Maryam Rajavi’s solution for Iran: No war, no appeasement change through the people

Berlin (ots) – Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi advocates a “Third Option” on the Iran question: neither foreign military intervention nor political appeasement of Tehran, but rather a democratic transition of power carried out by the Iranian people themselves — supported by organized resistance and civil society mobilization.

At the core of this approach is the assessment that Iranian society has long moved beyond illusions of reform and that today’s issue is not one of cosmetic adjustments, but of ending the dictatorship and establishing a republic based on popular sovereignty, the separation of religion and state, and the rule of law. At the same time, it is emphasized that any return to authoritarian models, whether religious or monarchical, would obstruct Iran’s democratic future.

From this, she derives six immediate demands directed at the international community, particularly Europe:
(1) recognition of the right of Iranian women and men to abolish the dictatorship, as well as recognition of the struggle of young activists and Resistance Units against the repressive forces;
(2) immediate action in the UN Security Council to stop executions, especially those of detained protesters and political prisoners, and support for the nationwide “No to Executions” campaign;
(3) measures enabling the population to access a free and uncensored internet;
(4) referring Khamenei and other regime leaders to the UN Security Council for prosecution before an international tribunal for crimes against humanity and genocide, as well as legal action under the principle of universal jurisdiction;
(5) closure of regime embassies and expulsion of diplomats and agents of the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence;
(6) complete severing of the regime’s financial lifelines.

Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for the Future of Iran

1. Rejection of velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule). Affirmation of the people’s sovereignty in a republic founded on universal suffrage and pluralism;
2. Freedom of speech, freedom of political parties, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and the internet. Dissolution and disbanding of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the terrorist Qods Force, plainclothes groups, the unpopular Bassij, the Ministry of Intelligence, Council of the Cultural Revolution, and all suppressive patrols and institutions in cities, villages, schools, universities, offices, and factories;
3. Commitment to individual and social freedoms and rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Humans Rights. Disbanding all agencies in charge of censorship and inquisition. Seeking justice for massacred political prisoners, prohibition of torture, and the abolishment of the death penalty;
4. Separation of religion and state, and freedom of religions and faiths;
5. Complete gender equality in the realms of political, social, cultural, and economic rights, and equal participation of women in political leadership. Abolishment of any form of discrimination; the right to choose one’s own clothing freely; the right to freely marry and divorce, and to obtain education and employment. Prohibition of all forms of exploitation against women under any pretext;
6. An independent judiciary and legal system consistent with international standards based on the presumption of innocence, the right to defense counsel, right of appeal, and the right to be tried in a public court. Full independence of judges. Abolishment of the mullahs’ Sharia law and dissolution of Islamic Revolutionary Courts;
7. Autonomy for and removal of double injustices against Iranian nationalities and ethnicities consistent with the NCRI‘s plan for the autonomy of Iranian Kurdistan;
8. Justice and equal opportunities in the realms of employment and entrepreneurship for all people of Iran in a free market economy. Restoration of the rights of blue-collar workers, farmers, nurses, white-collar workers, teachers, and retirees;
9. Protection and rehabilitation of the environment, which has been massacred under the rule of the mullahs;
10. A non-nuclear Iran that is also devoid of weapons of mass destruction. Peace, co-existence, and international and regional cooperation.

Maryam Rajavi is the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of approximately 500 Iranian opposition groups and personalities committed to establishing a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear republic in Iran. Half of the NCRI’s members are women. The Council considers its foremost mission to prepare free and fair elections for a legislative and constituent assembly in Iran, to be held no later than six months after the fall of the ruling theocracy.