Speech at the Conference in the Italian Parliament: The Necessity of a Sound Policy

Maryam Rajavi: The Only Way to Stop the Mullahs’ Nuclear Program Is to End Their Rule

Distinguished Italian lawmakers,
Dear friends of the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance,
I extend my greetings to all of you who have gathered at this conference to address the issue of Iran.
I believe we are all in agreement that the crisis in Iran has never been as intense and turbulent as it is today—and never before has it posed such grave consequences for the people of Iran, for the region, and for the world at large.
Over the past year, this warmongering regime has lost its grip over Syria and Lebanon, and it stands weaker than ever.
Inside the country, it is surrounded by the fury and hatred of the people and by a continuous protest movement that is determined to bring about its overthrow.

A Year Marked by Continued Executions

To preserve its rule, the regime seeks to rely on executions, heightened repression, and the expansion of its nuclear weapons program.
According to official statistics, the regime executed 1,150 individuals in the Persian year 1403 (March 20, 2024–March 20, 2025).
The new year has likewise begun with the continuation of these executions. In just one day, April 8th, five political prisoners were hanged after enduring ten years of imprisonment and torture.
In previous years, Khamenei issued orders to massacre protesters only in response to uprisings. Today, however, the regime is so cornered that it now issues preemptive commands for repression and bloodshed.
Recently, he declared: “If they are thinking of creating sedition inside the country, just like in previous years, they will be answered by the people themselves”—a thinly veiled reference to the regime’s repressive forces.

The Absence of an Effective Solution to the Iran Question

Friends,
The most important reality about the situation in Iran is this: The ruling regime is in a state of overthrow.
As a result, it sees no path forward except through intensified repression and looting—a course that, under current conditions, only fuels the outrage and defiance of the people, particularly the rebellious youth.
And yet, the international community—especially Europe—continues to suffer from the absence of a clear and effective solution to the Iran question.
Every attempt to change the behavior of the clerical regime, or even to persuade it to scale back its aggressiveness, merely grants the regime new opportunities—opportunities that bring greater insecurity to the world.
However, I must say that the confusion in the West stems from having long ignored the real solution—namely, the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance.
This has been part of a failed policy of appeasement toward this inhuman and anti-Iranian regime, a policy that, for decades, has prioritized short-term diplomatic and commercial interests over long-term strategic considerations.
Today, even Europe’s economic exchanges with Iran have plunged to their lowest levels.
Therefore, not only has it forfeited significant economic gains, but it has also borne the heavy costs of the regime’s warmongering.
They remained idle for so long that the regime’s drones and missiles eventually struck the ground in Ukraine. And its terrorists have brazenly targeted Western politicians in broad daylight—in France, the United States, Albania, and Spain.

The Third Solution to the Iran Issue

Two decades ago, at a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I proposed a third solution to the Iran issue, stating that the international community is not compelled to choose between a nuclear-armed mullahs’ regime or war.
There is a third solution: democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized Resistance.
Let me emphasize today: The people of Iran will accept nothing less than the overthrow of the religious dictatorship and the establishment of a free and democratic republic that rejects both dictatorships of the Shah and the mullahs-one that is non-nuclear, based on the separation of religion and state, and in line with the Ten-Point Plan of the Iranian Resistance.
As I stated last week at a conference at the U.S. Senate, this regime will never abandon its repression, its export of war and terrorism, or its nuclear program. The past 46 years have proven that this regime is bound by no promises or commitments. After the Resistance exposed its secret nuclear sites in 2002, Khamenei begrudgingly agreed to seal and stamp the uranium enrichment facilities. However, just one year later, he broke all seals and expanded the regime’s nuclear activities.

The Key to the Iranian Problem

Yes, the key to the Iranian problem lies in the hands of the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance.
The regime’s warmongering can be stopped, but the way to achieve that is the overthrow of the regime.
The mullahs’ access to nuclear weapons can be curtailed, but the path to that is the dismantling of this brutal dictatorship.
Their terrorism around the world can be brought to an end, but the only way to do so is to put an end to the reign of the godfather of state-sponsored terrorism.
Indeed, with an organized Resistance, an uprising, and the Freedom Army of the people of Iran, it is possible—and necessary—to end the religious dictatorship that rules Iran.
And let me add that if Europe seeks active and prosperous economic relations with Iran, expecting such a future in the current semi-destroyed Iran is no longer feasible.
Iran’s economy will only thrive with the end of the religious dictatorship and the establishment of a democratic system that allows for the active participation of all people. This is the mission our Resistance has taken upon itself.

Italy as a Pioneer of the New European Union Stance

By the way, while the European Parliament has repeatedly called for listing the regime’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in various resolutions, why do the governments of the European Union hesitate in making this decision?

• Yielding to the hostage diplomacy of the mullahs,
• Tolerating agents and spies of the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence in Europe,
• Keeping the doors open for the regime’s affiliates, even in the highest political circles of the West,
• Paving the way for demonization and the use of the greatest censorship of the century against the Resistance Movement, and
• Turning a blind eye to the regime’s exploitation of European markets and even universities for acquiring equipment for nuclear facilities and military drones- all of this must come to an end.

It is time for Europe to adopt a decisive policy against the clerical regime and stand with the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom and democracy.

We expect Italy to take the lead in forging a new stance within the European Union—one that:
1. Recognizes the legitimacy of the Iranian people’s fight to overthrow the regime and the courageous struggle of rebellious youth against the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
2. Calls for the referral of the regime’s systematic and egregious human rights violations to the UN Security Council so that its leaders may be held accountable before justice.
3. Triggers the snapback mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to reinstate all prior UN sanctions related to the regime’s nuclear projects, dismantling all of its nuclear facilities.
and places the clerical regime under Chapter VII of the UN Charter as a serious threat to international peace and security.
4. Finally, in the face of pressures and conspiracies by the religious dictatorship, supports the fundamental rights of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) at Ashraf 3 to enjoy freedom of expression and assembly under internationally recognized laws, such as the 1951 Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Italy’s national hero Garibaldi once said: “Let us fight for freedom, even if we lose everything; for without freedom, nothing has value.”
This is the very conviction that today inspires the Resistance Units and the freedom fighters of Iran—and one they are determined to fulfill.
Thank you all.