Iranian Opposition Head: People of Iran ‘Demand Freedom,’ Only ‘Regime Change’ Can Deliver It

The leader of the opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran told European lawmakers that lasting peace in the Middle East hinges on “regime change by the people of Iran and the organized resistance,” asserting it is up to Iranians — not foreign powers — to topple the Islamic Republic, as Israel intensifies its unprecedented campaign of airstrikes against Tehran.

“The crisis of overthrow has now engulfed the entire clerical dictatorship — a reality that is visible to all,” declared Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), during her address to Members of the European Parliament on Wednesday. 

She said Israel’s surprise strike on Friday, which triggered a broader conflict, “marks the beginning of a critical new chapter, both in Iran’s internal crisis and in the broader dynamics of the region.”

“It is essential to emphasize that the central and ongoing conflict — unfolding over the past 44 years since June 20, 1981 — is the struggle of the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance against the ruling religious fascism,” Rajavi noted.

“The only viable solution remains the overthrow of this regime by the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance,” she added.

Rajavi reminded lawmakers that 21 years ago she stood before the same parliament urging support for a “third option” for Iran — not appeasement or war, but regime change led by the Iranian people and the organized resistance. At the time, she warned that appeasing the clerical regime would only embolden it and eventually drag the West into conflict.

Drawing on the lessons of history, Rajavi warned against repeating the mistakes of appeasement, invoking the “Munich experience” as a cautionary tale. 

“Let us not allow the Munich experience to be repeated — with clerics armed with nuclear bombs,” she said. 

She asserted that her past warnings had now come to pass, with appeasement policies emboldening the regime and contributing to the current war.

Rajavi reiterated that the Iranian Resistance has never placed faith in reform from within, stating, “A viper never gives birth to a dove — and religious dictatorship is inherently incapable of reform.” She argued the regime’s core has always been driven by terrorism and fundamentalism, with an unrelenting pursuit of nuclear weapons and no willingness to abandon its enrichment program.

“These truths have been proven,” she stated.

“The conclusion is clear,” Rajavi declared, “the solution to this war and crisis lies in the overthrow of this regime and regime change by the Iranian people and their Resistance.” She pointed to the National Council of Resistance of Iran as the only viable alternative — one rooted in a 44-year history of organized struggle against the Islamic Republic.

She emphasized that true change cannot be imposed from outside elements, pointing to Iran’s troubled history of outside interference — from Britain’s installation of the monarchy to the CIA-backed 1953 coup. That path, Rajavi argued, paved the way for Khomeini’s rise.

She also appeared to take aim at Iranian monarchists rallying behind the exiled son of the deposed Shah, suggesting Iran’s future cannot be shaped by recycled autocrats or figureheads from the past. 

After six decades of resistance against both monarchy and theocracy, Rajavi declared, “The people of Iran will accept no form of dictatorship — they demand freedom. Yes, a free Iran. That is exactly why I am here today.”

Rajavi has presented a comprehensive Ten-Point Plan outlining a democratic future for Iran — an agenda backed by over 4,000 lawmakers, 130 former world leaders, 80 Nobel laureates, and the majority of the U.S. House of Representatives. The plan envisions a transitional government leading to free elections and the establishment of a secular republic. 

It also calls for universal suffrage, a market-based economy, gender and ethnic equality, the separation of religion and state, and a peaceful, non-nuclear foreign policy.