Prominent Colombian politician and former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt expressed her strong solidarity with the Iranian Resistance and condemned the Iranian regime’s executions and repression during an exclusive interview with Simay Azadi on the sidelines of the conference at Church House Westminster on October 11, 2025, part of the “No to Execution” Campaign Week. She emphasized that both the Shah’s dictatorship and the clerical regime represent two sides of the same tyranny and called for global unity to end executions in Iran and support the struggle for democracy and equality led by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and the NCRI.
#Iran News Alert
— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) October 15, 2025
“We say no to the Shah and no to the mullahs — two faces of the same coin,” said @iBetancourtCol in an exclusive interview with Simay Azadi at Church House Westminster.
“Going back to monarchy means going back to bloodshed. Iran deserves a democratic future.”… pic.twitter.com/m0vsxmqaTw
Full Interview
INTV Reporter: Ms. Betancourt, could you tell us why the situation in Iran matters to you and what message you wish to share today?
Ingrid Betancourt: The cause of Iran is for me very important because what’s happening in Iran is irradiating in a very bad manner throughout the world. The regime of the Ayatollahs is exporting terrorism, tyranny, and violence through its proxies.
I have a special connection with the Iranian people, and today I wanted to ensure that we join forces to fight for the right to stay alive. We are appalled to see how the regime uses a parody of justice to murder its political opponents—people whose only “crime” is to dream of democracy, of truth, of equal rights for women and men, of what we take for granted in free countries like the UK.
We know that 17 members of the MEK are on death row. We want them to know they are not alone and that we will never give up. We will do everything in our power to speak to everyone we can to put pressure on the regime to stop these executions and move toward a democratic transition in Iran.
INTV Reporter: You mentioned the Shah’s son and the slogan “No to the Shah and No to the Mullahs.” Why is this distinction so important?
Ingrid Betancourt: Because for us it’s the same — two faces of the same coin. Under the Shah there were violations of human rights, no democracy, abuse of power, corruption, torture, imprisonment, and executions. Now, 40 years later, we have another regime that has turned religion into a deadly weapon.
We must not go back in history to a monarchy that shed blood. We must open people’s eyes and explain Iran’s real history so no one is deceived into supporting the ambitions of someone who brings nothing but his father’s abuses. There is a democratic opposition—the MEK and NCRI—that has fought with its life for six decades. When we stand with them, we stand for freedom.
Exclusive interview with Ingrid Betancourt, conducted by Simay Azadi on October 11, 2025, at Church House Westminster, London.