Who is Maryam Rajavi?

Maryam Rajavi was born into a middle-class family in Tehran. One of her brothers, Mahmoud, is a veteran member of the PMOI/MEK and was a political prisoner during the Shah’s regime.
Her older sister, Narges, was killed by the Shah’s secret police, SAVAK, in 1975.
Her other sister, Massoumeh, an industrial engineering student, was arrested by the clerical regime in 1982. Pregnant at the time, she was ultimately hanged after undergoing brutal torture. Massoumeh’s husband, Massoud Izadkhah, was also executed.

Education and Early Activism

Maryam Rajavi graduated with honors from the prestigious Sharif University of Technology in metallurgical engineering.
She joined the PMOI/MEK to participate in the popular resistance against the two corrupt dictatorships of the Shah and the mullahs. In the 1970s, during her college years, she organized anti-Shah student protests.

Parliamentary Candidacy and Post-Revolution Activities

In 1980, she ran for a seat in Parliament from Tehran. But, due to widespread voter fraud by the new fundamentalist regime, none of the opposition candidates made it into Parliament. Despite the scam, Maryam Rajavi received over 250,000 votes.
She was a prominent organizer of the student movement and its demonstrations after the overthrow of the Shah. She played a crucial role in attracting high school and university students to the freedom movement. Mrs. Rajavi was one of the architects of two major peaceful demonstrations in Tehran in May and June 1981 against the rising dictatorship.

PMOI’s leadership: A new era of women’s struggle

In 1984, she became the first woman in modern Iranian history to lead a major political organization. She became co-leader of the PMOI/MEK before being elected its secretary-general four years later.
During this period, a generation of women stepped into challenging leadership roles under her guidance, bringing about a historical change in the PMOI/MEK. The female cadres of the People’s Mojahedin faced one of the most complex political battles in contemporary history against a cruel religious dictatorship. During the last three decades, competent women have been elected to head the PMOI. A woman is presently the organization’s secretary-general.

President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) is a parliament in exile. It was established in 1981 in Tehran to overthrow the mullahs’ regime and establish a republic based on universal suffrage, secularism, and non-nuclear power.
As the most longstanding political coalition in Iran’s history, the NCRI is seen as an existential threat to Iran’s ruling religious dictatorship.

What is Maryam Rajavi’s role within the NCRI?

The National Council of Resistance of Iran is a coalition of several Iranian opposition organizations and prominent personalities. During its plenary session in 1993, the NCRI elected Maryam Rajavi as its president-elect for the transitional period of transferring power to the Iranian people.

What does Maryam Rajavi’s ten-point plan consist of?

• Presented a ten-point plan for the future of Iran based on freedom, equality, separation of religion and state, and the abolition of the death penalty – 2006

What have been Maryam Rajavi’s key initiatives?

• Declared the “Third Option: No to War, No to Appeasement, Yes to Democratic Change by the People of Iran” – European Parliament (2004, 2025)
• Introduced the “Plan for Freedoms and Women’s Rights in Tomorrow’s Free Iran” at the European Parliament – March 2010
• On February 28, 2026, the National Council of Resistance of Iran announced the “provisional government for the transition of sovereignty to the people of Iran and the establishment of a democratic republic based on Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan.”

International Campaigns and Advocacy

As the NCRI President-elect, Maryam Rajavi has mounted an extraordinary political, social, cultural, and ideological challenge to the ruling mullahs in Iran. Under her leadership, women have risen to hold pivotal positions in the Iranian Resistance. Over half of NCRI members are women. They have become a prominent voice in opposition to the ruling misogynous regime. This historical development can change the path of the Middle East.

Call for an Anti-Fundamentalism Front

In 1994, during a speech delivered at the Oslo city hall, Mrs. Rajavi warned about the octopus of religious tyranny and Islamic fundamentalism whose heart beats in Tehran. She said: “Fundamentalism has turned into the greatest threat to peace in the region and the world,” adding, “The mullahs ruling Iran are pursuing their expansionist agenda and exporting crises and tensions by exploiting the religious beliefs of over a billion Muslims.”

In a speech on the occasion of the International Women’s Day in March 2013 in Paris, Maryam Rajavi called for the creation of a front against fundamentalism: “The time has come for women to further expand the wide front against fundamentalism and the extensive front against religious dictatorship, on the international level for the liberation of the peoples of the region from the scourge of fundamentalism. We must expand our front against fundamentalism before the clerical regime can expand itself.”

What are Maryam Rajavi’s main achievements?

Today, in the eyes of the Iranian people, Maryam Rajavi is the pioneer of the struggle for democratic change in Iran. She has led a global movement comprised of some of the most celebrated political and social personalities, including former US government officials and secretaries in the political and military arenas and political dignitaries and parliamentarians from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. This international movement has attained significant victories in support of the Iranian Resistance and its organized wing at Ashraf 3. The campaign has gained international credibility and legitimacy by promoting the need for regime change and establishing freedom and democracy in Iran. It has also made considerable achievements in exposing the Iranian regime’s crimes against the people of Iran, its nuclear and missile programs, and its destructive activities to export terrorism and fundamentalism.

International Campaign to Delist the PMOI/MEK

Between 1997 and 2012, due to the appeasement of the clerical regime in Iran, governments accepted the regime’s request to list the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran as a terrorist organization and severely restricted its political activities.
In the eyes of the Iranian people, this was not just an action against a political organization. The designation was also against the Iranian people’s resistance for freedom and favored the mullahs’ regime.
Maryam Rajavi led a global campaign to remove the PMOI/MEK from terrorist lists in Europe and the US while exposing secret deals in the context of appeasing the clerical regime. These efforts led to thedelisting of the PMOI/MEK in the United Kingdom in 2008 and the European Union in 2009, as well as the dismissal of terrorism charges in the June 17, 2003 dossier by a senior French Investigative Magistrate in May 2011, and the revocation of the PMOI/MEK’s terrorist designation in the United States in September 2012.

International Campaign in Defense of PMOI/MEK Members in Ashraf and Liberty

In 2009, the US government transferred the protection and security of over 3,000 PMOI/MEK members in Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government. On the orders of the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attacked Camp Ashraf in July 2009, April 2011, and again in September 2013. They killed over 100 residents and injured more than 1,000 in the process. Subsequently, the residents of Ashraf were transferred to Camp Liberty under the United Nations auspices. They were attacked several more times by missiles and rockets; dozens were killed, and many more were wounded. The objective of the clerical regime and its puppet government in Iraq was to eradicate all members of the Iranian Resistance.
Maryam Rajavi led an international campaign supporting the PMOI/MEK members in Ashraf and Liberty. The efforts included hundreds of statements issued by human rights organizations, numerous reports and statements by UN-affiliated organizations, and statements by thousands of parliamentarians worldwide, in addition to multiple resolutions passed in parliaments and international institutions. The US Congress adopted a resolution in 2015, calling for the security of PMOI/MEK members in Camp Liberty.
The relentless international and political campaigns completed the safe relocation of PMOI members from Iraq to Albania and other European countries on September 6, 2016, thus, foiling the Iranian regime’s schemes to eradicate the Mojahedin.

Movement Calling for Justice for Victims of the 1988 Massacre

In a call to the people of Iran and members and supporters of the Iranian Resistance, in August 2016, Maryam Rajavi announced the movement calling for justice for victims of the 1988 massacre in Iran. The movement’s demands included prosecution of all masterminds and perpetrators of the 1988 massacre, publication of the names, specifics, and places of burial of all massacre victims, and announcement of the identities of everyone involved in making decisions and executing the slaughter.
The Call for Justice movement rapidly grew both inside Iran and abroad. After 28 years, it turned the massacre of political prisoners into a top issue of debate in Iranian society vis-à-vis the clerical regime. The movement compelled the regime’s leaders to break their silence for over three decades and speak up about this major crime.
The families of victims embraced the call, and their efforts to publish the names of victims and the documents on this crime raised an extensive wave inside Iran.
On the international level, this resulted in numerous statements of condemnation, multiple meetings organized by the Iranian Resistance and legal experts, global denunciation of this heinous crime, and calls to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice. Specifically, in July 2024, Professor Javaid Rehman, then-UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, released a 66-page report describing the 1988 massacre as a crime against humanity and genocide.

Views

Women and the Struggle for Equality

The key to advancing and elevating the equality movement lies in aligning it with a progressive political movement. This is because true equality between men and women remains a hollow concept without women sharing in political power, holding positions in leadership and key societal decision-making, playing a substantial and equal role in economic management, and actively intervening in international politics. Authentic equality is only realized when women assume pivotal responsibilities at the very heart of the defining struggles of our time.

Women’s Leadership: The Experience of the Iranian Resistance

Our experience (within the resistance movement) has shown that breaking the spell of inequality is impossible without a quantum leap; we must, without hesitation, entrust leading positions of responsibility to the most competent women.

Advocating for Democratic Islam

Maryam Rajavi has delivered numerous speeches outlining the true message of Islam—one centered on tolerance and democracy, in stark contrast to reactionary and fundamentalist interpretations. She asserts that the pivotal dividing line between these two diametrically opposed visions of Islam is the status of women. Her published works include: “Islam, Women, and Equality,” “Women, the Force for Change,” “Women against Fundamentalism,” and “No to Compulsory Veil, No to Compulsory Religion, No to Compulsory Government.”

Separation of Religion and State

Today, our country and society needs to bring an end to tyranny under the guise of religion and establish a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state.

Equal Rights for Nationalities

The presence of oppressed nationalities constitutes a powerful and vital force for overthrowing the regime and achieving freedom; therefore, Iran’s multicultural and multilingual identity must be embraced and valued. This democratic alternative stands as the sole nationwide champion for our Baluch, Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen compatriots.

Abolition of the Death Penalty

For years, we have advocated for and insisted upon the total abolition of the death penalty. We call upon all our compatriots to wage the most widespread protests possible against this inhumane punishment.

International Conferences

Over the years, Maryam Rajavi has addressed hundreds of international conferences. She has been a guest of honor at numerous assemblies and has testified before congressional hearings in the United States and major conferences across Europe’s leading parliaments.

• Meeting at the Parliament of Norway – November 8, 2006
• The EPP Group meeting in the European Parliament – December 2006
• Meeting in the Finnish Parliament – March 13, 2010
• Meeting in the German Parliament – March 23, 2010
• Meeting in the European Parliament – December 1, 2010
• Meeting in the Italian Parliament – July 6, 2011
• Meeting of the Human Rights Committee of the Spanish Parliament – December 18, 2012
• International meeting at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva – September 19, 2013
• Meeting at the Belgian Senate – December 3, 2013
• Meeting at the Italian Parliament – December 18, 2013
• Meeting at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Norwegian Parliament – February 26, 2014
• Hearing in the Parliament of Canada – the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Human Rights – May 15, 2014
• Conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva on the UN responsibility regarding the massacres – August 13, 2014
• Conference at the European Parliament on the World Human Rights Day – December 10, 2014
• Conference at the French Senate – May 5, 2015
• The 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg – January 26, 2015
• Visiting the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, speech at the official meeting of the Group of the European People’s Party, and official meeting of the Union of Liberals and Democrats – January 26, 2015
• Rally on the International Women’s Day in Berlin featuring more than 100 female personalities from five continents – March 2015
• Hearing at the US Congress – April 29, 2015
• Conference at the European Parliament – March 2, 2016
• Conference on the World Human Rights Day in the European Parliament – December 6, 2017
• Official meeting of the European People’s Party, the European Liberal Democrats, and the Alliance of the European Left at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg – January 24, 2018
• Conference at the French National Assembly – February 21, 2019
• Conference at the European Parliament – October 23, 2019

Diplomatic Meetings

Maryam Rajavi has met with a wide range of prominent political figures, including lawmakers, diplomats, heads of state, and human rights advocates from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

• King Hussein of Jordan – September 1994
• Yasser Arafat – July 1996
• Yehudi Menuhin
• Meeting with François Hollande, first secretary of the French Socialist Party – July 2003
• Meeting with a high-level multi-party delegation of British parliamentarians
• Meeting with Ahmad Jarba, Chairman of National Coalition of Opposition Forces and Syrian Revolution in Paris – May 23, 2014
• Meeting with a delegation of British parliamentarians and personalities led by David Jones, in Auvers-sur-Oise – February 13, 2016
• Meeting with George Sabra, member of the Syrian National Coalition and one of the leaders of the Syrian People’s Democratic Party, in Auvers-sur-Oise – May 12, 2016
• Meeting with a high-ranking delegation of the Syrian resistance – June 11, 2016
• Meeting with Gérard Deprez, Belgian Minister of State and Vice-Chairman of the Budget Committee of the European Parliament – November 11, 2016
• Meeting with Senator John McCain, Chairman of the US Armed Services Committee, at PMOI headquarters in Tirana – April 14, 2017
• Meeting at the PMOI headquarters in Tirana with a high-level delegation from the US Senate, consisting of Senator Roy Blunt, Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, member of the Committees on Appropriations, Information, Legislation, Administration, Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Senator John Cornyn, Senate Majority Leader, member of the Judiciary, Information, and Finance Committees; and Senator Tom Tillis, member of the Armed Services, Judiciary, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Armed Services Committees -August 10, 2017
• Meeting with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Ashraf 3, Albania – July 11, 2019
• Meeting with a US Congressional delegation, Dana Rohrabacher, California Representative and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe, Europe-Asia and Emerging Threats; and Judge Ted Poe, Texas Representative and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Anti-Terrorism, Nuclear Nonproliferation and Trade in the House of Representatives – March 6, 2018
• Meeting with Albanian President Ilir Meta – September 16, 2019
• Meeting with US General James Jones, President Barack Obama’s first National Security Advisor and former Commander-in-Chief of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) – November 17, 1998
• Meeting with David Jones, prominent British MP, Minister for Wales in David Cameron’s government and former minister in Theresa May’s government in negotiations with the European Union – April 6, 2019

 

Books and Publications

These books present a compilation of some of Maryam Rajavi’s most important viewpoints on the future of Iran, women’s rights and freedoms, democratic Islam, the abolition of compulsory veiling and imposed religion, the roots of fundamentalism and the reasons for its expansion during the last quarter of the previous century, as well as the Iranian opposition’s deep commitment to human values and the capacity of Iranian society to bring about regime change and establish a free and advanced Iran.

These works demonstrate that the struggle of the Mojahedin and the National Council of Resistance against religious despotism is grounded in enduring principles and values that guarantee Iran’s freedom and independence, the democratic rights of the Iranian people, and tolerance in social relations.