Former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli called on the international community to reject Tehran’s claim to represent the Iranian people and said lasting political change in Iran must be achieved by Iranians themselves, addressing a rally of thousands of Iranians and NCRI supporters outside United Nations headquarters in New York on September 23, 2026.
Sen. Torricelli denounced the clerical establishment’s repression and praised young activists and the PMOI-led Resistance Units operating inside Iran, arguing that recent unrest had demonstrated both the vulnerability of the ruling system and the persistence of organized opposition. He also sharply criticized Reza Pahlavi, rejecting restoration of the monarchy and reiterating the movement’s position of “no to the mullahs, no to the kings.”
Addressing Iranians inside the country, Sen. Torricelli said freedom would not be delivered by the United States, Europe, or any other foreign power. Instead, he urged citizens from different sectors of society to withdraw cooperation from the authorities and participate in peaceful acts of resistance.
He presented the PMOI, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan as an organized democratic alternative, emphasizing commitments to elections, gender equality, secular government, and a non-nuclear Iran. He concluded by urging Iranians and their supporters not to abandon the struggle for a democratic future.
The full text of Sen. Toricelli’s speech follows. This transcript has been edited for publication and clarity.
🚨 Former Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) remarks at the rally by thousands of supporters of the NCRI and its President-elect Maryam Rajavi outside UN, on Sept 23, 2026, denouncing Iran regime's presence at the #UNGA81 and calling for a democratic republic. pic.twitter.com/OYNvxBvkOj
— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) September 26, 2026
Thank you!
Thank you all, and good morning.
As we stand here today, delegates are filing into the General Assembly, waiting to hear leaders of the world, chosen by their people, representing the best of their countries.
I want them to hear my voice, because one among them has no place in that hall of honor.
Pezeshkian has blood on his hands. He has no right to represent the proud people of Iran.
His regime is illegitimate, and it defies every principle of the United Nations. It seeks neither peace nor stands for justice.
Nations of the world, you can hear his words, but reject who he is. Reject his regime and his government.
The United Nations deserves better.
Turn your backs on him as we turn our backs on him here today!
To Mayor Giuliani and the other proud leaders of the United States who have come here year after year, thank you for standing firm with the people of Iran.
Our bonds are inescapable and inseparable. We will never turn our backs on the free people of Iran.
As we meet here again, many things may seem familiar. We know this plaza, we have seen these trees, and the faces among you all seem familiar.
But make no mistake: the ground under your feet has shifted.
Twelve months ago, the mullahs’ regime revealed who they are.
As thousands and thousands of Iranians took to the streets to demand their freedom and justice, they were killed by the thousands, and the mullahs revealed who they are: incapable, unjust, unworthy of power in Iran.
They are not the same. We know who they are. They revealed themselves. The ground has shifted under their feet.
And the PMOI, the MEK, and Mrs. Rajavi — we revealed who we are, too.
The brave young people in Resistance Units, in small villages, towns, and cities across Iran, in the face of death, took to the streets, organized themselves, demanded to be heard, and demanded, in the face of this struggle, a better and freer Iran.
The regime — we know who they are. But we also know more about the character of the people of the MEK here and those who live in Iran.
To them, we salute you and your courage.
But you know, none of that surprises us about the MEK, and I am not really surprised about the regime. They are who they always were, just worse.
But one thing did surprise me this year: the Prince of Hollywood, Prince Pahlavi.
In the face of all this death and destruction, he doubles down and speaks with pride of his family and his father.
Has he learned nothing about what freedom means, living in America all these years?
Former Senator Robert Torricelli summarizes it perfectly – give the people the power to choose their own future! pic.twitter.com/OKzJ17DKw4
— OIAC: Organization of Iranian American Communities (@OrgIAC) September 23, 2026
In the face of the internal discord in Iran, he disparages the Kurds and other minorities and threatens Iranian unity.
Has he learned nothing about what solidarity means in Iran, among its people?
And while our brave Resistance Units stand every day in the streets of the cities of Iran, he collaborates with the IRGC.
Has he learned nothing about what this struggle means?
If ever we believed it then, we believe it now: No to the mullahs, no to the kings!
We do not want a dictatorship of the left or of the right, of religion or of politics.
We want a free Iran, free of all these people!
So let me share with you, too — to those who hear our voices around the world as this is broadcast today:
First, I want the people of Albania to know: We will never, ever forget that when the Iranian people needed refuge, a place to take our brave fighters where they would be safe, you opened your doors for the people who now live in Camp Ashraf.
To the people of Albania: Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And I will say it again, as I have said so many times:
As the years pass and one generation follows the next, it will be taught in schools throughout Iran that, in the darkest hours of the Iranian people, the brave people of Ashraf never gave in.
While the rest of Iran was enslaved, there were always free Iranians.
They lived in Ashraf.
They never gave up, and they never gave in.
To them, our highest admiration.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And finally, to the people of Iran — the people of Iran who may hear our voices — let us speak plainly to them.
We wish we could promise you that a magic wand would bring freedom.
Why are thousands of Iranian Americans in New York?
• To Demand an immediate end to executions in Iran
• To Honor the martyrs who gave everything for freedom • To Support @Maryam_Rajavi's 10-Point Plan for a democratic republic
Join us at our rally, @DagHammarskjold… pic.twitter.com/V9wJNvWDWL— OIAC: Organization of Iranian American Communities (@OrgIAC) September 21, 2026
It will not.
The mullahs will fall, but they hold absolute power with complete corruption. They will not give it up easily.
I wish I could tell you that some foreign leader, even our own country, could bring you freedom.
But we cannot.
The revolution that is underway is going to be won by children, students, workers, and even soldiers who refuse to fire their weapons at their own people.
This revolution is not American.
It is not European.
It is Iranian.
You have our prayers. You have our prayers, you have our support. We will never let you down.
But we know whose fight this is.
It will make victory all the sweeter, and all the more permanent.
Because we do not seek to change leaders; we seek to change the political culture, the character of the nation — to make it free not just for one election, not just for one regime, but a free and prosperous Iran forever.
Forever!
And so, people of Iran, if you can hear our voices today:
If you hold a weapon for the Iranian military, put it down. It was not meant to be fired at your own people.
If you are a police officer on the streets quelling a demonstration, leave your post. The people you are oppressing are your own, and they fight for their freedom and yours.
If you are a worker, the owner of a business, stop paying taxes to a regime that uses that money to kill its own people.
If you are a guard in a prison, executing the young fighting only for a free Iran, leave your post.
Turn your back.
Save your dignity.
Be proud of who you are and your country.
There is a role for everyone.
No one in Iran is so small, so young, so old, so poor, so sick that there is not something you can do: write a slogan, pass a pamphlet, talk to a neighbor, stand on a street corner, hold a sign.
Every Iranian has this obligation.
A free Iran does not come from America. It does not come from the UN. It is not coming from Europe.
It is coming from the hearts and the minds of an Iranian people who, at long last, want this regime to end and want a free, fair, democratic, and prosperous Iran.
No more loss of freedom!
No more loss of another generation to poverty and indignity!
And our final argument is this:
To these delegates, and to my own government, who argue that the mullahs may be bad, the regime may be despotic, but there really is no choice:
Hear me now!
Not only is there a choice, there is a good choice.
Read the Ten-Point Plan.
Understand that there is a movement around the world and around Iran that is on street corners every day and ready to assume power; that believes in a non-nuclear Iran, a gender-equal Iran, an Iran ruled not by a religion, but by a belief in freedom and democracy within its own principles.
Understand there is an alternative.
That alternative is the PMOI, the MEK, and one incredibly proud, unbelievably strong woman, who has gotten up every day of every month of every year, and given her life to this struggle.
Ladies and gentlemen, the President-elect, our leader, and a woman of great inspiration: Maryam Rajavi!
Thank you all.
Thank you. Thank you. Never give up! Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!