Tuesday, June 16 2009

MCC urges Ottawa to reject outcome of Iranian elections

TORONTO, June 16, 2009 - The Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) has asked Prime Minister Harper's government to not accept the outcome of the Iranian elections and to suspend all diplomatic relations with Tehran.

In a letter to the Prime Minister the MCC said it was aware of massive vote rigging by the Iranian State authorities and that information from Iran suggests that the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad not only lost, but came third in the final count of votes.

In a separate statement issued today, the MCC expressed its solidarity with the Iranian people and condemned the killing of several demonstrators by the Iranian State. The statement said, what is needed today is not simply a recount of the vote, but the dismissal of the so-called supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who knew about the fraudulent vote rigging, yet authorized the result and gave it official stamp of authority.

For too long the Iranian people and its vibrant society have been repressed and oppressed by the clergy of Iran that has exercised dictatorial authority since the revolution of 1979 and shows no indication of ever relinquishing its stranglehold on power. The statement called on Muslims in Canada and around the world to show solidarity with the people of Iran in their brave struggle against the dictatorship of the Mullahs.

Now that millions of Iranian men and women have shown remarkable courage and stepped into the streets to confront the Islamic Republic, it is incumbent on democracy loving people around the world to show support for the brave Iranian people. The rigged Iranian election results are not an isolated incident, but just one more manifestation of the authoritarian and oppressive dictatorship in Iran that uses Islam to hide its criminal and murderous nature.

As long as the institution of the so-called supreme leader exists and the self-styled council of guardians controls absolute power over the electoral process and outcome, the Iranian people will not be free.

Only a dismantling of these two institutions will resolve the unending problems of Iranian society. The MCC calls on the Iranian people to continue their peaceful and non-violent struggle for democracy and dignity. Not until the clergy of Iran relinquishes its dictatorship will Iran be able to take its rightful place among the nations of the world. In this hard long struggle the MCC will stand shoulder to shoulder with Iran's democracy movement.

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For more information, please call Sohail Raza at 416-505-1613