Welcoming Nowruz as Uprising and Revolution Persist
March 20, 2023: Mrs. Maryam Rajavi the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) addressed at the gathering of the MEK members in Ashraf 3 on the occasion of Nowruz and the beginning of the Iranian New Year.
Members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and supporters of the Iranian Resistance in Paris were also connected to this ceremony online.
The full text of Mrs. Rajavi’s speech is as follows:
Maryam Rajavi’s speech on Nowruz- March 20, 2023
Congratulations on the Nowruz that follows the Iran uprising and revolution. Happy Nowruz to the rebellious cities of Iran, to all compatriots, to the PMOI freedom-fighters, and to the army of spring!
Although our cities, from Zahedan and Kurdish cities to Tehran, are drenched with the blood of 750 Iranian young men and women, like all the festivities our Resistance celebrates, we are determined to celebrate it with a bleeding heart and a smiling face. These flames ignited by the crimson blood in the night of the homeland are the spring of Iran.
Freedom, the goal of Iran’s spring
Spring is the season of the democratic revolution of the Iranian people, whose progress towards the glorious destination of freedom and popular sovereignty is definite and certain.
May glory be upon all the people of Iran in the front lines of struggle and freedom, especially upon the rebellious women and youth.
Congratulations to all political prisoners whose fighting spirit and resistance has defeated winter.
Congratulations to the parent of martyrs who laid down their lives for freedom and to Resistance Units everywhere in the homeland, to the supporters of the Iranian Resistance all around the world, and to the members and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran!
And finally, Happy Nowruz to the commander of the Freedom Army, Massoud Rajavi. May the forthcoming generations of the revolution be enlightened by his teachings, and in the midst of the tumultuous waves of uprisings, steer clear of the treacherous pitfalls of oppression and dependency. Instead, may they soar towards the noble goal of freedom under the righteous banner of democratic revolution.
Dear compatriots,
Last year, Iran’s spring was marked by uprisings. In the month of April, a nationwide protest against inflation and economic hardships spread across 28 cities.
The next month saw the collapse of the Metropol building, owned by the regime’s factions. Dozens died beneath its rubble, which triggered another upsurge of protests, quickly engulfing 29 cities.
On September 16th, the unjust and defenseless death of Mahsa Amini ignited the flames of people’s anger, and the protests rapidly spread to 280 cities. The readiness and fervor of the conditions for an actual revolution were evident for all to see.
The rainbow of the uprising
• The year of Mahsa and Kurdistan;
• The year of Zarbibi Esmail Zehi and Baluchistan, along with Khodanour Lojei and Dr. Ebrahim Rhigi;
• The year of Kian Pirfalak and “God of the Rainbow” who became symbols of the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising;
• The year of the executed protesters, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Mohammad Hosseini, Majid Rahnavard, and Mohsen Shekari;
It was a year that laid bare the regime’s weakness and ineptitude for all to witness. From the very first hour, the uprising took on a purely political nature, with the fervent chant of ‘Death to Khamenei’ echoing through the streets. The young generation and teenagers, notably female students, emerged en masse to join the protests.
The rebellious youth bravely stood up in self-defense against the ruthless IRGC forces and their plainclothes cohorts. Terrified, IRGC commanders lamented that 300 of their forces had been killed and more than 7,000 agents and IRGC personnel had been injured.
Such was the year that has passed; a year of magnificent uprisings.
The year of the growth of Resistance Units
It was a year where the Resistance Units and cities of rebellion blossomed into fruition. In July, on the occasion of the Free Iran Summit, 5,000 members of the Resistance Units conveyed their message of defiance.
Throughout the year, defiant youth targeted the IRGC command centers, from the central headquarters of the judiciary to the regime’s prisons organization, as well as the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya and Malek Ashtar Headquarters in Tehran, and the IRGC and Basij bases and command centers in cities such as Mashhad, Isfahan, Pakdasht, Kazerun, Gachsaran, Karaj, Qazvin, Bandar-Mahshahr, Urmia, etc.
They carried out thousands of other operations and activities, including in February and during the Fire Festival, marking the end of the Iranian year, despite the mobilization of 45,000 repressive forces from the IRGC and the State Security Force, in addition to 30,000 municipality agents to control the parks and squares, which is a total of 75,000 forces in Tehran, alone.
Truly, it was a year of growth for the Resistance Units, with the implementation of the strategy of 1,000 Ashrafs and the expansion of the PMOI/MEK network throughout the country.
Let us take a moment to remember Baktash Abtin, the imprisoned poet who tragically died in detention. He once said, “The missing link in my country today is people who stand up and fight.”
The call for overthrow became ubiquitous
To deal with the ongoing uprisings, the mullahs have resorted to repression, arrests, and even killing. Nevertheless, Khamenei told the Assembly of Experts: “Do not think that these riots will be the last.”
At the start of the year, Khamenei hailed the appointment of Ebrahim Raisi as the new president of the regime, proclaiming it “a sweat development.” However, as the year drew to a close, even the state-controlled press reported on the growing lack of support for Raisi among the fundamentalists.
Likewise, at the outset of the year, Khamenei espoused his commitment to promoting knowledge-based production. However, by year’s end, it became painfully apparent that his knowledge-based project was in fact centered on the horrific use of chemical and biological attacks against girls’ schools.
At the start of the year, the value of the dollar was 250,000 rials, but now it has surpassed 450,000 rials. A single egg costs 30,000 rials – a 100% increase from the previous year. Similarly, meat prices have surged to 5 million rials per kilo.
So, protesters rightfully chanted “poverty, corruption, and soaring prices – we will persist until the regime is overthrown.” The demand for overthrow has now become a ubiquitous and popular call-to-action, once only espoused by the National Council of Resistance and the PMOI/MEK.
The scandal of the revolution’s thieves
Now, it is widely recognized both within Iran and throughout the world that the position of Khamenei and the ruling regime of theocracy has become significantly weaker, more vulnerable, and more susceptible to fracture over the course of this year. It comes as no surprise that opportunistic elements have seized upon this moment of vulnerability, seeking to pilfer and imprison the spirit of this revolution and unleash a torrent of bloodshed and chaos.
Their agenda is one of sowing discord, conspiring against, and sabotaging the vanguards of the people and the revolution. They seek to reverse the course of progress and impede all forward movement. In essence, they serve as a barrier to the path of overthrow, ultimately benefiting Khamenei, the reformists, and the regime’s appeasers.
Overthrow, the regime’s impasse
It is truly concerning that, we are facing a regime that has spent two years using the coronavirus, as a human shield to preserve its own survival, resulting in the death of over 550,000 Iranians. And now, it has resorted to chemical attacks on schools and poisoning of female students to intimidate and impede them.
The mullahs, however, are aware that they will face uprisings that will uproot their very foundation. The year 1401 (2022-2023) has clearly demonstrated that despite the brutal suppression and massacres of 2018 and 2019, the strategy of repression is no longer effective.
However, for the ruling clerics, not resorting to suppression could lead to even worse consequences.
The tactic of fence-sitting has its own consequences, and in the end, it will result in something bad or worse for them. Yes, the crux of all these is the impasse of the regime’s overthrow. A fate that is certain, inevitable, and inescapable for this regime.
Iranian people’s victorious political campaigns
Fellow compatriots,
This year, not only domestically, but also on the international stage, the regime faced successive defeats. The European Parliament, as well as the parliaments of the Netherlands and the UK, approved labeling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. The regime’s efforts to remove the IRGC from the U.S. list of designated terrorist organizations failed. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors passed a resolution against the regime.
Albania cut diplomatic relations with the regime.
The emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council established an international fact-finding mission to investigate the regime’s crimes in the recent uprising.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council expelled the dictatorship of the mullahs from its Commission on the Status of Women due to the oppression and massacre of women and girls in Iran.
A Swedish court sentenced a brutal killer of political prisoners in the Gohardasht prison in 1988 to life imprisonment.
In Belgium, the political and legal campaign of the Iranian Resistance thwarted the regime’s secret plan to free its diplomat-terrorist and send him to Tehran, which had been ongoing for eight months. After eight months, the Belgian Constitutional Court, while confirming the law on the exchange of prisoners that had been approved by the Belgian Parliament, granted us the opportunity to present our case once again in a lower court.
Growing international support for the Iranian people’s uprising
In the United States, Resolution 100, cosponsored by the majority of Congress, marks the remarkable progress of the Iranian people’s uprising and the Resistance. Elected representatives of the American people declared that they stand with the people of Iran, who legitimately defend their rights to freedom against oppression. This resolution recognizes the Iranian people’s right to fight for a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state and a non-nuclear Iran.
One of the important impacts of the progress of the Iranian Resistance in the international arena is evident in the fact that the Iranian Foreign Ministry, in an embarrassing and ridiculous imitation, blacklisted 61 prominent American figures, dozens of members of the Friends of a Free Iran parliamentary groups in Europe, and officials of the International Committee in Search of Justice, for supporting the Mojahedin, and imposed sanctions on them!
We saw that the supporters of the Iranian Resistance one by one said that they were proud to be listed by this regime.
Last year was the year of uprising and revolt, and this year is the year of preparation for the final battle.
Iran’s social spring is on its way!
In the eternal struggle between the seasons of spring and winter, the inevitable law of life triumphs with the victory of blossoming and growth, while darkness and stagnation fade away into the past.
As for the destiny of humanity and society, Massoud Rajavi once said, “In the social evolution and spring that forms around the human collective and social form, unlike the spring of nature, progress is a conscious and deliberate act. The human and social spring is a creation born of man’s offspring, a follower of conscious and free elements, and an expression of will.”
In the year 1401, which came to an end, the people of Iran doubled their determination for a great shake-up and cleansing of Iran from regression and dictatorship. With a magnificent uprising, they declared that the winter of oppression and dictatorship will not prevail. They said that the radiance of freedom and the blossoming of the definite spring of the people is inevitable.
That was the year 1401: a disgruntled generation rose up in the streets, universities, and schools from north to south and from east to west of the country.
It was a year that saw the revolution blaze brightly and offer revolutionary solutions, which directed its anger and discontent toward both the current and former dictatorships.
The slogan of “death to the oppressor,” directed at both the Shah and the Supreme Leader, echoed the call for a democratic revolution in Iran. It created an impassable border between the Iranian people’s front and religious and monarchist fascism. The movement quickly became a symbol of resistance against all forms of coercion and oppression. Its slogan was: No compulsory hijab, no compulsory religion, no compulsory government.
The movement aimed for the eradication of all signs of dictatorship, from the dissolution of the absolute power of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the dissolution of any absolute lifelong governance, be it crowned or turbaned.
The new day of the Iranian people’s republic draws near
Emerging from the deadly winter and darkness, the Nowruz of the Iranian people’s Republic and the sovereignty of the free vote shall soon dawn.
The loud roar of no to submission and the sorrowful lamentations is the outcry of a living and inspired people’s conscience. Along with it, a loud voice is echoing in the sky of Iran, which is the call of hope, brightness, and growth. This voice is the voice of the Resistance Units, and the footsteps of the great army of freedom; the same army of spring, adorned with a 100,000 red flowers in action.
This year, once again, the people of Iran have left behind the regression and archaism, and the tyrannies of both the sheikh and the shah in the cold and darkness of winter and, with a fighting spirit and a revolutionary fervor, are moving towards the gateway of spring. It is better to say that they are moving towards a spring of freedom – a freedom that is free from all the chains and constraints of regression and colonialism. It is a spring in which the fresh and youthful blossoms of these rebellious sons and daughters of Iran flourish, as they sacrifice and pay the price side by side. They will not leave the streets until they reclaim their country.
And now, the ticking of the clock approaching the year 1402 announces the year of preparing for the final battle.
The Mojahedin and the Iranian Resistance, organized Resistance Units, revolutionary youth, conscious and fervent students, all marching with a chant on their lips toward the path of freedom.
Yes, freedom, democracy, equality, brotherhood, justice, progress, peace, and genuine development for all the children and nationalities of Iran, for Iran is the land of all of them.
As we enter the new year, we recite:
Oh Turner of hearts and sights,
You who can transform hearts and minds.
Oh God of revolutions and uprisings,
Master of night and day’s revolving,
You who bring forth the dawn of freedom from the darkness of oppression and chains.
Oh Controller of circumstances and situations,
You who topple systems and governments,
We beseech You to change our state to a better one.
Bring us to the best of times for our people and homeland; to the freedom and sovereignty of the people’s republic.
Happy Nowruz and the beginning of the year 1402 to the people of Iran and all of you.
