Maryam Rajavi at the Parliament of Italy

The Third Option: Change by the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance

Honorable Members of Parliament and Senators,
I am deeply grateful for the convening of this session and for your attention to the critical and urgent situation unfolding in Iran.
In the early hours of Sunday, July 27, just four days ago, the religious dictatorship in Iran committed yet another appalling crime: the execution of two members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani. This brutal act is part of an ongoing pattern of repression—a crime against the youth of Iran, whose only offense was their desire for freedom. It is a crime that flagrantly violates the most basic principles of fair trial and due process. It is a crime rooted in years of torture, intimidation, and coercion that these men endured for over three years.
Time and again, the regime’s executioners gave them a cruel ultimatum: to express remorse and save their lives—or to face death and embrace martyrdom by standing firm in defense of the freedom of the Iranian people and a free Iran. But their choice echoed the unwavering resolve of the 30,000 political prisoners massacred in 1988.
Behrouz Ehsani, with extraordinary courage, declared:
“I do not bargain with my life. I am ready to offer what little I have in sacrifice for the liberation of the Iranian people.”
And Mehdi Hassani declared:
“As a supporter of the proud and honorable People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, I proudly announce that I offer my life for the freedom of my homeland and the dignity of the Iranian people.”
Indeed, this regime—teetering on the edge of collapse—resorts to executions as a desperate response to the growing support among Iran’s youth for the PMOI. The regime’s judiciary charged these two heroes with assembly and collusion against the regime’s security.
But let us be clear: assembly and action aimed at challenging the so-called security of the Velayat-e Faqih regime and rising up to overthrow it—this is precisely what every freedom-loving Iranian is ready and determined to do.
Yes, if such defiance is considered a crime, then it is a badge of honor—one that every Iranian proudly wears.
The prevailing spirit among the people of Iran today is one of uprising and resistance. Even the prisons have become centers of defiance. In response, the regime’s strategy to prevent the next uprising is a brutal crackdown: a new wave of arrests, intensified pressure on political prisoners, and death sentences targeting opponents—particularly members of the PMOI.
The fundamental question now is this:
In the decisive battle between the Iranian people and the clerical regime, where does the international community stand?
I am speaking on behalf of a resistance that, 23 years ago in August 2002, was the first to expose the covert nuclear facilities of the clerical regime and the Revolutionary Guards; On behalf of the movement that for over 43 years has revealed the regime’s export of fundamentalism and reactionary ideology under the guise of Islam—exposing their plan to export their revolution across the Middle East and reach the Mediterranean. The documents we have disclosed clearly outline the regime’s strategy: following the occupation of Iraq, to advance from Syria toward Jerusalem, and then, after Karbala, to proceed to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Indeed, the Iranian Resistance has been warning for years that appeasement, silence, and inaction by governments will only embolden the regime to commit further atrocities against humanity. Therefore, immediate and urgent action is needed to save the lives of political prisoners.
Appeasement of the clerical regime, coupled with silence, inaction, and the failure to recognize our people’s just resistance, paves the way for the regime’s wars and crimes across the region—and for the export of its terrorism worldwide. This grave mistake, perpetuated over the past four decades, will inevitably culminate in a conflict with the regime of far greater magnitude and cost.
That mistake becomes even more dangerous when we consider that Iran today represents one of the most critical challenges facing the international community.
Historically speaking, this regime—in its entirety—is now standing at the edge of collapse. A decisive moment has emerged, one that holds the potential to reshape Iran and transform the broader region.

Honorable Members,
Today, I have come to the cradle of Italian democracy to present a comprehensive roadmap—a roadmap grounded in the strength, determination, and capabilities of a nation that has risen up, and one that moves purposefully toward a momentous transformation: the overthrow of religious tyranny.
Achieving this goal is based on what we call the Third Option:
-Not foreign military intervention.
-Not religious dictatorship or appeasement of it.
-But regime change—by the Iranian people and their organized resistance.

The Third Option: A Solution to the Current Deadlock on Iran

Distinguished guests,
The false choice between appeasement and foreign military intervention stems from one critical omission: the exclusion of the Iranian people from the equation to determine their own destiny.
In contrast, the people of Iran—through immense suffering and sacrifice—have forged a clear path to victory. This is the Third Option.

Let us be clear:
-The Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance are not asking for money or weapons to bring down this regime.
-They are simply demanding that no one stand with the regime.
-The validity and authenticity of this Third Option have been tested and proven in the dramatic developments of recent years.

These developments can be summarized as follows:

1. The Third Option is the answer to the global deadlock in confronting religious tyranny in our time.
Stopping this regime from acquiring a nuclear bomb and dismantling its machinery of war and regional aggression has only one solution: Toppling the regime by the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance.

Any other path will inevitably impose dishonor and war on the world community.
The Iranian problem goes far beyond the regime’s nuclear ambitions.
At its core, it is a battle between the people of Iran—and their resistance—against religious despotism.
2. The Third Option is rooted in the uprisings and the organized resistance of Iran’s brave sons and daughters—embodied in the Resistance Units and the great Liberation Army.
It is the answer to the evil force of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

3. The Third Option encapsulates the blood and suffering of the Iranian people’s struggle—from the Constitutional Revolution to the present day—against two forms of dictatorship: monarchical and theocratic.
The two tyrannies have always ominously colluded against the interests of the Iranian people.
The Third Option turns the page on the dark chapters of both the Shah and the Sheikh and lays the foundation for a society built on freedom and democracy.

4. The Third Option is the natural evolution of the Iranian people’s historic struggle for independence and freedom.
This solution is democratic in nature, will transfer power to the people of Iran through a democratic process and establish an advanced democracy.

As the leader of the Iranian Resistance has said, this path is the historic continuation and enduring legacy of Dr. Mossadegh’s strategic doctrine of “negative equilibrium.” Its priority is the flourishing of people’s sovereignty, and Iran’s economic and social development.

Over 130 Revelations Expose the Regime’s Nuclear Bomb Program

Dear friends,
The clerical regime insists daily that it will not abandon its nuclear program.
This ominous agenda has brought nothing but devastation to Iran and its long-suffering people: the loss of two trillion dollars of national wealth, the destruction of critical infrastructure, and a country now deprived of basic necessities such as water, electricity, and gas, dragging the country into war.
Yes, Khamenei is willing to destroy the country itself to delay the inevitable downfall of his regime.
But the very Resistance movement that has thwarted the regime’s nuclear bomb making program through more than 130 revelations to date, will decisively block the regime’s path to nuclear weapons and also free the people’s sovereignty from the 46-year shackles of this regime, by drawing power from the Iranian people’s uprising.

Responding to Two False Claims

Dear friends,
Today, the regime—and those who prefer its survival over a democratic Iran—are striving to stand in the way of the regime’s overthrow by propagating two bogus assertions.
First, they claim that the regime’s opponents lack the capability to topple the regime.
Second, they argue that the regime’s overthrow would wreak havoc and mayhem in Iran.
Those who deny the capability of the Iranian people and Resistance, turn a blind eye to a movement that has fought relentlessly for over four decades against the ruling regime. This movement comprised of a vast network of Resistance Units across the country that, despite facing brutal repression, have never ceased their activities.
The regime’s supreme leader and its senior officials have repeatedly warned of its pivotal role in the uprisings.
Without a nationwide resistance movement and a capable, determined alternative confronting it, the regime would have never fallen to the brink of overthrow as it has today.
As for the claim that there will be chaos after the regime’s overthrow, I must say:
First, this hypothesis often cites experiences from countries like Iraq—yet in those cases, one of the main drivers of mayhem and disorder was interference and crimes committed by Iran’s ruling regime.
Second, Iran has a well-organized resistance movement. To date, more than one hundred thousand sons and daughters of the Iranian people have sacrificed their lives in the struggle for freedom.
This struggle has forged such deep bonds within society that even at the height of political crises, it leaves no room for division and conflict.
During the uprisings of 2009, 2017-2018, 2019, and most recently 2022, the solidarity and self-sacrifice that the people showed toward one another were among the most inspiring features of the uprisings.
In the 2022 uprising, all Iranians stood united in demanding the overthrow of the clerical regime, chanting slogans like:
“From Kurdistan to Tehran, from Zahedan to Tehran, I give my life for Iran.”
Moreover, the existence of a democratic alternative provides a solid and reliable guarantee for the country’s smooth transition through the turbulence that may follow the regime’s overthrow.
This is the guarantee offered by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), whose most important mission is to transfer power to the Iranian people.
As I have repeatedly said before, our goal is not to seize power at any cost. Our goal is to guarantee freedom, democracy, and the people’s right to freely choose, at any cost.
• As the longest-standing political coalition in contemporary Iranian history with a 44-year record, the NCRI enjoys sufficient credibility and recognition within Iranian society.
• The NCRI relies on the most organized movement in modern Iranian history, which is the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), with a 60-year history of struggle.
• It draws upon a large and diverse body of experts and intellectuals, both inside and outside Iran, who will play an effective role not only during the transition of power but also in the democratic development of the country.

Honorable Legislators, dear friends,

A majority of members from both chambers of the Italian Parliament have expressed their support—through separate statements—for the Ten-Point Plan of the Iranian Resistance. Alongside more than 4,000 lawmakers across the Atlantic, they have chosen to stand on the right side of history.
May Italy, by standing with the Iranian people and their organized resistance and by recognizing their struggle to overthrow the regime, usher in a new chapter in the historic friendship between our two nations.