Tel Aviv, Jan 3: Iranian opposition member Vahid Beheshti has created history by becoming the first leader from the Islamic Republic to address a meeting of the Israeli Knesset, or Parliament. In the historic meeting of the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC) on Tuesday, Beheshti became the first ever Iranian opposition leader to address Parliament as Ministers, Members of Knesset, security, diplomatic and political leaders presented “day after” plans and spoke about how to turn a victory on the battlefield into something more permanent.
In his address, Beheshti said: “Soon you will have to deal with the elephant in the room, which is the Iranian government, and you should not be afraid of attacking Iranian bases in Iran. This is the only language they understand.”
The Iranian opposition figure, who is based in London rose to prominence after completing a 72-day hunger strike followed by a sit-in last month, calling on the British government to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terror organization.
“The good news is that you have an army of 80 million Iranians who are thirsty for freedom and democracy, who since 2009 have been trying to overthrow the government but have not yet succeeded, because of the barbaric violence of the Iranian regime,” Beheshti said.
He said that if Israel support the Iranian people, the regime will lower the head of the octopus and everyone will experience peace.
“The Iranian government is at its greatest weakness in 44 years. They were aware of the attack on the 7th of October in advance, they thought that after the terrible attack they would achieve a total ceasefire within two months, but it did not happen.
“Help us overthrow the government, try to imagine what the Middle East would look like without the Iranian government, just imagine,” he added.
103 people killed, 173 wounded in twin blasts
At least 103 people were killed and 173 others injured on Wednesday in two blasts near the burial ground of Iran’s late commander Qassem Soleimani in the southwestern province of Kerman, reported the semi-official Fars news agency citing Iran’s Emergency organisation.
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), the blasts occurred in an underpass one kilometer away from the burial ground, with the first one heard at 15:04 local time (1134 GMT) and the second one a few minutes later at 15:17, as people were paying homage to the late commander on his fourth assassination anniversary, the IRINN added, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the report, the cause of the blasts has not been determined yet, and rescue teams have been sent to the scene.
On Jan. 3, 2020, the U.S. military assassinated Soleimani in a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport. (IANS)
