Addressing an international conference on July 16, 2026, at the Italian Parliament in Rome, former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani delivered a fiery rebuke of Western appeasement, forcefully endorsing National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) President-elect Maryam Rajavi while dismissing any prospect of restoring the monarchy.
Focusing on the transition of power, Mayor Giuliani asserted that the international community does not need to fear an uncertainty post-regime: “We can go from bad to the known. We know what we’re getting in Madame Rajavi and we know what we’re getting in the MEK and the NCRI and the various groups that have been working… for 47 years… for one purpose and one purpose alone: Freedom for the Iranian people.”
Mayor Giuliani explicitly rejected the monarchist movement and Reza Pahlavi, describing him as the “child of a murderer and a thief” who remains surrounded by remnants of the notorious SAVAK secret police. Mocking proposals to reinstate the Pahlavi dynasty, Mayor Giuliani declared, “When they give you the Shah, bring him to me. And tell him, yeah, when he returns the money that he stole and the food that he took out of the mouths of his people, maybe we can give him a job in the post office.”
Highlighting the NCRI’s preparedness, Mayor Giuliani pointed to its structured transition plan and Ten-Point platform, emphasizing its robust guarantees for civil rights and gender equality. Condemning decades of Western hesitation, he argued that “words don’t combat terrorists… that’s appeasement,” calling on world leaders to stand up and state: “We got an answer, MEK is the answer.”
The full speech script of Mayor Rudy Giuliani follows. The transcript has been edited for clarity, conciseness, and readability while strictly preserving the speaker’s original message, rhetoric, and intent.
An honor to speak in front of this distinguished group. There is an alternative to the current evil regime of Mullahs and IRGC. @Maryam_Rajavi offers a framework for a democratic republic. She is poised to offer an interim government and hold a free and fair election in six… https://t.co/3E1qsp0pmQ
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) July 16, 2026
Thank you for having me here today. This is not my first time standing with you, and hopefully, it won’t be my last—because the next time we meet, it will be in a free Tehran! I’m going to take this off because it’s in my way; we’ll just unplug it. I always unplug things. Well, I have a prepared speech and then I have my reaction to what I just heard. Which do you want to hear? I thought so.
There is no question that we are at a point now where one of the major questions being asked is: What comes next? What can replace this government? Time and time again, when we are in these situations, we hear that we are going to go from bad to worse, or from bad to confusing, or from bad to challenging. But that is not the case here. We do not have to leap into the unknown. We can transition from bad to the known. We know what we are getting in Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, in the MEK, and in the NCRI—groups that have been working not for a day, a week, or a month, but for 47 years, and before that against the Shah, for one purpose alone: freedom for the Iranian people. That is the basic minimum they deserve, and there is no need to look anywhere else. In fact, there is no one else.
To suggest restoring the monarchy—how insane is that? The former Shah was a murderer and a thief. As a former federal prosecutor, I prosecuted murderers and thieves. Most of the mafia figures I prosecuted didn’t kill or steal as much as he did. And now we look at his son. Sometimes sons can change, and you shouldn’t visit the sins of the father upon the son—unless the son announced just two weeks ago that he is very proud of his father and considers him the greatest leader of Iran. Whether he said that out of misguided loyalty or stupidity, the reality is that he remains surrounded by SAVAK and does business with the IRGC. That is why the American government will never accept him.
Intervento di Rudolph W. Giuliani, già Sindaco di New York, al Convegno "Iran del Futuro. Diritti Umani, Sicurezza e stabilità per una transizione democratica" alla Camera dei Deputati.@FratellidItalia @fdieuropa @FDI_Parlamento @ecrgroup @RudyGiuliani @fabiorampelli… pic.twitter.com/rTIWVSmqbT
— Giulio Terzi (@GiulioTerzi) July 16, 2026
He isn’t even like the leadership accepted in Syria, who had a terrorist background but rejected it and demonstrated three years of acting differently under close observation. This guy shows no intention to reform. He claims his father was a hero who did nothing wrong, ignoring that his father murdered untold numbers of people and helped the British steal Iran’s oil. In the 1930s, England was taking 85% of Iran’s oil, leaving Iran with just 15%—and Iran actually paid tax on that 15% and lost money! The British cheated the Iranian people out of their future and their resources. When someone tried to resist that exploitation, the CIA helped restore the Shah to power to continue it. Restoring the monarchy is simply not a possibility.
The MEK is really the only viable option. Normally, when there is only one option available, it’s incompetent and stinks. But this is an organization that has worked for 47 years, focusing not only on how to overthrow the dictatorship, but with far greater wisdom, on how to replace it. Mrs. Rajavi and her movement have established a transitional government and provided a Ten-Point Plan outlining the fundamentals of a future constitution. They have guaranteed civil rights with an emphasis on women’s rights—a crucial necessity after the most brutal misogynistic oppression in modern history. Tragically, major Western feminist organizations have been completely silent while Iranian women are murdered, raped, and oppressed. Those groups are useless. But here is an organization that has actually thought this through and developed a concrete plan.
Beyond that, they have earned the right to lead. In a struggle like this, you only gain the confidence of the people if you shed blood alongside them. The MEK has shed more blood than any group in Iran—losing 100,000, 150,000, or 200,000 people [sic]. In 1981, when half a million people rallied to challenge the IRGC, the regime slaughtered them in the streets and executed prisoners at will, just as they continue to do today through what they call “expedited trials”—which simply means signing death warrants faster. Look at 1988, when the regime murdered 30,000 MEK members. You have to be a monster to do that, yet they got away with it.
What an honor to be inside the historic Sala Della Regina room, in the chamber of deputies in Roma, Italia.
Thank you for your hospitality, Italia! https://t.co/uwniVUsGX4 pic.twitter.com/g6VW3Ey9P3
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) July 17, 2026
They got away with slaughtering American Marines, killing our service members in Iraq under Soleimani, and launching acts of war against us. We responded with words, but words don’t combat terrorists—words encourage them. Condemnations without action are viewed by terrorists as appeasement, or to use a term from Brooklyn, bullshit. That is why this regime has survived for 47 years while committing atrocities. Then we negotiated absurd agreements with them and handed them millions in cash. When you give cash to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, you are funding terrorism. When Barack Obama secretly sent them cash, he was combating them with words while supporting them with money. When the Biden administration relaxed sanctions when the regime was starving in 2018, it put them right back on top.
We cannot defeat them with words; they can only be defeated from within by a brave group of people ready to take over, just as the MEK is prepared to do. I am deeply disappointed in Europe—there are plenty of sympathetic words, but when push comes to shove, where is the resolve to defend Western civilization? This regime isn’t just targeting Israel, America, or Italy; they are targeting Western civilization itself.
I speak for myself, not the administration. I have supported regime change for over 14 years. If we had pursued regime change earlier, countless innocent people would still be alive today, and Iran would be a flourishing nation. World leaders offer excuses about political costs or economic disruption while ignoring ongoing slaughter. We must destroy the regime—just as we destroyed Hitler, Mussolini, the Japanese Empire, and ultimately defeated the Soviet Union through massive strength and resolve.
@fabiorampelli , Vice President of the chamber of deputies, along with lawmakers from both houses and featured speeches from @maryamrajavi , @rudygiuliani and @pjk4brainhealth discuss an alternative temporary government in Iran #freeiran pic.twitter.com/FsSMpHu5l7
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) July 18, 2026
You cannot negotiate with insane, suicidal religious maniacs; you only extend their timeline while more people die. If I had combated the Mafia, the Westies, and organized crime in New York with words, they would still be running the streets. I had to arrest them and, when necessary, in shootouts, eliminate them. Terrorists are not susceptible to words.
We must also recognize that the MEK is constantly battling a massive campaign of regime lies and propaganda. Tehran is as skilled as China at public infiltration and spinning narratives against its opponents. I have confronted this propaganda for 17 years, and I know how effective it can be. That is why political support from leaders across Europe and the United States is vital. We must stand up and declare: MEK is the answer.
When skeptics mention the Shah, tell him that when he returns the stolen billions and the food taken from his people’s mouths, maybe we can give him a job in the post office! We are not going to let a spoiled “nepo baby” run one of the most complex nations in the world when we have a leader like Maryam Rajavi, who has given her blood and brilliant intellect to plan this transition. It is our obligation to amplify this suppressed message. Once the world sees the clarity of this transition plan, democratic change will happen much faster. I dedicate myself to this cause, and I will do everything I can—because if I don’t get to Tehran next year, I’m going to be very angry.
God bless all of you!