Briefing at the U.S. House of Representatives

Maryam Rajavi: Our Goal Is to Transfer Power to the People of Iran

Honorable Representatives,
Distinguished Guests,
As we are approaching Christmas and the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I also express my gratitude to the distinguished Representatives for their attention to the situation in my country and for their continued support for the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom and democracy.
I must also stress the importance of House Resolution 166, supported by 226 members, “expressing support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran,” and urging the free world to “recognize the rights of the Iranian people, the protesters, and the Resistance Units to confront the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and repressive forces to bring about change.”

The Clerical Regime Is A Threat to Global Peace and Security

The mullahs’ regime in Iran is a threat not only to the Iranian people but also to global peace and security, especially to stability in the Middle East.
Since the beginning of 2025, more than 2,000 people have been executed under various pretexts, without any legal process.
Currently, eighteen political prisoners charged with supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) are on death row.
Thousands more are in prisons across the country for their support for the resistance movement or for their political views opposing the regime.
The regime is at its weakest point and more vulnerable than ever. However, it has not abandoned its outlaw policies, because brutal suppression at home and the export of terrorism, warmongering, and its nuclear weapons programs are the pillars of its survival.
Khamenei, the regime’s supreme leader, knows better than anyone that even taking one step back will speed up the fall of the regime. That is the fate of all dictatorships when they reach the final phase of their rule.

What is the solution?

We believe that there is only one solution. This regime must be overthrown.
But let me be clear: regime change is only the duty of the Iranian people and no one else.
We have never asked any country to intervene to end this regime. We have never asked for money or weapons, and we will never do so.
We are confident that the Iranian people and their organized resistance are capable of putting an end to this brutal regime. This is a necessity for peace and stability in the region.
The policy of compromise, in the baseless hope of encouraging change from within the regime, has failed.
We have said, for more than four decades that “a viper will never give birth to a dove.”
Therefore, change by the Iranian people through organized resistance and an organized uprising is the only option.
The nationwide network of the resistance inside Iran, led by the Resistance Units, plays the central role.
We only expect that the international community recognize the Iranian people’s struggle to overthrow a regime that has destroyed our country.

Our Goal Is to Transfer Power to the People of Iran

After the fall of the religious dictatorship, a transition period will start.
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.
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 completed.
This solution relies on the people of Iran and 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.
Ashraf-3 in Albania is one of the centers of the PMOI. It includes one thousand pioneering women and nearly a thousand former political prisoners, who are an inspiring source for the Iranian people.

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 nuclear program; or real change brought about by the Iranian people and their Resistance, leading to a democratic, pluralistic republic.
While it is the task of the Iranian people to overthrow the regime, it is both the right policy and a moral obligation for democratic governments to recognize the Iranian people’s struggle for the regime’s overthrow and the struggle of brave young Iranians against the IRGC.