
journalists in attendance will be Ricochet favorite Michael Totten. In fact,
Michael is going to be my cat-sitter next week while I’m out of town doing
research for my book. If time permits, maybe he and I can sit down over
the weekend and record a podcast about this event.
Check the comments
later today for further updates.
Linda Chavez
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| Linda Chavez |
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