In a significant gathering in Washington, D.C., the Free Iran Convention 2025 brought together a diverse assembly of international dignitaries, scholars, and Iranian-American community leaders. The event, held on Saturday, November 15, 2025, was dedicated to outlining a vision for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear republic in Iran, underscoring the necessity of regime change driven by the Iranian people and their organized resistance. Throughout the day, speakers emphasized the current regime’s profound weakness, the failure of international appeasement policies, and the readiness of a viable democratic alternative embodied by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
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The conference served as a platform to articulate a clear roadmap for Iran’s future, moving beyond criticism of the current theocracy to present a structured and prepared plan for a peaceful transition of power.
Maryam Rajavi outlines the path to a free Iran
In her keynote address, delivered remotely from Paris, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), provided a comprehensive analysis of the current situation in Iran and the path toward a democratic future. She began by paying tribute to the martyrs of the November 2019 uprising, framing the contemporary struggle as the culmination of decades of resistance. Mrs. Rajavi asserted that the clerical regime has entered its final phase, weakened by internal crises and a complete erosion of its social base. “The rule of the mullahs has reached the final phase of its winter,” she stated, arguing that the regime is “trapped by the very strategy that once sustained it.”
Mrs. Rajavi identified the vast majority of Iranian society—women, youth, workers, and the impoverished—as a “powder keg poised to erupt.” She dismissed the possibility of reform from within the regime and condemned the Western policy of appeasement for having “blocked the path to democratic change” and allowing the regime to advance its nuclear ambitions and regional warmongering. Instead, she reaffirmed the “Third Option,” which she first articulated two decades ago: “the overthrow of the regime by the Iranian people and their organized Resistance.”
Outlining the program for a future Iran, Mrs. Rajavi reiterated the NCRI’s commitment to establishing a provisional government for no more than six months following the regime’s overthrow. This government’s sole task would be to organize elections for a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. She concluded with a call for international recognition of the Iranian people’s struggle, stating, “Our goal is to return sovereignty to the people of Iran.”
Mike Pompeo champions internal resistance as the only solution
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a powerful speech endorsing the Iranian people’s quest for freedom and highlighting the critical role of the organized opposition. He described the current regime as weak, internationally isolated, and devoid of popular legitimacy, relying solely on fear to maintain control. Pompeo emphasized that the desire for change must, and will, come from within Iran itself, drawing a parallel to the fall of the Soviet Union. “The date was unpredictable, but it came with unbelievable speed,” he said. “We only know that the requirement is internal resistance to force that moment to come more readily and sooner.”
Pompeo categorically rejected any notion of external intervention, praising the NCRI for its principled stance. He noted that the organization “didn’t ask for American boots on the ground inside of Iran. It didn’t ask for an external change of regime.” This, he argued, is “precisely how revolutions take place.” He stressed the importance of supporting the internal opposition while isolating the regime through measures like the snapback of sanctions to deny it the resources used to fund terrorism and repression.
He concluded with a message of solidarity and conviction in the eventual triumph of freedom in Iran. He urged the international community to recognize the reality that a democratic alternative already exists. “Everyone in this room knows precisely that there is an alternative: a free and independent, sovereign Iran delivered to it by its own people,” Pompeo declared, expressing confidence that he would one day see a free Iran led by a government “duly selected, elected by the people of Iran.”
A regime defined by barbarity and weakness
A central theme of the conference was the characterization of the Iranian regime as fundamentally illegitimate, brutal, and teetering on the brink of collapse. John Bercow, former Speaker of the U.K. House of Commons, described the regime’s rule as a “four-and-a-half-decade-in-the-making long essay in barbarity against its own people.” He condemned its leaders as a “motley band of execrable thugs” who believe the purpose of government is to “repress, to dominate, to terrorize, to intimidate, and to subjugate the people.” Bercow concluded that the regime has produced a “failed state,” characterized by a destroyed economy, malfunctioning public services, and the export of terrorism.
This assessment was echoed by other speakers. Dr. Sofey Saidi, a scholar-practitioner in international relations, opened the event by noting that experts had examined the regime’s “deepening crisis,” while Secretary Pompeo described it as having “zero popular legitimacy.” U.S. Ambassador Carla Sands stated that the regime is “losing control” and its repressive actions stem “not from strength, but from fear.” Political commentator Guy Benson added that since the events of October 7, 2023, the world has seen the “utter weakness of the Iranian regime,” which has exposed itself as a “paper tiger.”
The call for accountability and an end to impunity
Speakers repeatedly drew attention to the regime’s horrific human rights record, demanding justice for its victims and an end to the cycle of impunity. Mrs. Rajavi spoke of the “sea of blood that now separates the Iranian people from the ruling regime,” marked by the “execution of more than one hundred thousand members of the Iranian Resistance.” She specifically mentioned the recent execution of PMOI members Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani and noted that 17 others, including engineer Zahra Tabari and boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, currently face execution for their affiliation with the PMOI.
John Bercow reminded the audience that “100,000 of those wonderful human beings have been slaughtered by the regime” and that Iran, per capita, “has the worst record for the execution of its citizens of any regime in any other part of the world. It is top of the league table of murderous infamy.”
Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy reinforced this point, calling Iran the “number one country in the world for the imposition of the death penalty on their own people.” The historical context of this brutality was provided by Prof. Hossein Sadeghpour, who recounted the mass killings of Mojahedin and Fedayeen members in 1975 orchestrated by SAVAK and the massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.
The failure of appeasement and the need for a firm policy
A strong consensus emerged among speakers that decades of Western appeasement policies have failed and only emboldened the regime. Mrs. Rajavi argued that this policy “blocked the path to democratic change” by giving Khamenei the time to advance his nuclear program and by unjustly blacklisting the PMOI at Tehran’s request.
Secretary Pompeo delivered a stark warning: “If you appease tyrants, they will grow in power and stature, and they will prolong the time until a regime falls.” He condemned the delivery of “pallets of cash” to the regime, which he said “only enable the brutalization of the opposition.” He called for the “snapback of sanctions against the buyers of Iranian oil” to deny the regime the wealth it uses to fund the IRGC, rebuild Hamas and Hezbollah, and destabilize the region.
Ambassador Sands was equally blunt, stating, “Appeasement has failed. Reform is impossible.” She urged democratic governments to “hold Tehran accountable for the crimes against humanity” and to “stop legitimizing the regime through giving them concessions.”
The Third Option: change by the Iranian people and their resistance
The conference firmly rejected both foreign military intervention and the continuation of the current theocracy, instead championing the “Third Option” as the only legitimate path forward. Dr. Saidi opened the conference by stating, “The message from every panel, and from inside Iran itself, is unmistakable: The solution to Iran’s crisis lies in regime change by the people and their organized resistance.”
Mrs. Rajavi, who coined the term, reiterated its relevance. “Twenty-one years ago, in the European Parliament, I stated that the solution for Iran lies neither in appeasement nor in war. Rather, it is the Third Option: the overthrow of the regime by the Iranian people and their organized Resistance.” She emphasized that recent events have proven this prediction correct, demonstrating that appeasement fails and war does not bring about the desired change.
This principle was strongly supported by American officials. Secretary Pompeo highlighted that the NCRI has never asked for foreign intervention, which is “precisely how revolutions take place.” Ambassador Sands affirmed this, declaring that Iran “does not need foreign boots on the ground or an appropriation of money. You are the plan.”
Resistance Units: the engine of change inside Iran
The role of the organized “Resistance Units” affiliated with the PMOI inside Iran was presented as a critical component of the strategy for change. Mrs. Rajavi described them as the “organized force of the Resistance… now actively challenging the regime’s grip on power.” She credited them with the organizational capacity seen in the November 2019 uprising, during which protesters “liberated parts of restive cities such as Shiraz, Bandar Mahshahr, and Shahriar, and they targeted some 1,900 of the regime’s centers.” This, she said, is the “fighting force the regime fears more than any power in the world.”
Ambassador Sands also highlighted their importance, noting that the MEK has “Resistance Units within Iran who are focused on confronting the Revolutionary Guards and repressive forces, and they’re already preparing for a transition of power.” Congressman Kennedy praised the “brave young Resistance Units” and all those who stand up to the regime, stating they “send forth a tiny ripple of hope” that can “knock down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Rejecting all dictatorships: no to the shah, no to the mullahs
Speakers were unequivocal in their rejection of any return to monarchical dictatorship, arguing that the Iranian people’s struggle is for a democratic republic. Ambassador Sands captured this sentiment succinctly: “The Iranian people rejected dictatorship 46 years ago under the Shah, and they’re not going back. That chapter of history is closed. Iran will not trade a turban for a crown.”
John Bercow delivered a particularly scathing critique of the overthrown Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, mocking his proposals for a transition. “The alternative is not, is not, is not son of Shah. No way!” Bercow exclaimed. He dismissed Pahlavi’s plan to lead the appointment of executive, judicial, and legislative heads, remarking, “You know, it’s sounding awfully like an old monarchy.” He concluded with a direct message: “Mr. Pahlavi, you have an undistinguished past behind you. You have an undistinguished future in front of you. Don’t call us, and you can be absolutely guaranteed and sure in the knowledge that we and the people of Iran will not call you.”
Prof. Sadeghpour provided a historical analysis, arguing that the Pahlavi regime’s brutality, epitomized by its SAVAK secret police, “created the very vacuum into which Khomeini and his political cohort surged.” He reminded the audience that Iranians “en masse thoroughly rejected monarchy in 1979. Period.”
A viable alternative: the NCRI and the Ten-Point Plan
The conference consistently presented the NCRI as a prepared, legitimate, and capable democratic alternative. Dr. Saidi described it as “the only organized, tested, and legitimate coalition capable of leading Iran through a peaceful transfer of power,” all rooted in Mrs. Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan.
This plan, which calls for a democratic republic, separation of religion and state, gender equality, and a non-nuclear Iran, was praised by numerous speakers. Dr. Morteza Gharib, a distinguished professor at Caltech and a prolific inventor, described the Ten-Point Plan as a “rejuvenated U.S. Constitution, in a way… designed for Iranians, for Iranian society.” His suggestion for the resistance was simple: “Just follow that. We are going to be in good shape.”
Ambassador Sands referred to the NCRI as a “government in waiting” and lauded its clear platform: “NCRI has a plan. Iran has that plan: The Ten-Point Plan for a democratic, secular, non-nuclear republic.” Secretary Pompeo affirmed its legitimacy, stating that the “democratic alternative that Madam Rajavi and so many of you have been working towards… is totally prepared for the day that we have the opportunity to move forward.”
The power of women’s leadership within the movement was also a prominent point. Ambassador Sands declared, “The only revolution in the Middle East led by women is the Iranian Resistance… when Iran rises, it will rise under the leadership of its daughters.”
A clear and inevitable path to freedom
The Free Iran Convention 2025 in Washington, D.C., presented a unified and powerful case that the end of the clerical regime in Iran is not only necessary but inevitable. The speakers painted a picture of a despotic government that has lost all legitimacy and is sustained only by fear, while simultaneously highlighting the existence of a well-organized, prepared, and democratic alternative.
The conference articulated a clear rejection of all forms of dictatorship—past and present—and championed a future defined by the principles of the NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan. The overarching message was one of optimism and resolve: the path to a free Iran lies in the hands of its own people, led by their organized resistance. As Guy Benson concluded in his closing remarks, the ultimate goal is to one day hold such a conference not in Washington, but “in a free, thriving Tehran.”