On September 22, 2026, former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands addressed thousands of Iranians and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gathered outside the United Nations in New York. She argued that while military pressure could weaken Tehran, lasting political change must come from the Iranian people and their organized Resistance.
Ambassador Sands stated that decades of hostage-taking, support for terrorism, nuclear ambitions, and regional destabilization had made Iran a persistent national-security challenge. However, she cautioned that managing the crisis through military action alone would not produce a durable solution. She highlighted the role of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and its Resistance Units, describing the movement’s survival and organization despite decades of repression as evidence of its capacity to confront the ruling system.ncr-iran+2
Sands also emphasized the role of women in the Iranian Resistance, pointing to the succession of women serving as MEK secretaries general and praising Maryam Rajavi’s leadership. She presented Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan—which includes free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, minority rights, and a non-nuclear Iran—as a framework for a democratic transition.
She concluded that democratic governments should recognize the Iranian people’s right to determine their own future and support an Iranian-led alternative to both clerical rule and monarchy.
🚨 Ambassador Carla Sands remarks at the rally by thousands of supporters of the NCRI and its President-elect Maryam Rajavi, outside UN, on Sept 22, 2026, calling for a democratic republic for lasting freedom and peace based on her 10-Point plan. #UNGA81 pic.twitter.com/pJnzNlHJZr
— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) September 26, 2026
The full text of Ambassador Carla Sands’ speech follows. This transcript has been edited for publication and clarity.
Good morning!
I’m thrilled to stand in front of the United Nations and speak before thousands of you who have come from all across the United States to tell the world that Iran’s seat at the United Nations belongs to the people of Iran, and not their repressive rulers.
We are gathered here today to stand with the proud nation of Iran, which has for decades strived for its freedom and democracy.
We stand with the Iranians whose struggle for freedom is inseparable from peace and tranquility around the world and, as such, serves American national security.
For decades, the Iranian regime has threatened citizens around the world. They’ve taken foreign nationals hostage and used them as bargaining chips.
It has financed terrorism, pursued nuclear weapons, exported instability, and fueled war and conflict throughout the Middle East.
The nations around the world and the American people deserve a policy that ends this threat, not one that merely manages it from crisis to crisis.
President Trump has made it clear that the Iranian regime must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon or threaten the United States and its allies without paying a price.
The past few months have shown that military action certainly weakens the regime, but only the indigenous force on the ground can deliver lasting change and peace.
The lasting solution lies in supporting the Iranian people and their organized Resistance in bringing about change from within Iran.
And that’s why we stand with the people of Iran who reject both the dictatorship of the Shah and the religious dictatorship of the mullahs.
We stand with the courageous Resistance Units confronting repression inside Iran.
And we stand with the political prisoners who continue to resist despite torture, solitary confinement, and the threat of execution.
Honored to speak to thousands of @NCRIUS supporters outside the UN! I said: Iran’s seat at the @UN belongs to its people, not its rulers. Iranians reject both the Shah and the mullahs. I stand with the Resistance Units within Iran and Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for a free… https://t.co/Cmgzi2D1GK
— Carla Sands (@CarlaHSands) September 27, 2026
These political prisoners, over the past few weeks, have courageously sent messages from prisons defending their desire to support the main Iranian opposition movement on its 60th anniversary of fighting first the Shah’s dictatorship and then the ruthless mullahs ruling Iran.
We honor the memory of all who sacrificed their lives for Iran’s freedom, and we stand with the families of the regime’s victims.
In honoring their sacrifice, we must also recognize the central role of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the MEK.
You are Iran’s leading opposition movement, and you’ve carried forward an unbroken struggle against dictatorship for 60 years.
The MEK’s members have endured imprisonment, executions, massacres, terrorist attacks, and a relentless campaign of demonization.
And yet the MEK has survived, expanded, and continued its struggle because it is rooted in a profound commitment to freedom.
And it has built an organized movement capable of confronting the regime — and you have.
On September 6, the organization entered its 60th year of struggle, and its members elected Ms. Mahnaz Meimanat as the new Secretary General of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
I can only imagine how deeply that news must have angered the mullahs ruling Iran.
But for the women of Iran, it offered one more reason for hope, pride, and renewed confidence in their own strength.
Her election is another powerful demonstration of the continuity, resilience, and organization of the Iranian Resistance and, importantly, the central role that women have played.
Since 1989, the MEK has been led by 10 successive women serving as Secretary General.
Think of that: 10 successive female Secretaries General over more than three decades.
The record is extraordinary.
And in a country where the ruling theocracy has systematically sought to restrict women’s rights and their opportunities, the contrast could hardly be more striking.
But this election has a clear message: while the mullahs are the most barbaric and misogynistic entity in the history of the world, the force that is fighting them is led by fierce female leaders.
And this by itself is enough to demonstrate that the clerical regime is doomed to be brought down by a committed Resistance.
This is a movement the mullahs have failed to destroy, silence, or push aside.
But it also demonstrates the irreplaceable and historic role of Mrs. Rajavi in making this happen.
She is not only a political leader with superb capabilities; she is not only a leader with a vision for her nation and her generation, but she is an inspirational leader with the ability and commitment to shatter historic obstacles and resonate beyond her nation, her gender, her generation, her culture.
She’s amazing.
The people of Iran are not asking foreign armies to fight on their behalf.
They’re asking the democratic world to recognize their right to fight tyranny and determine their own future.
The vision of that future is embodied in Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan:
A democratic and secular republic based on free elections, the separation of religion and state, equality between women and men, respect for ethnic and religious minorities, the abolition of Sharia law, and a non-nuclear Iran at peace with the world.
And this is not merely a vision for a free Iran. It is the practical answer to one of America’s most enduring national-security challenges.
A free, democratic, and non-nuclear Iran would not only end over a century of monarchical and theocratic dictatorships, but it would no longer finance terrorism, threaten its neighbors, take Americans hostage, or destabilize the region.
Such an Iran would become a partner for peace instead of a source of war.
The choice before the international community is clear: stand with the executioners or those facing the gallows; stand with a failed dictatorship or with an organized democratic Resistance; stand with the past or with the future.
Today, we stand with the people of Iran.
We stand with the Resistance Units.
We stand with the MEK and its 60-year struggle for freedom.
We stand with Maryam Rajavi and her democratic Ten-Point Plan.
And we look forward to the day when the people of Iran establish a free republic, and when the United States and a free Iran can finally stand together as partners in peace, security, and friendship.
Thank you very much, and God bless Iran!