Sid Ahmed Ghozali
On the ruins of all forms of dictatorship, Iran will be an oasis of freedom and democracy, a center of security, and brotherhood, serving the Iranian people’s interests building peaceful friendship with its neighbors and all countries of the world.
the
opportunity to serve the public interest through leading roles in energy
policy, diplomacy, and finally as prime minister. In these diverse capacities,
I was in contact with major Arab and Muslim countries and particularly with
Iran both before and after its revolution.
I
visited the country in September 1968 and met with the head of the Iranian oil
company, former PM Manouchehr Iqbal. During that visit, I clearly sensed
the Iranian people’s dissatisfaction with the situation and the regime.
I
saw the Shah for the first time at the extraordinary OPEC summit held in
Algiers on March 15, 1975.
At
a special session limited to heads of state, the Shah spoke and gave a large
picture of his country's status and achievements, glorifying the “great
achievements” he had made in various economic, military and other fields. He
went on to conclude: "In 1980 Iran will become the fourth, even the third
industrial and military power of all over the world" (sic) … Despots, at
their end, always sincerely believe in their own fantastic dreams.
Afterwards,
Algiers welcomed the revolution of the Iranian people, developed its relations
with the new regime and provided valuable services to it. Notable Algerians
worked hard to help resolve the crisis of American hostages in Tehran, and in
the Iran-Iraq war we took a neutral position.
As
foreign minister, I visited Tehran in February 1990 and met with Rafsanjani,
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and many others including the supreme
leader Ali Khamenei.
In
the 1980s and early 1990s, however, we saw that the mullahs' regime began to
provide military, financial and political support for terrorism in our country.
I am still astonished that the mullahs' regime has persisted in such
back-stabbing practices after they were exposed. Tehran’s commitment to
extremism and terrorist sponsorship was recorded in the minutes of meetings and
debates that were held, for example, between Abbas Madani, the leader of the
Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria, and Khamenei and Rafsanjani, during his
visit to Tehran in 1991.
That
is when we decided to cut ties with the mullahs' regime. Regrettably, relations
were restored nine years later, and today we see that the mullahs' regime
is again working to recruit young people in our country.
This
was past and current Iran. But let’s fast forward to the future.
I
have seen in the videos that have come out of Iran in the past few months that
the people who are dissatisfied with the regime's actions are bold and do not
fear death, but are challenging the regime in the streets of Iranian cities.
This
courage is not a coincidence, but a result of a difficult struggle that has
cost the lives of more than 120,000 members of the Iranian resistance. This
year is the 30th anniversary of a massacre committed in 1988 against 30,000
political prisoners who were members and supporters of the principal opposition
movement, Mujahideen e Khalq, or MEK. The victims sacrificed themselves for
freedom and democracy and this legacy has lately begun to bear fruit in the
Iranian street.
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