U.S. Senate Conference: Power Must Return to the Iranian People

Maryam Rajavi: The Iranian Resistance Seeks to Transfer Power to the People of Iran

Yesterday was International Human Rights Day.
For the brutal rulers in Iran, this day is a threat to their regime. But for our people, it is a day to honor the sacrifices made for freedom and democracy. It is a day to continue the struggle to achieve human rights and a democratic future.
The long suffering of oppressed people is reflected in valuable documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United States Declaration of Independence. The same truth applies in Iran, in its steadfast resistance to dictatorship.
Thousands of members of this Resistance have given their lives for freedom.

The Heart of Solution for Iran

Our people have endured torture, displacement, and painful hardship. Iranian women have faced terrible discrimination and brutal injustice.
All this suffering points to one solution: change in Iran through organized resistance and an organized uprising.
At the heart of this solution is democracy, both the goal and the only way, to achieve justice, progress, and a government by the people.
The change we are fighting for will come through an organized uprising, with Resistance Units inside Iran playing a central role.
Because of this, we do not ask any foreign government for money or weapons.
Our only request is that the international community recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow a regime that has occupied our country for nearly half a century.
After the fall of the religious dictatorship, we will enter a transition period.
Our goal is not to take power for ourselves; our goal is to transfer power to the people of Iran through a peaceful and democratic process.
Within six months, there will be a nationwide election for a Constituent Assembly, chosen directly by the people.

An Organized Movement for Change

This Assembly will draft a new democratic constitution and appoint a transitional government to run the country until the constitution for the new republic is complete.
The Iranian people support for this solution guarantees its success.
This solution relies on an organized movement: the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, with thousands of capable members, and a democratic alternative, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition of different political tendencies.
A wide network of supporters inside the country, along with young people seeking change, and the Resistance Units across Iranian cities, form the driving force of the uprising.
Ashraf-3 in Albania is one of the centers of the PMOI. It includes a thousand pioneering women, nearly a thousand former political prisoners, and many respected men and women who are known and trusted in cities and provinces across Iran.
A long line of Iranian experts and graduates inside and outside the country are the architects of a free Iran in the future.
I must also stress the importance and value of Senate Resolution 145, supporting the residents of Ashraf-3. We deeply appreciate the honorable Senators from both parties who have backed this resolution.

Khamenei’s Deceitful Maneuvers

Distinguished guests,
The events in Iran, especially over the past six months, have swept away fake “solutions” and false alternatives for Iran’s future.
Today, only two real options remain: either the continuation of the current situation, religious fascism, terrorism, warmongering, and the regime’s missile and nuclear programs; or real change brought by the Iranian people and their Resistance, leading to a democratic, pluralistic republic.
This situation is the result of conditions that are ready for the regime’s overthrow. Khamenei has reached the end of the road. Every decision he makes is an attempt to escape an uprising and avoid being overthrown.
He publicly rejects negotiation but secretly and out of desperation resorts to maneuvers to deceive the United States and Europe, to buy time.
More than 1,950 executions in Iran in 2025, the repeated death sentences against members of this Resistance, and ongoing efforts to destabilize the region are all part of the regime’s attempt to escape its inevitable fate.
This regime has fallen to its lowest point over the past four decades. Yet it remains the main threat to global peace and security.

Religious Fascism in Iran, the Epicenter of Islamic Fundamentalism

For more than four decades, our Resistance has warned that fundamentalism under the banner of Islam is the major threat to peace and stability in today’s world, and that its epicenter is the religious fascism ruling Iran.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the main force of the Resistance, has promoted a democratic interpretation of Islam.
It has acted as the antithesis to fundamentalism and is the main barrier against this regime.
Our demand is international firmness against this inhuman regime, including preventing the regime’s sale of oil, half of which is in the hands of the IRGC; ending the presence of the regime’s agents in Western countries; and recognizing the Iranian people’s struggle for the regime’s overthrow and the struggle of brave young Iranians against the IRGC.