Speaking at the Free Iran 2026 World Summit, former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird called on the international community to abandon what he described as the false narrative that Iran’s future is limited to a choice between the current clerical establishment and a return to monarchical rule. Baird argued that neither religious dictatorship nor hereditary governance represents the aspirations of the Iranian people, emphasizing instead the existence of an organized democratic alternative capable of leading political change. He maintained that the Iranian people deserve a future based on democratic principles rather than a return to any form of authoritarian rule.
Baird strongly criticized policies of engagement and accommodation toward Tehran, describing the ruling authorities as a force that cannot be appeased, negotiated with, or normalized through conventional diplomacy. He argued that decades of international concessions have failed to alter the regime’s behavior while allowing repression and instability to continue. Stressing the need for a more principled international approach, Baird urged democratic governments to stand firmly with the Iranian people and those working to advance political change from within the country.
Highlighting the role of the organized opposition, Baird praised the courage of Iranians seeking democratic change and expressed support for a political transition based on free elections, civil liberties, minority rights, and a non-nuclear future for Iran. He described the opposition’s political platform as a viable roadmap for democratic governance and argued that genuine change must be driven by the Iranian people themselves rather than imposed from outside. Baird concluded by expressing confidence that accountability, freedom, and democratic self-government would ultimately prevail in Iran.
Former 🇨🇦 Foreign Minister @Baird:
“The religious fascists in Tehran are evil. The people of Iran have made it clear they reject all forms of dictatorship—whether It’s the mullahs or a return to the disgraced regime of the Shah.”
CC: @MarkJCarney @AnitaAnandMP @PierrePoilievre https://t.co/winCZC2g3X pic.twitter.com/QajY4spEhA
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) June 20, 2026
The full script of John Baird’s speech follows:
Thank you. I am so thrilled to be here today.
I want to reach out to two groups of people. One, I want to reach out to all of my friends at Camp Ashraf. Your fight is our fight.
And I want to reach out to the people who are watching and listening in Iran. Your fight is our fight, we are with you, and you will win.
I think all of us are here to do one thing, and one thing among many: we’re here to confront evil, and we need to call it what it is. These religious fascists in Iran are evil.
And let me tell you, friends, you can’t negotiate with evil, you can’t appease evil, and you can’t accommodate evil.
You have to confront it, and you have to defeat it. And that is exactly what is happening in Iran today, and we will succeed very soon.
The Iranian people have made it very clear that they reject all forms of dictatorship, whether it’s the religious fascists and the mullahs, or whether it’s the return of the monarchy and the disgraced regime of the Shah.
We must reject, friends, the notion that it’s a binary choice between two dictatorships: the religious fascists or the authoritarian thugs. We need something better.
The obvious option that we’re all here to support is the creation of a democratic republic where no religious leaders and no hereditary privilege will exist.
🚨 Iran: Former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird on Iran’s Future
In a part of his exclusive interview with Simay Azadi, former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said:
“Iran has shown huge political abuses, huge death penalties going back 40+ years…..”
“The people of… pic.twitter.com/3yqKsA1bT3— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) June 22, 2026
Canadians from coast to coast-to-coast watch with great admiration and deep respect the courage of the resistance of the Iranian people this past January.
There is more political legitimacy from those on the streets in the organized resistance in Iran than from any mullah or any relative of the last dictator.
I have to join what so many speakers have said before and echo our significant disappointment with the French government for not allowing a peaceful rally to support the Iranian people.
I wanted to share with you one thing, though. I want to tell you what happened in Canada. Judy is a Liberal, I’m a Conservative, but we both live in the city of Toronto.
We saw literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians take to the street to support the Iranian people, and in Canada we could have those protests, we could have those rallies.
They were all there to support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people.
There is only one way the Iranian people will achieve their dreams for freedom, and that is to rise up and to overthrow this brutal regime.
The NCRI, under the capable leadership of my friend Madame Maryam Rajavi, has the on-the-ground organization and has assembled a large coalition of Iranians who want to overthrow and replace this regime with something better.
Through its Ten-Point Plan, it has a clear roadmap to lead Iran into a bright future.
Most importantly, for more than 40 years, the NCRI has demonstrated the courage and the determination it takes.
It has paid a very heavy price, and there will be accountability for this regime; whether you did it in 1988 or whether you did it in January of 2026, there will be accountability for these dictators.
The dictators will not win.
But I’ll tell you what will win: free elections, the separation of religion and state, gender equality, minority rights, the abolition of the death penalty, and a non-nuclear Iran.
And this is the plan of the NCRI, and this is the plan of Madame Rajavi.
This is also the plan that the people of Iran are demanding.
And all of us who share these values must stand up and must support the Iranian people in their great struggle.
We are with you. Thank you so much.
