PDKI Representative Meets PACE President Petra Bayr in Austria
February 6, 2026, Mohammad Faqi Ali, the PDKI representative to Austria, met with Ms. Petra Bayr, the newly elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Austrian MP, and head of international relations for Austria’s Social Democratic Party.
During the meeting at Ms. Bayr’s parliamentary office, the PDKI representative congratulated her on her election as PACE president on January 26, 2026, and thanked her for her key role in securing the EU’s terrorist designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following prolonged advocacy efforts.
Discussions focused on ongoing human rights violations by Iran’s regime against the peoples of Iran, including Kurds. The PDKI representative urged Bayr to advocate in PACE for stronger measures to isolate the regime’s military and intelligence leaders, preventing impunity for their actions.
He emphasized that a post-Islamic Republic Iran is inevitable and called for Europe to support democratization, human rights, and a federal democratic structure in Iran. He highlighted successful federal models in Europe as examples, viewing Iran’s ethnic and cultural diversity as an opportunity rather than a threat, and warned against forces seeking to replace one dictatorship with another.
Bayr expressed pleasure at the visit, affirmed her readiness to back the proposed initiatives, and invited Faqi Ali to her party’s upcoming conference. She also mentioned plans for a potential visit to Kurdistan to meet PDKI and other political representatives.
