Maryam Rajavi: Iran’s Uprising Has Entered an Irreversible Phase Toward Regime Change

In a wide-ranging interview, Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), described the current wave of unrest in Iran as a decisive and irreversible stage in a revolutionary process that began nearly a decade ago. She said the ongoing uprising differs fundamentally from those of 2019 and 2022 in its level of organization, nationwide social participation, and explicit aim of overthrowing the ruling system.

According to Rajavi, unlike earlier protests triggered by specific events such as fuel price hikes or the killing of Mahsa Amini, the present movement is not tied to a single grievance. It reflects a deep accumulation of political awareness and a collective determination to end the rule of the Supreme Leader. She stressed that workers, students, teachers, bazaar merchants, women, youth, and ethnic minorities across all provinces are now involved, making it the most socially comprehensive uprising in modern Iranian history.

She highlighted the role of organized Resistance Units linked to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), saying they have transformed scattered protests into a coordinated national movement capable of confronting the state’s security apparatus. Rajavi argued that regime change will not occur through foreign pressure or diplomatic decisions, but only through an organized popular resistance inside the country.

Looking ahead, Rajavi outlined a detailed roadmap for a post-regime transition. She said the NCRI has prepared a framework for a provisional government that would organize free elections for a Constituent Assembly within six months of the regime’s fall. This body would then draft a new constitution and establish a democratic republic based on gender equality, separation of religion and state, judicial independence, and full political freedoms.

She rejected any return to monarchy, describing it as historically authoritarian and incompatible with popular sovereignty. In contrast, she said the NCRI’s vision is rooted in republicanism, free elections, and the rule of law, with no role for hereditary or religious authority.

Rajavi emphasized that women and youth are the driving force of the uprising. Women, she said, are not only protesters but organizers and leaders, breaking decades of imposed discrimination and fear. The younger generation, shaped by economic hardship and political repression, has brought energy, creativity, and resilience, forming the backbone of the Resistance Units.

On Iran’s future, Rajavi predicted not a return to the past but a historic leap toward a democratic, secular, pluralistic, and non-nuclear republic. She said decades of repression have strengthened, rather than weakened, Iranians’ commitment to freedom and human rights, and that the fall of the current system would mark the beginning of a cultural and political renaissance led by women and youth.

She concluded that the current uprising represents a mature phase of a long struggle, and that the combination of popular determination, organized resistance, and a prepared democratic alternative makes the prospect of a peaceful and orderly transition to popular sovereignty both realistic and inevitable.