All of you here today, every year that we have this event in Paris, the crowds grow.

This year we are expecting 100,000 people from every part of the globe, all of you, here to express your desire for freedom for the people of Iran, and democracy. The current regime in Tehran does not represent the Iranian people. The mullahs represent the past.

They represent repression against their own people; they represent a threat to their neighbors. The mullahs in Iran are interfering in the affairs of their neighbors, from Iraq to Syria to Yemen. They are sending their troops to try to promote the mullahs’ agenda in those countries, and they represent a threat to all of the Middle East and that entire region. But they also represent a world threat.

They represent a threat to the peace and security of all peoples in the world as they pursue a nuclear weapon. They are on the brink of being able to become a nuclear nation. And if they are not stopped, they will be a threat to every peace loving person in the entire world.

But there is an alternative, and it is an alternative that you know well. The PMOI, the National Council of Resistance of Iran and its leader, Madame Maryam Rajavi, are the alternative to the mullahs. She and her organization represent a democratic alternative, an alternative that believes in peace and freedom, that believes in democracy for the people of Iran, that believes in a free press, that believes in the separation of religion from the state, that believes in equal rights for all persons, including women who are most brutally repressed by the mullahs in Iran. So you today in this gathering are here to show not just each other but the entire world that we have a choice, there is an alternative, and you represent that alternative.

Today you will be joined not just from those who share your Iranian heritage, not just from those who share your Muslim religion, but you will be joined from freedom loving peoples from all over the world. We will have today, and you will hear over the course of the events today speeches and see on these stage representatives who represent dignitaries from over 600 individuals who have been in influential positions in their own government. You will hear from and see representatives of 120 Parliamentarians from around the world from the United States and other countries. And we are here to show that we are in solidarity with you. Now there is only one path to take, and that one path is to engage with the resistance to the mullahs in Iran.