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Thousands Rally in New York Demanding Democratic Change in Iran

Written by Shamsi Saadati
Thousands of NCRI supporters rally in New York demanding democratic change in Iran— September 23, 2025
Thousands of NCRI supporters rally in New York demanding democratic change in Iran— September 23, 2025

New York, September 23, 2025 — In a powerful show of solidarity before the United Nations, thousands of Iranian Americans, supporters of the Iranian Resistance, and international dignitaries declared that the era of dictatorship in Iran—whether under the Shah or the mullahs—is over. Speaker after speaker denounced the regime’s escalating executions, regional aggression, and nuclear deception, while affirming support for the organized Resistance led by NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi and her Ten-Point Plan for a secular, democratic, and non-nuclear republic. The rally drew U.S. and international officials, human rights advocates, and young Iranian voices, all united in calling for recognition of the Iranian people’s right to overthrow tyranny and establish a free Iran.

Amir Emadi, an Iranian American entrepreneur who moderated the event, told the crowd that “the third option as presented by President-elect Maryam Rajavi is regime change by the people of Iran and their organized Resistance.” He condemned the nearly 1,800 executions carried out since Masoud Pezeshkian took office and warned of a repeat of the 1988 massacre. “The people’s resounding message is clear: No to the Shah, no to mullahs, yes to a democratic republic,” he said.

Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in a message read to the gathering, praised the “perseverance of my compatriots, who gather here every year in protest,” saying it represents the same spirit as the uprisings inside Iran. “With your powerful presence in front of the United Nations, the world sees that you represent the people of Iran; you are the voice of the Iranian people before the United Nations, not the president of the Supreme Leader,” she declared.

Mrs. Rajavi underlined that the Iranian Resistance had exposed the regime’s secret nuclear sites 23 years ago and has carried out 133 revelations on the program since, insisting this was “the greatest service to peace and security in the Middle East and the world.”

She also emphasized the role of the Resistance Units inside the country, saying they are “the most awake and vigilant fighters of Iran,” and concluded, “Our message for Iran’s future is simple: the sovereignty of the people. We want neither a mullah nor a Shah.”

General Tod Wolters, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told the crowd that the NCRI has prepared for decades to be an alternative to the regime, and highlighted the role of the Resistance Units.

“This regime exports terrorism and crushes civil life,” he said. “The National Council of Resistance of Iran can and will deliver on this mandate and has prepared, researched, educated, and practiced for decades and decades.” He praised the plan put forward by Mrs. Rajavi and underlined that “to the 90-plus million citizens of Iran: You deserve this change, and you deserve it soonest.”

Carla Sands, former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, drew attention to the scope of the gathering, telling the crowd that “the Iranian people have been silenced inside their own country. But here, right here, their voices are heard loudly, clearly, and with urgency.” She warned that nearly 1,800 executions had been carried out under the regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian and added that what the regime fears most is the organized opposition.

“It was the MEK that first exposed Tehran’s secret nuclear weapons program,” Amb. Sands noted, adding that the demonization of the movement “is because they know this movement is their existential threat.” She described meeting Maryam Rajavi as inspiring, particularly her “elevation of women into the highest ranks of the resistance,” and said the NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan is a “roadmap to freedom rooted in equality and justice.”

Rejecting monarchist claims as a false alternative, Amb. Sands said, “The people will not trade a turban for a crown. Reza Pahlavi’s plan is not democracy, it’s dictatorship.”

Samuel Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Governor of Kansas, and U.S. Senator, applauded the scale and persistence of the Resistance. “You’ve shown the world what this regime in Iran is about,” he said, calling it “a terrorist regime, a nuclear weapon-seeking regime, a regime of slavery.”

He described the movement as “one of the first, if not the first, women-led revolutions in world history” and stressed the youth-driven nature of the campaign. “As I see all these young people in front of me here, this is a youth-led movement in Iran for change,” Brownback said.

He pointed out that after external conflicts, the regime’s priority was to turn its guns inward: “Why is the regime more scared of its own people than of Israel? Because they know the people don’t support them.”

Linda Chavez, former director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, echoed the same message, noting the size and determination of the rally. “Thousands of you have come to New York to demand an end to the Khamenei regime,” she said, stressing that the real alternative is already in place. “During the more than 30 years since, I have gotten to know the leadership of the PMOI/MEK and have happily supported their long struggle for the Iranian people,” she said.

Chavez highlighted her visits to Ashraf 3 and emphasized that Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan “remains today a roadmap for a democratic, secular, non-nuclear Iran.” Rejecting any return to monarchy, she said, “The Shah was a murderous dictator. Iran’s future does not lie in giving power to his son, who even boasts of his relationship with the IRGC.” She told the rally, “The Iranian people deserve better,” and delivered a direct message to President Pezeshkian: “Change is coming.”

Soolmaz Abooali, faculty member at the Carter School of Peace and Conflict and a 14-time U.S. Karate Champion, emphasized that the regime’s repression relies on the Revolutionary Guards. “These crimes are carried out by and under the protection of the IRGC,” she said, adding that the MEK has led an organized resistance for six decades. “Monarchy has no place in Iran’s future. The people won’t accept another form of unelected rule,” she noted.

Sarvie Golestaneh, a design associate at Evolution Architecture, voiced her pride in supporting the movement for “freedom, gender equality, and national sovereignty.” She said the regime fears the only democratic solution “led by women” and stressed, “The only way forward is through the voices of the Iranian women. We are marching forward to revolution.”

Setareh Vatan, a licensed psychotherapist in California, highlighted the risks faced by professionals in Iran. “Those who treat survivors of state violence and protest-related trauma risk being interrogated, harassed, or pressured to reveal patient information,” she said. Pointing to Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan as a practical democratic framework, she concluded, “This struggle is about dignity, freedom, and life itself. Their fight is our fight. Their freedom is our freedom.”

Michelle Shariati, an Iranian American activist, recounted her father’s imprisonment in the 1980s for distributing MEK leaflets. “It was the bravery of women prisoners that kept them going,” she said. Declaring her own support, she added, “The only movement with the clarity and courage to uproot this regime is the MEK. I stand with the MEK, I stand with the NCRI, and I stand with Maryam Rajavi.”

Hanif Ahadi, the grandson of a victim of the 1988 massacre, pledged to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy. “I stand for a free Iran, where the death penalty is abolished, where men and women are equal, and where clerics do not rule from a throne,” he said. Paying tribute to the women leaders of the Resistance, he added, “I am the grandson of a martyr—but more importantly, I am the grandson of a vision.”

Parsa Aria, a young Iranian American born in Texas, said, “Our generation refuses to accept dictatorship as Iran’s destiny.” He praised the Resistance Units as “heroes of my generation” and declared, “Dictatorship, whether Shah or Supreme Leader, will not stand. Together across borders and generations, we will bring down this regime and build an Iran where freedom prevails.”

Oleks Taran, founder and president of the Ukrainian organization Svitanok, expressed solidarity by linking Iran’s struggle with Ukraine’s. “The same hands in Tehran that hang young Iranians build drones to bomb Ukrainian cities,” he said. Recalling Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan protests, he told Iranian youth, “Dictatorships appear unshakeable until the people rise and make them fall.” He called the two struggles inseparable: “Support for Ukraine weakens Tehran, and support for Iranians weakens Moscow. From Kyiv to Tehran, our voices are joined. Together we will see freedom win.”

Saba Rezaii, an Iranian American activist, called the 2022 uprising a turning point that “illustrated the fragility and fragmentedness of the regime.” She said women and youth have become “the architects of Iran’s democratic future,” having paid with “body, bones, and all.” Rejecting monarchy as another form of dictatorship, she told the crowd, “Those who call themselves king embody the tyranny and misogyny of yesteryear. Incapable is the head that wears the crown.”

Rezaii endorsed Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan as a vision of “a pluralistic, culturally diverse, and religiously open society led by the people.” She urged the world to act: “Enforce the Security Council resolutions. Recognize the Iranian people’s right to choose their own government. No more appeasement.” She ended with a rallying cry: “Forward to revolution! Death to the oppressor, be it the shah or the supreme leader.”

Moslem Eskandar Filabi, former Iranian wrestling champion and chairman of the Sports Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), addressed the crowd as “the voice of millions of Iranians who live under the rule of a repressive regime.” He described Iran as a country where “every voice raised for freedom, every voice raised for justice, is met with imprisonment, torture, and the gallows,” and noted that executions, particularly of youth and minorities, rank among the highest in the world.

He accused the regime of exporting repression through terrorism and hostage diplomacy, but praised the Resistance Units as “the hope of the oppressed people of Iran for liberation from the clutches of this criminal, corrupt, and dictatorial regime.” Filabi condemned appeasement as “a stain of disgrace on contemporary history” and urged the United Nations to move beyond inaction and prosecute Tehran’s leaders for crimes against humanity.

Recalling the September 6 demonstration in Brussels, he stressed that tens of thousands of Iranians had declared “Death to the oppressor, whether he be Shah or Leader.” He ended by affirming the readiness of the Resistance to sacrifice for freedom and to, as he said, “send the criminal mullahs and their mercenaries to hell.”

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