At the second day of a major rally in New York City on September 24, 2025, former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg addressed thousands of supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). He emphasized his nearly 45-year-long support for the Iranian Resistance, dating back to his early diplomatic career during the rise of the mullahs. Ginsberg praised the NCRI and Maryam Rajavi, describing her as “an iron lady whose network inside Iran has steadily chipped away at the foundations of this regime.”
Mocking Iranian regime president Masoud Pezeshkian’s presence at the UN, Ginsberg remarked, “He will huff and puff about his bogus bomb program … but he will blame everyone except the Supreme Leader, the IRGC, and the corrupt terrorist regime that inflicts such suffering on the people of Iran.” He added that “thanks to the Resistance Units of Iran, who have sacrificed under Maryam Rajavi, that axis of oppression is no more.”
Rejecting both dictatorship and monarchy, Ginsberg emphasized: “The people of Iran do not want a return to the days when kings offered small fragments of democracy while ruling from the throne.” He called for snapback sanctions and full accountability, insisting, “This regime can never be trusted. It is irredeemable. It is unreformable. And it must go.”
The full text of Ambassador Marc Ginsberg’s speech follows:
Hello, everybody. Hello, my friends. My friends and supporters of a democratic Iran. Welcome to New York. So nice to have you here. You know, first of all, I know that you’re standing there. I promise I’ll give you one hell of a speech.
I want to convey my thanks to the members of the Organization of Iranian American Communities and to the National Council of Resistance of Iran who organized today’s Free Iran rally. How appropriate that you are here today.
Ever since my young days as a diplomat in the Carter administration, oh my gosh, almost forty-five years ago, I witnessed firsthand the rise of the mullahs and what it would mean to the peace of the world.
Ever since I’ve been 30 years old, and now I’m about to be 75, I have stood with you. I have come to know you. I’ve come to love your families. I’ve come to stand for you wherever I can. And I’ve been proud to stand against the mullahs, inspired by the democratic ideals of the people’s resistance and Madam Maryam Rajavi, who I respect and admire so much as a friend and as a leader.
You know, this president of Iran, this is his second visit, and he will come here as he spoke today to [exonerate] Iran. He will huff, and he will puff about his bogus bomb program. He will decry the decisions of the European nations—fed up with the regime’s fabrications and falsehoods—to snap back sanctions. He will blame the moon and the stars for the oppression of its people and for the wars that Iran has committed. He will blame everybody except the supreme leader, the IRGC, and that decrepit terrorist regime that brings such horror to the people of Iran.
I ask you. I ask you. Just look. Just look at the mayhem the president and his cabal [have unleashed]. [They call it an] ‘Axis of Resistance.’ What a joke that ‘axis of resistance’ is. It is a figment of the regime’s warped imagination. And thanks to the Resistance Units of Iran who have sacrificed under Maryam Rajavi, your friends, and your family, that axis of resistance is no longer.
You know, my friends, the mullahs consider nuclear bombs an insurance policy against their downfall. They blindly believe the free world will let them build a bomb and cling to power with the bomb in their hands. If they believe that, my friends, I have a bridge down the river in Brooklyn to sell them.
You know, our allies have concluded what you and I have long known. This regime can never be trusted. It is irredeemable. It is unreformable, and it must go.
This is a moment of truth to reimpose the snapback sanctions that Iran wiggled out of in 2015. Since 2015, it has violated the Iran nuclear agreement. The sanctions must be snapped back. They must be reimposed. They must accelerate the end of this regime. Let us hope that our European allies will not cave to Tehran’s ultimatum and false assurances that all will be well if the Europeans do not reimpose sanctions.
As the sanctions noose tightens around the neck of the regime, inch by inch by inch, this regime must be held accountable for more than its nuclear sins. We need to choke off their access to the international financial system and to the spare parts they desperately need to fuel their weakened economy. We need the consistent application of iron-fisted soft power, and that is vital.
The regime will be brought to justice. I promise you. This regime will be brought to justice for violating every international convention on human rights that this United Nations behind us is supposed to honor and respect.
You know, this regime will never stop lining its pockets and stealing from the Iranian people. They will never stop murdering the people who seek democracy and freedom. The people who stand tall in the streets of Iran will not stop demonstrating, will not give up. They will continue to fight. Every day across Iran, protesters are defying every shame. I know. We hear their pleas for help in Washington, in New York, in Chicago, around the world. We hear their pleas. We know you are calling us for help.
And I know, my friends, that you are here because you reject the past dictatorship in the form of the Shah and the not-ready-for-primetime Hollywood production orchestrated by his son to restore his father’s autocratic, corrupt regime. I know the people of Iran do not want to turn back the clock to the days of kings doling out little bits and pieces of democracy while they rule from the throne.
Friends, this is the sixtieth anniversary of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. For over sixty years, it has been the vanguard of democratic aspirations, providing resilience, leadership, and vital intelligence that were instrumental in helping to prevent Iran from already having the bomb. We are so proud of their sacrifices.
And along with the MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the NCRI has galvanized the democratic movement inside and outside Iran, promoting peace, resistance, and change under the tried and true leadership of Mrs. Rajavi.
Mrs. Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for Iran’s future has been embraced by so many leading Americans and statesmen around the world who have come to know and respect her. And I know I have been with her with all of these leaders. They stand by her because she is the true leader of a democratic opposition. If she were no threat, this decrepit regime would not be spending morning, noon, and night to end her rule and to end her movement.
They fear her, as well they should. You know, my friends, they know she’s an iron lady whose network inside Iran has chipped away piece by piece at the edifice of this regime. And its global network based in Ashraf 3, as well as in Europe, North America, and Australia, is so impressive. She is offering the world a democratic roadmap for a future of Iran without foreign interference or boots on the ground.
EXCLUSIVE: "This regime no longer can see another year, that it is corrupt, that it is beyond redeemable…"
Ambassador @ambmcg told Simay Azadi in an interview at the #2025FreeIranNYRally, adding that Maryam Rajavi's 10-point plan is an "aspiration for all Iranians." pic.twitter.com/hmgm9CfVZl— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) September 26, 2025
That is something that no one else is offering. The thousands of men and women in Ashraf 3 have years of experience standing up to this regime. Ashraf 3 is not just a place. It is an ideal. It is an aspiration for freedom and justice.
Ladies and gentlemen, with every protester killed, the regime just adds more fuel to the fire of their end. A change in this perverse system of government must come, but it requires all your help and all the help of the American people.
Since 1981, you have come here to this plaza demanding change, demanding freedom for your family and friends in Iran. For forty-five years, you have pleaded with the world’s leaders to stand up for freedom and justice and democracy. Iran’s future belongs to the free people of Iran and the freedom-loving people of Iran. All democracies, all of your friends and family in the United States, all of the leaders in the United States, all democracies around the world must stand with them as we do so today.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for defending freedom. Thank you.