Appeasing the Iranian Mullahs: Turning a Blind Eye to Medieval Savagery

Finally, after three weeks, the world grasped – and subsequently reacted to – the horrific depths of the kidnapping of over 200 innocent Nigerian school girls.

We all agree here that the nature of such an act is inhuman and disgusting because using the lives and futures of young girls as a bargaining tool is simply unacceptable. The event was so heartbreaking that people throughout the world added their voices to the common chorus of #BringBackOurGirls and activities were launched in hopes of having them safely return home.

But where is such savagery derived from? It is from fundamentalism and one thing is for sure, if there is a lack of attention to such nature, it will spread like a plague across humanity.

The evil vision of fundamentalism came to light simultaneously with the coming to power of the mullahs’ ruling Iran. As an Iranian women who has been fighting shoulder to shoulder with thousands of men and women in the Iranian Resistance against the violent misogynist dictators of Iran for over 35 years, I have witnessed first-hand how they have targeted Iranian women. The Iranian Resistance has been shouting about this threat for many years but the policy of appeasing the mullahs has turned a blind eye to this, deliberately at times, to continue a trade relationship with Iran.

We believe the international community must act and use all efforts to ensure the rescue of the girls. A firm and comprehensive stance against this medieval savagery should be adopted because, of course, if a tree is found to be poisonous, it must be rooted out otherwise it will simply spread out somewhere else.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance stated: “Therefore all religious leaders, clerics and the range of Islamic societies must condemn this anti-Islamic act and not to allow the fundamentalists who use religion as a tool to abuse the name of Islam to commit such atrocious crimes that are some of the most barefaced cases of crime against humanity.” She knows very well as her experience has shown that she is the antithesis to the fundamentalist mullahs.

The truth is that you don’t need to be one of the victims’ mothers to understand how sickening the act was. Such harm imposed upon one girl, is harm to all women. So what is left for all of us? Nothing other than to speak up and act.

Because today it’s Boko Haram but tomorrow, it will spread like wildfire unless we declare fundamentalism as haram.

Elaheh Arj is with the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Paris, France