Professor Ivan Sasha Sheehan: Maryam Rajavi’s Framework for a Provisional Government is the Only Strategic Path to Ensuring Stability and Democratic Change in Iran

Professor Ivan Sasha Sheehan, Associate Dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore, stated that the question of Iran's future is no longer a matter of academic speculation or opposition rhetoric. Instead, it has become an urgent and pivotal strategic issue for the United States and its allies, especially given the imminent collapse of the Velayat-e Faqih system under the impact of the ongoing regional war and the death of the tyrant Ali Khamenei.

Sheehan said: "The announcement made by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, regarding the formation of a framework for a Provisional Government, represents the most decisive development in the Iranian political landscape. 

This project aims to lead the country toward safety during the critical period following the inevitable fall of the crumbling ruling establishment."

He added: "Developments have proven that the Velayat-e Faqih regime has reached its historical end. 

Attempts to install Mojtaba Khamenei as a successor to his executioner father are desperate and doomed to total failure because they collide with a firm popular will led by the Iranian Resistance, which categorically rejects the tyranny of both the Shah and the Mullah."

Sheehan continued: "Democratic change in Iran is a path that stems from within, led by organized Resistance Units that have demonstrated a superior ability to challenge the machinery of suppression in Tehran, Shiraz, Karaj, and other cities. 

This path does not rely on external military intervention—which the Resistance rejects—but is based on the transfer of sovereignty to the Iranian people to enable them to build their institutions through their own free will."

He explained: "The roadmap laid out by Mrs. Rajavi in the 10-Point Plan, which senior international officials have described as carrying authentic Jeffersonian principles, guarantees the building of a non-nuclear Iran, free from executions, that respects rights and freedoms and the separation of religion and state. 

This vision is the only guarantee for preventing chaos and achieving lasting peace in the region."

Sheehan emphasized: "The transitional phase defined by the Resistance, lasting a maximum of six months, aims to dismantle the repressive structures built by the Mullahs, release political prisoners, and organize the first free and fair national elections in Iran’s modern history under international supervision, leading to the formation of a Constituent Assembly to draft the constitution of the new democratic republic."

Sheehan concluded: "The U.S. administration and the international community must recognize the strategic importance of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and publicly support the Provisional Government project. Betting on the survival or reform of this regime is a dangerous illusion; the future is being forged now by the Resistance Units and the Iranian people, who refuse to accept the continuation of tyranny under any name."