Conference: The Solution to the Iran Crisis and the Role of the Democratic Alternative
Maryam Rajavi: There is an Iranian solution for this criminal and belligerent regime
Distinguished Guests,
Honorable Attendees,
I warmly welcome you all to the home of the Iranian Resistance. On behalf of my fellow compatriots, I send you heartfelt greetings.
I also salute the freedom fighters in Ashraf 3. We are truly delighted to have you with us at this gathering.
Dear Friends,
The Middle East is in turmoil, and our nation is navigating extraordinary circumstances.
In recent months, significant and successive changes, both within Iran and beyond its borders, have plunged the regime into a state of instability and rendered its future untenable.
Two years ago, during the widespread uprisings that erupted in more than 280 cities across Iran, the Iranian people demonstrated their determination to overthrow the regime. It became evident that the religious dictatorship had entered its final phase.
In an attempt to prevent future uprisings, the mullahs’ regime turned to war in the Middle East. Yet, after 14 months, it stands as the strategic loser in the conflict, as Massoud Rajavi, the Leader of the Iranian Resistance had foreseen.
This is particularly noteworthy as the clerical regime’s stronghold in Syria has now crumbled. The recent developments in Syria reveal the eruption of a volcano of fury among the innocent people of that nation. By backing the Syrian dictator, the Iranian regime bears direct responsibility for the massacre of at least half a million people and the displacement of millions more. During the 2010s alone, the regime provided Syria with extraordinary financial support amounting to no less than $50 billion.
Consider the current scene in Syria: Assad’s military, heavily armed and bolstered by the Iranian regime’s extensive backing, is disintegrating like snow under the summer sun. The Revolutionary Guards and Khamenei’s intelligence and security forces can expect no different fate when confronted with the Iranian people’s uprising and their organized resistance.
For years, the protest movement in Iran has been driven toward ending the regime’s existence, as a sea of blood—marked by the execution of over 100,000 political prisoners—separates the people from this regime.
Moreover, pervasive censorship, repression, discrimination and oppression of women, religious persecution, and the oppression of marginalized ethnic groups, along with inflation, unemployment, and economic stagnation, all have fueled the growing discontent.
The Clerical Regime: The Strategic Loser of the War
On the other hand, the clerical regime continues to provide daily funding, weapons, and logistical support for its proxy groups across the region.
The regime has adopted a militaristic budgeting approach. For instance, in the proposed budget for the upcoming year (2025), the allocation for the armed forces from oil revenues exceeds the total funding for all government ministries combined. Meanwhile, the budget for vital infrastructure sectors such as education, healthcare, industry, communications, energy, and transportation has been drastically reduced.
Recently, the entire country has faced severe electricity shortages. The investment in the electricity sector, which stood at approximately $6.5 billion in 2008, has now plummeted to around $500 million—just one-thirteenth of the previous budget.
In addition, the regime has resorted to multiplying the prices of goods by several folds. Since the beginning of the 2010s, food prices have risen by a factor of 40.
Two weeks ago, the regime’s president admitted that the government’s crises have reached a tipping point.
In recent months, nurses, teachers, retirees, and workers— including those in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries— have repeatedly protested and gone on strike.
However, the most significant existential threat to the regime is the organized resistance of the Iranian people and the expansion of the Resistance Units which is evident in their daily operations throughout the country.
The Regime’s Crisis in Four Key Aspects
The current situation of the regime can be summarized in several key points, including:
First – The ruling regime is confronted with explosive societal discontent and is incapable of preventing the inevitable uprisings.
Second – The regime has not been able to quell the organized resistance, and today, the Resistance Units have become established as an effective entity in society.
Third – The regime’s regional balance of power has dramatically weakened, and its proxy forces have been crippled.
Fourth – It cannot back away from its strategy of war and repression, has no capacity for even the smallest reforms, and is unable to escape its economic collapse.
While the clerical regime has turned to war in the Middle East to preserve its decaying power, it cannot avoid the coming uprisings and its eventual downfall. The Iranian people’s struggle for freedom will certainly triumph.
Repression, War, and Nuclear Bombs: Three Strategic Elements for the Regime
Dear Friends,
Let me highlight another aspect: the desperate clerics’ pinning their hope on the West’s appeasement of their regime. They attempt to deceive the West and secure its support in order to stay in power. Over the past three decades, whenever the regime and Western governments have sought to negotiate, we have consistently said: go ahead, negotiate, but do not be deceived by the clerics.
Khamenei and his regime engage in talks to gain approval for more executions. They negotiate to fuel war and chaos in the region. But they will never abandon the three core elements of their strategy: repression, war, and the development of nuclear weapons.
Some in the West are attached to commercial deals with the regime. However, the benefits of such trade pale in comparison to the damage this regime inflicts on global peace and security.
Others believe that the overthrow of this regime will lead to instability. Yet, the events of the past 14 months have once again shown that the primary source of instability and destruction in the region is this very regime.
Some, influenced by the regime’s propaganda and its lobbyists, spread the great lie that the alternative to this regime is chaos and terrorism.
For this criminal and belligerent regime, there is an Iranian solution.
This solution is the overthrow of the regime by the Iranian people and their organized resistance.
The key elements to achieving this goal are as follows:
The deeply discontented and incensed people, along with the Resistance Units—components of the Liberation Army—that, through the preparation of an organized uprising, are the driving force for change in Iran and will bring it to fruition.
The democratic alternative represented by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which, with its international recognition and credibility, and a clear program, is leading this struggle.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), with thousands of experienced cadres, and Ashraf 3, one of its centers, which serves as a source of inspiration for the struggle of women and youth in Iran for freedom.
This resistance is financially independent, relying on its own support within Iran. It has also been the first to expose the regime’s nuclear program and its interventionist policies in the region.
According to the NCRI platform, after the overthrow of the regime, a provisional government will be formed for a maximum period of 6 months, with its primary responsibility being the organization of elections for a constituent assembly.
Subsequently, sovereignty will be transferred to the representatives of the people in this assembly, who will elect a new government for a period of two years to draft, approve, and hold a referendum on the constitution of the new republic.
With a competent alternative in place, there is no room for chaos.
Millions of Iranians abroad, with their expertise and resources, will return to Iran. A wide range of Iranian specialists will form an important part of the necessary workforce to build Iran’s future.
The Iranian Resistance emphasizes the importance of women’s freedoms and rights, the autonomy of ethnic minorities, equality between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims, as well as other religions, and the separation of religion from the state. It calls for the abolition of the death penalty and for a non-nuclear Iran that will always advocate for peace in the Middle East.
As I have repeatedly said: We have never asked any government or power to take action for change in Iran.
However, we call on the entire world to: Firstly, recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow the regime. Secondly, as emphasized in the statement of 510 German lawmakers last July: “The Iranian regime has closed all political avenues for change. Therefore, the free world must recognize the right of the Iranian people to revolt and the right of the Resistance Units to confront the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).”
Human Rights Cause
Honorable guests,
On the occasion of December 10, the International Human Rights Day, we pay tribute to the women and men who have kept the flame of the human rights cause alive through their sacrifices.
Freedom, human rights, the right to gender equality and the rejection of religious coercion have been the subject of the ongoing struggle of the Iranian people against the ruling regime for the past 46 years. They have fought for these principles steadfastly and with enormous courage.
More than 100,000 of the best sons and daughters of Iran have lost their lives in the fight against this regime, including 30,000 political prisoners who were executed in 1988 under a brief order by Khomeini, the founder of this regime.
The record of the countless crimes committed by the ruling clerics is marked by horrifying events, such as the execution of 13-14-year-old girls, elderly mothers, and pregnant women, the assassinations of Christian priests, as well as the invention of dozens of torture methods. Tens of thousands of women who rose up in resistance against this misogynistic dictatorship were tortured or executed.
This history highlights two key realities: on the one hand, the inhuman nature of the ruling regime, and on the other, the resilience of the Iranian people, particularly women.
This year, the history of human rights in Iran was again drenched in blood. Nine political prisoners, including the heroes of the 2022 uprising, were hanged, and death sentences were issued one after another for ten members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), as well as many other brave children of the oppressed Baluch, Kurdish, and Arab peoples.
Last week, six political prisoners were sentenced to death for alleged membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
Religious tyranny is tightening its grip even further each day, closing every possible escape route to prevent the eruption of uprisings. With sweeping mass arrests, and executions that have risen to over 870 in the past 11 months, the regime’s repression is relentless.
Recently, the clerics have passed a misogynistic law that mobilizes dozens of ministries and other government bodies to enforce the mandatory hijab on women. This criminal, inhuman, and anti-Islamic law declares war on society and is an attempt to impose even tighter control and repression. However, it will ultimately backfire due to the resistance of the Iranian people.
Let us look at the history of the last century and the contemporary history of Iran. Indeed, which dictatorship has survived against peoples thirsting for freedom? Khamenei, with his ruthless Revolutionary Guards and his judiciary of executioners, will not withstand the uprising and the Iranian people’s great army of freedom.
And the world will soon witness the fall of the religious dictatorship in Iran.
Thank you all.
