Maryam Rajavi: Iran on the Brink of Change and of the Clerical Regime’s Overthrow

Maryam Rajavi the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI): Yes, we have come to help hope and convictions flourish, so that the wall of repression is broken, and the path to overthrowing the religious tyranny is opened, so that freedom, democracy, equality, and a republic are established in Iran.

Whatever the cost, we will triumph in our great mission to transfer sovereignty to the Iranian people and their republic.

The Iranian Resistance’s Campaign Towards Victory – “We Can, and We Must”

Greetings to my fellow compatriots across Iran,
To the Resistance Units, and to you, supporters of the Iranian Resistance around the world.

The free Iran you have come to welcome is surging amid the blazing flames of uprisings, successive failures of religious fascism, and in step with the advances of the democratic alternative to the clerical regime.
In the past year, the Iranian people’s struggle has stood out because of the continued uprisings and protests nationwide, the Resistance Units’ brilliant operations and campaigns against repression, and the Iranian Resistance’s advancements on the social, political, legal, and international scenes.

Raisi’s appointment backfired
But today, I would like to take a broader look at the enemies of the Iranian people, whose pathetic predicament represents a clear indication of the final phase of the mullahs’ regime.
Ebrahim Raisi’s appointment as president and a candidate to succeed Ali Khamenei, which the supreme leader described as the first and most important development in last year’s sham election, backfired.
In addition to suppression that is always critical and decisive for the mullahs’ survival, Hassan Rouhani saw the solution to problems and crises, including water shortages, in the JCPOA. In this way, he was asking Khamenei to grant him a larger share of power.

However, Khamenei, for whom the most important redline is preserving the regime and his own hegemony, knows to where the slightest schism in this respect leads. Therefore, he saw the solution in making the regime more monolithic. Playing cat and mouse in the nuclear talks, he is dragging out the negotiations to acquire the atomic bomb, as the guarantee for the religious dictatorship’s survival.
For two years, Khamenei talked about “a young Hezbollahi government,” which he considered the solution to the regime’s internal and external crises. But Khamenei’s desired government was dead on arrival. It not only failed to be the solution, but exacerbated the problems, seriously aggravating the regime’s problems and crises. It in fact inspired the uprisings, with the chant of “Death to Raisi” becoming the rallying cry of the protest movement.

The murderer of the People’s Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK) had come to block their path, but was checkmated by the ascension of the campaign undertaken by this movement and the Resistance Units in the framework of the Iranian people’s uprisings.
In a word, Raisi’s selection, perceived to act as the regime’s savior, emerged as a signal to its end. As Massoud Rajavi, the Leader of the Iranian Resistance, stated, Raisi’s appointment was “the most obvious indicator of the phase of the (regime’s) overthrow.”

Is Iran on the brink of a revolution and of the regime’s overthrow?

Therefore, when addressing the issue of Iran, the main and most logical question, which encompasses all other questions, is whether Iran is really on the brink of a revolution and whether the regime is on the verge of being overthrown? Are we really correct about this, or are we exaggerating?
The mullahs say this is an exaggeration that makes the circumstances seem worse than they are. But, if we take a look at the people, their protests, and their slogans, the claims by Khamenei and Raisi prove invalid.

A glance at Iranian cities, and the unrelenting uprisings by millions of retirees, teachers, workers, nurses, and people fed up with high prices and inflation, makes it palpably clear that no exaggeration is at play. Ironically, the state of the regime is worse than what the press and the media report.
Over the past year, in addition to nationwide uprisings, Iranian teachers held 17 nationwide protests. Retirees took to the streets across the country 15 times.
Teachers cry, “The teachers’ movement is ready for an uprising.”
The arisen retirees say, “How much longer do we have to endure humiliation? Either death or life.”
Isfahan’s farmers chant, “Armies (of people) have come to wage war on the leader (Khamenei).”
The bereaved and rebellious people of Abadan roar, “Death to Raisi.”
Protesters in Tehran shout, “Guns, tanks, are no longer effective, Khamenei must be killed.”
Yes, this cry is Iran’s cry. As Massoud Rajavi said, “Iran and her enchained people have risen up, and dawn is near.”

Now, even the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the central pillar of the religious dictatorship, is facing incredible changes, trepidation, and tremors.
This marks the failure of Khamenei’s strategy of contraction, in that instead of unity and cohesion, it has afflicted the regime with more contradictions, schism, and conflicts. In a religious dictatorship that is rotten to core, Khamenei has now lost trust in the IRGC’s top brass and even in the division in charge of his own protection.
Khamenei’s acting representative in the IRGC said, “We will not allow viruses and termites to enter the totality of the IRGC.” The IRGC’s general commander has also declared, “The enemy wants to render us hollow from within, and this is the most dangerous form of attack.”
We tell them: no, you are mistaken. What the Iranian people and Resistance are after is the complete destruction of the IRGC as the only way bringing about the overthrow of the religious dictatorship.

The pathetic and feeble state of the IRGC is like a bloodthirsty octopus sinking in the quagmire of 40 years of crimes, but continuing to use all the means at its disposal to block freedom for the Iranian people.
What is the solution? There is one and only one solution: the definitive destruction and dismantling of the Revolutionary Guards by the uprisings and the Iranian people’s great army of freedom; by the rebellious cities and Resistance Units, by the widespread support of various strata of people who have risen up and whose protests are depriving the regime of a respite.

Iran and the rise of Resistance Units

From June 20, 2021, to June 20, 2022, the Resistance Units have carried out more than 2,350 campaigns against repression throughout Iran to pave the way for uprisings, 85% of which have been successful. The names and particulars of those arrested have been submitted to the international bodies by their friends and family members.

Reportedly, the IRGC is drawing up the maps of each and every city in an attempt to identify the areas prone to uprisings and districts whose population support the MEK. We tell them not to bother. The centers where uprisings erupt and locations where the Resistance Units relentlessly emerge are all the alleys and streets in every city across the country.
A month ago, Khamenei tried to console the Judiciary’s executioners by saying that just as the regime survived the face-off with the Mojahedin in 1981, it will also put this year behind. In his words, “The God of 2022 is the same God as the God of 1981.”
Yes, your idol, namely, the idol of flogging, executions, plunder, and massacre, is of course the same as it was back in 1981. However, since that year until now, our people and Resistance have become a thousand times more determined and battle-hardened. And the God of the heroic people of Iran is resolved to annihilate you.

To you, the enemies of the people of Iran, I say: It’s great that you have not forgotten the internal war and the face-off with the PMOI/MEK in 1981. But it would serve you better if you always remember the Eternal Light operation and the National Liberation Army advancing to the gates of Kermanshah, in western Iran. Also, never forget the Ashura anniversary in December 2009, when the rebellious and Mojahed protesters advanced to the vicinity of Khamenei’s headquarters. And you should never forget the nightmare of the November 2019 uprising.
By the way, you can thank your idol every day for having escaped being overthrown. But our people need to succeed only once, at which point no trace of religious tyranny will be left.

The regime’s nuclear impasse

My fellow compatriots,
The gambit of appointing henchman Raisi, which Khamenei believed was a cure-all, has failed. On the other hand, the strategy of Resistance Units and 1,000 bastions of Resistance was confirmed.
The Intelligence Ministry failed in its conspiracy to derail and distort the identity of the Call for Justice Movement when a criminal perpetrator of the 1988 massacre was arrested in Sweden. The scheme, similar to the hijacking of the 1979 anti-monarchical Revolution, backfired. The world saw that one of the murderers of the PMOI and other political prisoners received maximum punishment.
As for the nuclear issue, Khamenei cannot pull himself out of the vicious cycle of the JCPOA. He is at a complete impasse, and whichever way he turns, he would be the first loser. And if he continues the policy of the last 18 months, he is going down the slippery slope of being overthrown.
Now, with Raisi, the regime has entered a phase where even a nuclear bomb cannot save it.
The Iranian people’s explosive power is far greater than any nuclear bomb. But even if the regime were to retreat from acquiring the atomic bomb, it would be drinking a poison chalice that would expedite the process of being overthrown.

We tell the mullahs: Choose whichever path you desire, and do so quicker. In any case, uprisings and overthrow are awaiting.

We only recommend that you keep an eye on your negotiating team. Surround them with some of Khamenei’s representatives and IRGC counter-intelligence agents so that you would not have to arrest and imprison them for espionage like the previous teams.

What the past and present actors say

Dear Friends,
If Iran is really on the verge of a revolution and the clerical regime’s overthrow? let’s see what the past and present actors are saying. And more significantly, how will the future unfold?
The mullahs say one cannot and must not overthrow the regime.
The Shah says you were wrong to overthrow me. Don’t look for democracy and human rights except in rhetoric!
Yes, their objective is to pacify and derail the uprisings by sowing discord.
Therefore, to determine the nature of every person or group, one must ask them:
— Yes or no to the overthrow of the velayat-e faqih in its entirety?
— Which one do they agree with? The dismantling of the IRGC or collaborating with it?
— Whether they condemn the crimes, executions, and repression under the monarchical dictatorship and distance themselves from them?

Furthermore, any claimants of hereditary or non-hereditary alternatives must be asked what they have done so far. What is their political background and history of struggle? What price have they paid? What have they sacrificed for freedom, and what price have they paid or are paying for it?
One says he is proud to have defected from the regime’s ranks. Another boasts that he was once a so-called reformer or was expelled from one of the regime’s factions. And a third claims that the blood of his despotic and criminal father and grandfather runs in his veins. Their motto is to return to the monarchical dictatorship. At the same time, they can be traced back to Khamenei’s circle or to the IRGC.
Yes, they promote helplessness and hopelessness. The Shah and the mullahs overlook the outcome of 100 years of suffering and sacrifice embodied in the PMOI/MEK and the democratic alternative, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, to justify the continuation of the religious dictatorship.
Standing face-to-face with them is a generation with a historical and social mission. A generation that has paid the price of remaining steadfast in its ideals with a galaxy of martyrs since June 20, 1981. The massacre of its prisoners in 1988 is only one example.

In the fight against religious fascism, this generation, enduring several bloodbaths, has gone through difficult and complex trials and tribulations. Yes, this generation has learned from Massoud [Rajavi] to overcome deadlocks with ever-greater sacrifice, and to make the impossible, possible with a greater determination and to win victory.

The experience of resistance in Ukraine

Now, the example of Ukraine is before us. Five months of fire and blood have passed. Everyone sees the post-World War II’s 77-year history has turned a page. The Ukrainian people, representatives, and leadership have become examples to follow in Europe by reviving the tradition of sacrifice and paying the price of resistance.
The human and utopian values that had gathered dust are being revived one after the other.
Today, the rebels in Ukraine are building tomorrow’s history. Nobody will forget this. They took up arms, fought, and immortalized their resistance, regardless of the short-term results. We stand up and applaud them and the Ukrainian delegation here.

We can and we must

Now, let us imagine for a moment what would have happened to them and Europe if there had been no resistance in Ukraine and if they had not stood up to fight? What would have been their fate and, indeed, the fate of Europe?
This is the very question that our Resistance has been facing for 40 years. The secret to our Resistance, too, is offering love and the willingness to pay. Love for the people’s freedom and liberation is the infinite source of human strength. This is where faith in victory emanates from. This is where the power to attack repression and suppression starts running in everyone’s veins.
It inspires millions and millions of oppressed, battered, and plundered people to demand justice. It weakens and undermines the decadent and weary mullahs and their flagging regiment of revolutionary guards and criminals.
Yes, with such faith, you, the PMOI/MEK, the activists, the Resistance Units, and supporters of the Iranian Resistance can break down the religious fascism’s machinery of murder and repression. We can and must hoist the flag of freedom and the people’s sovereignty and a republic in our homeland.

Indeed, is “we can, and we must” just a slogan and a claim, or will it become reality? Is it reserved only for the elite, or does it belong to whoever chooses it? From here, I ask you, wherever you are and in the oppressed Iran, who can hear me: Are you among those who choose this path and this tradition of emancipation?

Yes, we can and must sing about Iran’s freedom,
With an ideal that never sets,
We can forever destroy the castle of those spreading darkness
We can and must sing about Iran’s freedom

Yes, we have come to help hope and convictions flourish, so that the wall of repression is broken, and the path to overthrowing the religious tyranny is opened, so that freedom, democracy, equality and a republic are established in Iran.
Whatever the cost, we will triumph in our great mission to transfer sovereignty to the Iranian people and their republic.

Yes, the dawn is near.
You, who have been enchained all this time,
You only have to take one more leap to break the trap
One step remains, one leap, and one stride.

We call upon all our compatriots, especially the courageous youth, to support the Resistance Units, the rebellious cities, and the arisen people.
We ask the world community to recognize the struggle of the rebellious youths against the terrorist IRGC to overthrow the ruling religious tyranny.
May you be victorious