Brussels, July 3rd, 2025 – Speaking on the televised talk show European Report from the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday night ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell called today’s situation in Iran “a 1989 moment.” He recalled how conventional wisdom for many years held that the Iron Curtain that had kept the people of Eastern Europe in bondage since 1945 could not be removed. Nevertheless in 1989 the impossible became possible as the Berlin Wall came crumbling down.

“The same thing can happen in Iran,” Sandell said. “Repressive regimes, like today’s Islamic Republic of Iran, which do not have the support of its own people are doomed to fall sooner or later.”

He warned the leadership of the European Union not to repeat the mistakes from the Arab Spring when cruel dictators such as Muammar Gaddafi of Libya was given a red-carpet welcome in Brussels until the very moment when his corrupt regime finally fell. Many government leaders made the same mistake in 1989.

“This time around let us be on the right side of history, on the side of the people of Iran and not on the side of its oppressors, the repressive Islamic Republic of Iran,” Sandell said.

He concluded by saying that since the Islamic revolution in 1979 Iran has been the greatest source of destabilisation and radicalisation in the Middle East. It is therefore not only in the interest of the people of Iran that this Islamic revolution finally comes to an end but for the whole Middle East and beyond.

In the program Swedish Member of the European Parliament Charlie Weimers called for maximum pressure on the Mullahs in Tehran by having the EU finally designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.

“It is high time that the EU and its member states stop legitimising the oppressors of the Iranian people and instead support the democratic opposition. A viable future for Iran means the end of this regime,” he said but added that this decision should ultimately be in the hands of the Iranian people. “The Iranian opposition inside the country has paid a high price for standing up against their tyrants. Now they need the full moral support of the international community,” he said.

In 2023 MEP Weimers hosted Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi in his first ever visit to the European Parliament.

“it is now time that the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola finally takes her own initiative to extend an official invitation to Reza Pahlavi and other leading opposition figures to listen to their concerns, have a dialogue about the future of Iran and give them moral support,” Weimers concluded.

Sandell added, “Let the people of Iran know that they are not alone. There is a growing movement in Europe of leaders who are willing to stand up for freedom and democracy in Iran.”

The European Report is the monthly talk show of the European Coalition for Israel which is recorded in the studios of the European Parliament in Brussels. Here is the latest edition.