A conference held at the Australian Parliament in Canberra on August 19, 2026, commemorating the 38th anniversary of Iran’s 1988 massacre of political prisoners, called for international action against ongoing executions, repression and impunity in Iran.
Australian parliamentarians, human-rights advocates, members of the Iranian-Australian community and representatives of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gathered to demand accountability for past and ongoing crimes, reject policies of appeasement, and support the Iranian people’s right to determine their own political future.
Speakers highlighted the NCRI and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as an organized resistance movement capable of leading democratic change. Particular attention was given to Resistance Units operating inside Iran and to the NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan as a framework for establishing a democratic and pluralist republic.
The conference rejected both the current clerical dictatorship and a return to monarchy, including any externally imposed political role for the Pahlavi family or the Shah’s son. Participants also urged Australia to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), refer serious crimes committed in Iran to international justice mechanisms, and support Iranian activists seeking freedom, equality, justice and human dignity.
🚨 Highlights | Australian Parliament Conference: From the 1988 Massacre to Today’s Executions
Lawmakers, senators, and representatives of Iranian communities gathered at the Australian Parliament in Canberra for a conference marking the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of… pic.twitter.com/KpxGUCDBLZ— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) August 23, 2026
Maryam Rajavi: The 1988 Massacre Remains Central to Iran’s Struggle for Freedom
In her keynote address, delivered by video, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, placed the 1988 massacre of political prisoners at the center of Iran’s current struggle for freedom and democracy.
She said Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s execution decree targeted PMOI prisoners who remained “steadfast in their positions” despite torture and abuse. According to Mrs. Rajavi, approximately 30,000 people were hanged during the massacre, 90 percent of them PMOI members.
Mrs. Rajavi stressed that the Iranian regime continues to regard the PMOI as its principal threat. She said Resistance Units, which form part of the organized PMOI network operating in Iranian cities, had conducted 200 anti-repression operations across Iran’s provinces during the previous month.
“In recent months, nine members of the PMOI have been executed,” Mrs. Rajavi said. “Dozens of other young individuals who participated in the uprising have also been hanged. In the regime’s courts, they bravely declared that they had risen up to overthrow the regime, and just before their execution, they collectively sang songs of freedom inside prison.”
She also argued that the regime has sought to exploit war conditions that have continued for approximately 15 months as a cover for confronting what it considers its main enemy: the Iranian people and their organized resistance.
“The regime welcomes war conditions that have lasted for about 15 months, using the situation as cover to confront its main enemy: the Iranian people and Resistance,” she declared. “Amid the war, the ruling regime also attempts to conceal its fundamental weakness. Its empty show of force is a major deception. A clear sign of the regime’s deadly impasse are deep divides at the top of the ruling establishment.”
Mrs. Rajavi presented organized resistance led by the Iranian people as the means of achieving regime change, rather than relying on war or foreign intervention. She also rejected the prospect of restoring the monarchy, emphasizing that Iran would “neither tolerate the current dictatorship nor return to the past.”
She described the NCRI as advocating a democratic republic founded on the separation of religion and state and free elections. She called for the application of universal jurisdiction, referral of the 1988 massacre to the UN Security Council, and the inclusion of an end to executions in Iran in any international agreement.
Mrs. Rajavi concluded by calling for three specific measures:
- Governments should prosecute the Iranian regime’s perpetrators under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
- The 1988 massacre of political prisoners, as a crime against humanity, together with the regime’s other major crimes against the Iranian people, should be referred to the UN Security Council.
- Ending executions in Iran should be included as a key demand of the Iranian people in any international agreement.
Throughout the past 38 years, the regime has maintained the pattern of the 1988 massacre. Every time, it brutally suppresses the people's resistance and uprisings. Despite all this, the resistance to change the regime continues.
A country whose people pay such a heavy price for… pic.twitter.com/OczIbp93a4— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) August 19, 2026
Rob Mitchell: “War Is Not the Answer, Nor Is Appeasement”
Australian parliamentarian Rob Mitchell described the conference as an expression of solidarity with “the brave people of Iran” and with Iranian-Australian communities.
He condemned the Iranian regime’s domestic repression, missile and nuclear programs, support for armed proxies, and what he described as “brutal acts of violence and intimidation.”
Referring to the 1988 massacre, Mitchell said approximately 30,000 political prisoners had been killed and argued that its anniversary should be a moment for reflection rather than silence.
Mitchell endorsed Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, describing it as a foundation for free and fair elections. He emphasized that “war is not the answer, nor is appeasement.”
He also referred to measures taken by Australia in response to the Iranian regime, including the closure of Australia’s embassy, the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador, the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and targeted sanctions against more than 230 individuals.
In his closing remarks, Mitchell pledged that Australian political figures would continue supporting the Iranian people’s aspirations for freedom and democracy.
Senator Paul Scarr: Supporting a Roadmap to Freedom, Democracy and Peace
Senator Paul Scarr of Queensland said he had signed Mrs. Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan and supported it as “a roadmap for the people of Iran to secure freedom and democracy and peace.”
Recalling his participation in solidarity events in Brisbane in 2022 following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, Senator Scarr spoke of the stories of loss and continuing resistance he had heard from members of the Iranian-Australian community. He said these experiences had strengthened his personal commitment to supporting the Iranian people.
He praised the community’s efforts to expose human-rights violations and expressed sympathy for families whose loved ones were named in the memorial book commemorating victims of the 1988 massacre.
Senator Scarr also addressed the security of Iranian diaspora activists. He warned that any attack on their freedom of expression, including foreign interference or transnational repression, would be “an attack on me as an Australian parliamentarian.”
He concluded by expressing hope for a future gathering at Parliament House to celebrate Iran’s achievement of freedom and democracy.
Phil Glendenning: Iranians Do Not Want to Replace One Dictatorship With Another
Phil Glendenning, former president of the Refugee Council of Australia and emeritus director of the Edmund Rice Centre, connected the testimony surrounding Iran’s human-rights crisis to Australia’s civic responsibility.
He cited former Irish President Mary Robinson’s description of Mrs. Rajavi as “the bravest and the most courageous woman in the world,” while praising her commitment to the Iranian people.
Glendenning said that more than 90 percent of those killed in the 1988 massacre were PMOI members or supporters and warned that political prisoners and young activists in Iran remain at risk.
He strongly rejected the idea that Iran’s future should involve replacing the current dictatorship with another authoritarian system.
“We had the Shah’s dictatorship, we’ve had the clerical dictatorship, and we don’t want to return to another Shah’s dictatorship,” he said.
Glendenning also rejected an externally imposed solution centered on the Shah’s son or the Pahlavi family. Instead, he called for democracy, human dignity, equality, justice, the rule of law and the Iranian people’s right to self-determination.
Speaking on behalf of the Australian Supporters of Democracy in Iran, he endorsed the Ten-Point Plan, demanded an immediate halt to executions and the unconditional release of political prisoners, and delivered a message of solidarity to Iranians watching from abroad: “You’re not alone.”
Dowlat Nowruzi: Neither Appeasement Nor War Can Provide a Solution
Dowlat Nowruzi, the NCRI Representative to the United Kingdom, described Iran’s human-rights crisis as inseparable from the regime’s broader political strategy.
She cited executions, mass arrests, torture and internet shutdowns, as well as the regime’s use of terrorism, war and a covert nuclear program, as tools for concealing internal failures and pressuring the international community into continued appeasement.
Nowruzi argued that years of dialogue and negotiation had failed to alter the regime’s behavior, while foreign war could make it more difficult for Iranians to organize protests and pursue democratic change.
“Neither appeasement nor the war are any solution,” she said.
She identified Mrs. Rajavi’s “third option”—regime change led by the Iranian people and their organized resistance—as the alternative. Nowruzi specifically highlighted Resistance Units as the operational expression of this organized movement inside Iran.
She presented the NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan and its proposed provisional government as a framework for a transition toward free elections and the transfer of power to elected representatives.
The principles outlined in this framework include a democratic and pluralist republic, separation of religion and state, gender equality, minority rights, abolition of the death penalty, a non-nuclear Iran and peaceful coexistence.
Nowruzi urged Australia to recognize the Iranian people’s right to self-determination and to support efforts to hold perpetrators of human-rights abuses accountable.
Dr. Mahasti Taheri: Repression Is a Threat to Public Health and Human Well-Being
Dr. Mahasti Taheri examined Iran’s repression from a public-health perspective.
“The greatest threat to the health and well-being of its people is not disease, but systematic repression,” she said.
Dr. Taheri argued that executions inflict lasting trauma on families and communities and are deliberately used to intimidate society and silence dissent.
She commemorated the approximately 30,000 political prisoners killed during the 1988 massacre and noted that around 90 percent of the victims were PMOI members or supporters.
She also highlighted the execution of young and educated Iranians and said that the organized PMOI movement had continued its activities despite the killing of approximately 120,000 of its members and supporters.
Dr. Taheri presented the Ten-Point Plan as a democratic program encompassing free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, judicial independence, protection of minorities, freedom of expression, abolition of the death penalty and peaceful coexistence.
She emphasized that Iran’s future must be determined by its own people rather than by political factions or foreign powers, and stressed the role of women in leading democratic change.
Invoking the medical principle that prevention is better than treatment, Dr. Taheri called for concrete international action, including referring serious human-rights abuses to the UN Security Council and pursuing accountability through international justice mechanisms.
The conference ultimately underscored a common message: the Iranian people should be supported in their pursuit of freedom and democracy, perpetrators of serious crimes should face accountability, executions should end, and Iran’s political future should be determined by its people.