Maryam Rajavi at Conference of Iranian Experts and Professors

The Conference of Iranian Experts in Europe and North America, held in December 2025, examined the overarching crises that have engulfed Iran under the rule of a religious dictatorship, as well as the pathways toward resolving them.
For several weeks prior to the conference, six specialized working groups conducted intensive assessments in the areas of healthcare and pharmaceuticals, energy, legal and judicial affairs, academia and research, technology, and the environment. The findings of these deliberations were presented to the conference in comprehensive reports.
A unifying conclusion emerged from these analyses. First, all of Iran’s major systemic crises are the direct consequence of a century of monarchical and religious dictatorship, and the indispensable first step toward resolving them is regime change and the establishment of democracy and popular sovereignty. Second, despite the immense damage inflicted over the past hundred years, this most beautiful homeland can and will be rebuilt through the plans and programs of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, drawing upon the country’s natural wealth, its human capital, and the commitment of patriotic and dedicated experts.

Maryam Rajavi: Iran’s Academic Community Is the Backbone of a Democratic Alternative

Esteemed professors, scholars and specialists of Iran,
Dear sisters and brothers,

I extend my warmest greetings to you all. Your gathering and your collective efforts offer a hopeful and inspiring vision of Iran’s future.
Before saying anything else, we honor the memory of the late Dr. Mohammad Sheikhi, who served as the Chairman of the Universities Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Dr. Sheikhi had intertwined knowledge with the struggle for freedom. For decades, within the framework of the NCRI, he fought for the liberation of Iran’s universities, for the freedom of students and professors under repression, and for the emancipation of knowledge and technology from the chains of religious tyranny.

The Regime’s Defeat Before the Iranian People and Resistance

Dear friends,
This gathering is of particular importance for several reasons. First, we are living in the final phase of the regime. As Massoud Rajavi has stated, the people’s front now stands just one step away from an uprising.
Second, the consequences of the mullahs’ tyranny and devastation have manifested themselves in paralyzing crises across society, bringing the prospect of uprising and regime change ever closer.
Today, signs of incapacity and paralysis are visible throughout the entire structure of the Velayat-e Faqih regime. There is not a single arena—political, economic, military, cultural, or technological—in which this regime has not suffered defeat.
In 1979, the Shah’s dictatorship collapsed without being at war with any foreign country. Despite having tied Iran’s destiny, and its own survival, entirely to foreign powers, it suffered a total defeat. It was a defeat at the hands of Iranian society and of Iran’s own history.
The mullahs’ regime, by contrast, has bound its fate to warmongering and the export of crisis. Yet in truth, this regime too has already been defeated—defeated by the Iranian people, by Iran’s history, and by the Iranian Resistance.
The question, then, is this: why did these regimes arrive at such a state of defeat?
Why, despite possessing the nation’s vast wealth and resources, despite commanding enormous military and security apparatuses, and despite enjoying a highly strategic regional and international position, did they ultimately descend into such profound paralysis and helplessness?
Was this merely the result of managerial failures?
Did they simply fail to overcome financial constraints?
Each of these factors has, of course, played a role in shaping the current situation. But none of them constitutes the root cause.
The true reason lies in the path both regimes have followed over the past century and more—a path that flows directly from their anti-popular nature: the path of dictatorship and the systematic suppression of freedom, set in direct confrontation with a society that seeks liberty and democracy.
Although the two regimes differ in their nature—one being a dependent dictatorship, the other a theocratic one—they share striking similarities in their destructiveness, plunder, betrayal of national interests, and reliance on torture and repression.
The condition of the country under the rule of the mullahs needs little explanation. Virtually everything has either been thrown into the furnace of war and repression or looted by institutions affiliated with Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
Likewise, the deafening propaganda of the Shah’s regime about achieving a so-called “Great Civilization” collapsed in its final years amid successive crises. These included the failure of agricultural projects and the mass migration of rural populations to the outskirts of cities, rampant inflation, and repeated power outages, blackouts that repeatedly engulfed Tehran, particularly between 1975 and 1977.
Khamenei, too, promised a so-called “modern Islamic civilization” and spoke grandly of a knowledge-based economy. Today, you can see the result: the Iranian nation driven into destitution.
Yes, both dictatorships have stood as barriers to the genuine advancement of knowledge over the past century. Under the Pahlavi monarchy, dependency stifled the independent development of science. Under religious tyranny, knowledge itself has been weaponized for destruction and catastrophe. The scientific and research capacity of the nation, along with the accumulated achievements of generations of Iranian scholars and specialists, has been diverted into the production and assembly of weapons of war.
Today, the name of the Iranian regime is known for roadside bombs and deadly drones.

The Squandering of Iran’s Resources

The conclusion is clear. In a century that witnessed industrial, scientific, and technological leaps across much of the world; in a century during which Iran earned thousands of billions of dollars in oil revenues; and in a century that unleashed immense human potential through two great revolutions, the Constitutional Revolution and the anti-monarchical revolution, as well as through the movement to nationalize the oil industry, the rule of these two dictatorships nonetheless condemned Iran to stagnation, trapping the country in a cycle of underdevelopment and backwardness.
Indeed, the greatest “achievement” of both dictatorships has been waste: the waste of national wealth, the waste of time, and the waste of human capital—most painfully, the squandering of Iran’s educated professionals, specialists, and university graduates.
Reza Shah squandered the precious opportunity created by the Constitutional Revolution, using it instead to build a new apparatus of repression and control.
Similarly, the mullahs’ regime wasted the unparalleled opportunity that followed the anti-monarchical revolution, devoting it to warmongering, terrorism, and the massacre of Iran’s young and progressive generations.
The reality is that the criminal mullahs’ regime is an enemy of dignified life and existence.
Right now, tens of millions of people in Iran live in poverty, fighting daily just to survive. A capital city of ten million goes without water at night. Lake Urmia, the second-largest saltwater lake in the world, has officially dried up. The country is plunged into darkness and widespread power outages. And in the past year alone, nearly 60,000 people have died from air pollution.
At the same time, brutal hangings take place at dawn every day, and more than 2,000 executions this year alone have shocked the world.
Yes, this is a simultaneous massacre of both human life and nature. Yes, this is the great crime of the mullahs’ regime.
Yet, in the face of this destruction and massacre, there are those who stand resolute, fighting for freedom and for the right of people to live freely.
This is a sacred struggle against a bloodthirsty religious tyranny, a struggle that has known no pause or respite. Nearly five decades of resistance: a long, arduous, and often bloody resistance.
If Iran today bears such deep wounds, it is equally true that hope has taken root there, a hope born from this very struggle from which uprisings flare and grow.
I am certain that the future of this land will be written by the will of those who resist the regime of massacre, and who, through their steadfastness, will secure victory.

Freedom and Democracy versus Dependency and Dictatorship

Dear friends,
The most important lesson of this past century is clear: neither dependency nor theocracy offer a path forward for Iran. Dictatorship and the systematic suppression of freedom lead to nothing but a vicious cycle of stagnation and destruction.
These crises can only be resolved through one path: freedom and democracy.
The legitimacy and authenticity of the Iranian Resistance’s solution arise from the 120-year-long struggle of the Iranian people, from the early days of the Constitutional Revolution to the present. This enduring aspiration is embodied in the twin principles of independence and liberty.
The National Council of Resistance, in its program published in October 1981, emphasized:
“Since the realization of the slogans of independence and freedom is precisely aligned with the most essential priorities for the economic, social, cultural, and political development of Iranian society at this stage, they constitute the clearest features and content of our revolution.”
Our Resistance, while steadfastly adhering to these principles, is equally determined to ensure that tomorrow’s Iran enjoys the highest levels of scientific and technological advancement.
We believe that democracy is flawed and unsustainable if equal opportunities in employment, production, and welfare are not guaranteed, and if Iranian women do not achieve full liberation and equality.
This Resistance stands as the standard-bearer and defender of social justice for the Iran of tomorrow. However, social justice cannot be achieved without liberty, democracy, and gender equality.
At the same time, all these principles, from liberty, independence, and popular sovereignty to gender equality and social justice, can advance hand in hand with scientific and technological progress.
Our message is clear: idealism and progressiveness move shoulder to shoulder with the advancement of knowledge, driving society forward and fostering its full development.
As Massoud Rajavi has long said: “Expertise that is not dependent on gold is true expertise.”
The National Council of Resistance, in its program, also emphasizes the expansion of a council-based system across all aspects of the country’s administration, calling for universities, among other institutions, to be managed independently under the oversight of a University Council.

Knowledge and the Science of Struggle

Regarding the perspective of the Iranian Resistance, it is important to note that from its inception, the movement has approached struggle itself as a form of knowledge. Its understanding of society, history, and humanity has been shaped, in large part, by scientific principles.
Belief in the possibility of transforming both individuals and society stems from this scientific and principled outlook. Our movement recognizes that in the battle of qualitative strength against the enemy’s numerical power, progress depends above all on scientific, technical, and specialized expertise.
All this not only saves lives within our movement but also greatly amplifies its capacity for struggle.
History of Iran bears witness: those who fight for knowledge and freedom in Iran have stood united on a single front against dictatorship.
Recall that just fifteen months after seizing power, Khomeini launched an assault on the universities, shutting many of them down for several years. He felt threatened by the course on comparative philosophy that Massoud (Rajavi) taught at Sharif University and by the enthusiastic response of the younger generation. Khomeini said, “The danger from the universities is even greater than the danger of cluster bombs.”
In contrast to this regime, the vast majority of Iranian society longs for freedom and progress.
Millions of educated specialists and experts among our compatriots constitute one of the most important driving forces for the advancement and development of our nation.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, along with its supporters both inside and outside the country, brings together a front of progressive specialists, researchers, and scientists. Iran’s academic community forms the backbone of a democratic alternative.
The Iranian academic community, of which each of you are leaders and representatives, forms the foundation of a solution rooted in the creative energy of the Iranian people and the struggle of its selfless combatants and PMOI freedom fighters, who today are organized in the Resistance Units.
They are today the driving force of Iran’s democratic revolution for overthrowing tyranny, and tomorrow they will be the capital of the Iranian people for rebuilding our homeland, Iran.
With such capacity in place:
First, the superstitions favored by the mullahs and their allies about chaos following the regime’s overthrow have no basis. The National Council of Resistance, backed by this competence, is fully capable of ensuring a smooth and peaceful transfer of power to the Iranian people.
Second, the devastation and setbacks caused by a century of dictatorship and dependency are fully reversible. The advancement of freedom and democracy in Iran will go hand in hand with the progress of science and technology.

The Commitment of Iran’s Scientists and Specialists

Friends,
The critical circumstances we face today make the responsibility and commitment of Iran’s scientists and specialists more essential than ever.
The great minds of Iranian knowledge, from Avicenna to Al-Biruni, Khawaja Nasir al-Din Tusi, Zakariya Razi, and Al-Khwarizmi over the past millennium, and the proud line of contemporary Iranian pioneers in science and technology, have been celebrated not only for their distinguished scientific achievements but also for their profound sense of responsibility toward their people and their homeland.
The Crimson Book of the Martyrs tells the tragic story of countless talented individuals and gifted minds lost during four decades of rule under the mullahs.
As Professor Gharib noted at the Washington Convention:
There have always been and continue to be those who dedicate all their knowledge, talent, and expertise to the struggle for the freedom of the Iranian people. Among them are the Freedom Fighters at Ashraf 3, who serve as an inspiring force for rebellion and uprising in the pursuit of liberty.
Khamenei’s clique, along with its allies and sympathizers both inside and outside the country, seeks to censor the Resistance Units and their daily anti-repression operations.
Yet, as the activities of the Resistance Units have expanded, the regime was forced just two weeks ago to respond on a large scale and acknowledge the Resistance of the brave sons and daughters of Iran. But acknowledgment or denial matters little—ultimately, it is this Resistance for freedom that will have the final word.

The Inevitable Solution Is a Democratic Revolution

Dear friends,
In today’s discussions, you examined multiple super-crises that have cast a dark shadow over the lives and destiny of our people.
Yet beyond all these challenges lies the fundamental and acute confrontation between Iranian society and the ruling regime. This is the central issue for Iran, its people, and its history, and the time to address it has come.
The inevitable solution is a democratic revolution.
Following that comes the democratic transfer of power to the Iranian people, and ultimately, the establishment of a democratic republic in our homeland, Iran.
Out of the darkness of reaction and religious tyranny, we can already see a radiant horizon, a republic of freedom, knowledge, and prosperity.
We envision a time when freshness and renewal replace stagnation, and when the sons and daughters of Iran, from the youngest to the oldest, are learning and teaching, rebuilding themselves and their society anew.
A society whose very fabric is woven from awareness and freedom.
An economy organized to cultivate opportunities and choice for every citizen.
And social relations in which discrimination and coercion are overcome by free choice, liberation, and equality.
Yes, Iran can, and must, become a garden of freedom and justice. And it will.