{"id":339423,"date":"2025-11-15T22:57:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T21:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=339423"},"modified":"2025-11-16T16:25:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:25:59","slug":"free-iran-convention-2025-defining-the-roadmap-for-irans-democratic-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/free-iran-convention-2025-defining-the-roadmap-for-irans-democratic-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Iran Convention 2025: Defining the Roadmap for Iran\u2019s Democratic Transition"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_339424\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-339424\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-339424 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Free-Iran-convention-in-DC-15112025.jpg\" alt=\"Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses the Free Iran 2025 Convention in Washington D.C. on November 15, 2025\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Free-Iran-convention-in-DC-15112025.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Free-Iran-convention-in-DC-15112025-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Free-Iran-convention-in-DC-15112025-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Free-Iran-convention-in-DC-15112025-747x420.jpg 747w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Free-Iran-convention-in-DC-15112025-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Free-Iran-convention-in-DC-15112025-696x391.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-339424\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses the Free Iran 2025 Convention in Washington D.C. on November 15, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Washington D.C., November 15, 2025\u2014 The Free Iran Convention 2025 convened hundreds of Iranian American scholars, professionals, human rights advocates, youth, and community leaders from across the United States, joined virtually by supporters and dignitaries from around the world. Held under the theme <em data-start=\"488\" data-end=\"546\">\u201cThe Path to a Democratic, Prosperous Republic in Iran,\u201d<\/em> the all-day gathering examined Iran\u2019s rapidly shifting internal landscape and the growing momentum for democratic transition. Panels throughout the morning explored the regime\u2019s escalating crisis, the expanding role of women and youth in the Resistance, and the roadmap for transferring sovereignty to the Iranian people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Dr. Sofey Saidi<\/strong>, scholar-practitioner in international relations, global governance, and conflict resolution, member of the NCRI, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncrius.org\/global-policy-leaders-join-the-free-iran-convention-2025.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opened the main session<\/a> by emphasizing that the day\u2019s discussions\u2014spanning political analysis, human rights testimony, and strategic planning\u2014demonstrated a common truth: Iran\u2019s transformation is no longer theoretical but underway. She noted that scholars, former political prisoners, experts, and youth activists had all pointed to the same conclusion: the path forward lies in regime change by the Iranian people and their organized Resistance. Drawing on her research on democratic transitions, she warned that revolutions without structure risk collapse, whereas disciplined movements with clear governance frameworks succeed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Maryam Rajavi, NCRI President-elect for the future provisional government, is the keynote speaker at the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIranConvention2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIranConvention2025<\/a>. Watch here live:<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/THfnDi09H6\">https:\/\/t.co\/THfnDi09H6<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nbH5LoIqkL\">pic.twitter.com\/nbH5LoIqkL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Amir R. Bolurchi (@ablrchi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ablrchi\/status\/1989789184836370879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1864\" data-end=\"2263\">In her keynote remarks, <strong data-start=\"1888\" data-end=\"1910\">Mrs. Maryam Rajavi<\/strong> framed the central challenge facing Iran and the world: \u201cHow can meaningful change be realized in Iran? This is the fundamental question of our time.\u201d She declared that the regime has entered its terminal phase\u2014 \u201cthe final phase of its winter\u201d\u2014marked by economic collapse, eroding social control, and a society \u201cready to bring this regime down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2265\" data-end=\"2641\">Rajavi emphasized that the roots of Iran\u2019s crisis cannot be reformed or moderated. \u201cIs it conceivable to reform this regime? Should one wait for it to become more rational?\u201d she asked, noting that both hardliners and so-called reformists have overseen mass executions, repression, and regional warmongering. The regime\u2019s nature, she said, makes meaningful change impossible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2643\" data-end=\"3024\">Turning to foreign policy, Rajavi condemned four decades of Western appeasement: \u201cThis policy paved the way for the expansion of fundamentalism, and\u2014most disastrously\u2014it blocked the path to democratic change.\u201d She reiterated her long-standing Third Option: \u201cneither appeasement nor war, but the overthrow of the regime by the Iranian people and their organized Resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3026\" data-end=\"3303\">She honored the <a href=\"https:\/\/english.mojahedin.org\/news\/pmoi-resistance-units-defy-the-regimes-crackdown-with-nationwide-activities-on-anniversary-of-november-uprising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rise of Resistance Units<\/a> and the new generation leading Iran\u2019s uprisings, describing them as \u201cthe Iranian people\u2019s great Army of Freedom.\u201d Their courage, she argued, proves how regime change will be achieved\u2014from inside the country through organized struggle.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3305\" data-end=\"3636\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Rajavi concluded by reaffirming the NCRI\u2019s democratic program: \u201cWe seek a democratic republic, free elections, the separation of religion and state, gender equality, and autonomy for Iran\u2019s nationalities.\u201d Above all, she emphasized: \u201cWe are not fighting to seize power. Our goal is to return sovereignty to the people of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIran2025Convention?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIran2025Convention<\/a> in Washington, D.C.<br \/>Regime change in Iran, the fundamental question of our time<br \/>The convening of this assembly presents a rare and valuable opportunity to reflect on the most pressing question of our time: How can meaningful change be realized in Iran.\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gSmTGZM8re\">pic.twitter.com\/gSmTGZM8re<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Maryam_Rajavi\/status\/1989793575781949744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1040\" data-end=\"1438\">Former US Secretary of State\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1073\" data-end=\"1088\">Mike Pompeo<\/strong> described the regime in Tehran as increasingly fragile, stating, \u201cThis regime is weak\u2026 more internationally isolated than ever,\u201d and noted that it survives only by \u201cfear as its only tool,\u201d pointing to the violent crackdown of 2022.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1440\" data-end=\"1839\">Highlighting failures across the region\u2014including Hezbollah\u2019s decline and Assad\u2019s loss of control\u2014Pompeo argued that Tehran\u2019s influence is collapsing. Meanwhile, he said, Iran\u2019s nuclear capabilities have been \u201cmassively diminished.\u201d Yet the decisive force for change, Pompeo stressed, lies not abroad but inside Iran: \u201cA nation that has arisen from inside to oust a regime that is illegitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1841\" data-end=\"2204\">Pompeo urged Western governments to abandon appeasement: \u201cIf you appease tyrants, they will grow in power\u2026 pallets of cash delivered from the West only enable the brutalization of the opposition.\u201d He called for isolating the regime financially, diplomatically, and morally, warning that Tehran continues to fund Hamas, Hezbollah, and militias across the region.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2206\" data-end=\"2593\">Most importantly, he emphasized that the NCRI has never asked for foreign intervention: \u201cIt didn\u2019t ask for American boots on the ground\u2026 only to support the Iranian opposition and put pressure on the regime.\u201d Comparing Iran\u2019s destiny to the sudden collapse of the Soviet bloc, Pompeo said, \u201cThese rotten regimes fail\u2026 The date is unpredictable, but it comes with unbelievable speed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2595\" data-end=\"2799\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">He closed with confidence and resolve: \u201cThe just, God-given right of all human beings to live in a free and prosperous society will one day find its roots inside Iran\u2026 What a glorious day that will be.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">As Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikepompeo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mikepompeo<\/a> notes, the propaganda machine dismisses the 30,000 massacred in 1988 and ignores the work Iran\u2019s Resistance has carried out inside the country, preparing for the day freedom prevails. The roadmap is clear\u2014never easy. I\u2019ve watched your path since your days\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Phee8MC7HF\">https:\/\/t.co\/Phee8MC7HF<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OiBNtunw22\">pic.twitter.com\/OiBNtunw22<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Maryam Fakhar (@MaryamSFakhar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaryamSFakhar\/status\/1989820709900525912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"284\" data-end=\"796\">Former Speaker of the U.K. House of Commons <strong data-start=\"328\" data-end=\"343\">John Bercow<\/strong> praised the convention\u2019s extraordinary energy, saying that in more than four decades of political life, he had \u201cnever attended a convention that comes anywhere near matching the electricity and all-engrossing enthusiasm on display today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"798\" data-end=\"1179\">Bercow paid tribute to the NCRI for organizing the event with \u201calmost military precision,\u201d and saluted the five morning panels, singling out the women\u2019s panel and the youth panel as moments that would \u201cremain with me for the rest of my life.\u201d He honored the residents of Ashraf 3, describing them as individuals who had \u201csacrificed so much for so long in support of so many.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1181\" data-end=\"1636\">Turning to the regime in Tehran, Bercow condemned it as a \u201cfour-and-a-half-decade-long essay in barbarity,\u201d arguing that the mullahs fundamentally misunderstood the purpose of government, which is \u201cto serve, to facilitate, and to empower the people.\u201d He asserted that the clerical rulers \u201ccannot be improved\u2014they have to be removed,\u201d and described the clerical regime as a \u201cfailed state\u201d hollowed out by corruption, repression, and mismanagement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"140\" data-end=\"673\">Bercow forcefully dismissed the regime\u2019s narrative that Iran lacks a viable democratic alternative, calling such claims \u201cnonsense on stilts.\u201d He reserved particular scorn for what he described as manufactured or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-a-fundamentalism\/why-the-clerical-regime-in-iran-needs-a-fake-opposition\/\">self-appointed opposition<\/a>, arguing that figures who \u201cfled in comfort, lived in luxury, and now reappear with blueprints for Iran\u2019s future\u201d possess no legitimacy whatsoever. Any attempt to resurrect monarchy, he said, is \u201cno alternative at all\u201d\u2014a hollow substitute promoted precisely to weaken the real Resistance.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"675\" data-end=\"1285\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Authentic legitimacy, Bercow stressed, belongs only to those who have remained on the ground, who have organized, who have borne the costs of defending the Iranian people. \u201cThe MEK has been doing precisely that for almost four and a half decades,\u201d he said, noting that no fabricated opposition\u2014no matter how polished its rhetoric\u2014can claim such a record. He pointed to the execution of 100,000 MEK members, <a href=\"https:\/\/iran-hrm.com\/2025\/10\/08\/executions-in-iran-a-deadly-record-in-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the 17 awaiting execution<\/a> today, and the tens of thousands of acts of defiance carried out inside Iran as testament to a movement that is disciplined, principled, and rooted in genuine sacrifice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2258\" data-end=\"2663\">He praised the NCRI\u2019s commitment to pluralism, listing its advocacy for freedom of the press, gender equality, separation of religion and state, an independent judiciary, environmental stewardship, and the right of the Iranian people to determine their own destiny. These principles, he argued, demonstrate why the Resistance\u2014not any remnant of authoritarian rule\u2014offers the only credible future for Iran.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Over 1,000 Iranian dissidents united today in Washington, D.C. to support a free, democratic, secular Republic of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a>. The world is witnessing a historic moment: a movement rejecting ALL dictatorships \u2014 mullahs or monarchy!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIranConvention2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIranConvention2025<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NCRIUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NCRIUS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OrgIAC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@OrgIAC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PuY7BElX35\">pic.twitter.com\/PuY7BElX35<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nasser Sharif (@NasserSharif1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NasserSharif1\/status\/1989797610123923953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"283\" data-end=\"856\">Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark <strong data-start=\"317\" data-end=\"332\">Carla Sands <\/strong>praised <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryam-rajavi.com\/en\/biography\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maryam Rajavi\u2019s leadership<\/a> and emphasized that the gathering itself reflected a political reality the world can no longer ignore: \u201cThe Iranian people not only reject dictatorship but already have a democratic alternative capable of replacing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"858\" data-end=\"1331\">Amb. Sands underscored that the regime\u2019s escalating repression\u2014executing protesters, targeting youth, and cracking down on dissent\u2014is driven not by confidence but by fear. The return of international pressure, including the activation of UN snapback sanctions, has further cornered Tehran. Yet she insisted that neither foreign capitals nor sanctions pose the existential threat the regime fears most: \u201cThe regime does not fear exiled monarchs or lobbyists. It fears the MEK.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1333\" data-end=\"1786\">Highlighting the power and discipline of <a href=\"https:\/\/english.mojahedin.org\/pmoi-resistance-units\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Resistance Units<\/a> inside Iran, Sands stressed that no other political force has demonstrated comparable sacrifice, organization, or readiness to lead a transition. She dismissed any revival of monarchy with a sharp rebuke: \u201cIran will not trade a turban for a crown.\u201d Legitimacy, she argued, belongs to those who \u201cpaid the price in prisons and in the streets,\u201d not to those who inherited titles or platforms.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1788\" data-end=\"2071\">A significant portion of her speech celebrated the central leadership role of women within the Iranian Resistance\u2014\u201cthe only revolution in the Middle East led by women\u201d\u2014which she described as both historic and emblematic of the democratic future envisioned in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryam-rajavi.com\/en\/viewpoints\/plan-for-future-of-iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rajavi\u2019s Ten-Point Plan.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2073\" data-end=\"2357\">Amb. Sands concluded with a direct appeal to democratic governments: recognize the Iranian people\u2019s right to overthrow the regime and acknowledge the NCRI as their legitimate representative. \u201cAppeasement has failed,\u201d she declared. \u201cThe solution already exists\u2014and it is this movement.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIranConvention2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIranConvention2025<\/a>: Amb. Carla Sands, former US Ambassador to Denmark, addresses the convention for a roadmap to a democratic republic in Iran.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NCRIAlternative?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NCRIAlternative<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vJGW2ZiP39\">pic.twitter.com\/vJGW2ZiP39<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NCRIUS\/status\/1989808044260397277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Former U.S. Congressman <strong>Patrick Kennedy<\/strong> began by praising those who spoke before him before turning to what he described as the movement\u2019s greatest strength: its depth of talent, discipline, and readiness. \u201cYou are showing that there is a process here,\u201d he said. \u201cIran can make the transition because it has the back room\u2014brilliant people, motivated people\u2014who can write a new chapter in Iran\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Kennedy emphasized that the NCRI and MEK have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to organize, build, and persevere under fire, citing his own visit to Ashraf-3 as proof. Despite bombings, killings, and years of siege in Iraq, he recalled, the residents \u201cstill played their music, still recited poetry, still celebrated one another.\u201d This, he said, is the model for the Iran of tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Framing the struggle in moral and universal terms, Kennedy invoked his own family\u2019s civil-rights legacy, arguing that the fight for Iranian freedom mirrors past global struggles against apartheid, totalitarianism, and injustice. \u201cThis is not an Iranian fight,\u201d he declared. \u201cThis is a universal fight for all humanity and all freedom.\u201d He stressed that the oppression faced by Iranian families\u2014especially women\u2014would compel any compassionate person to stand with them: \u201cThere but for the grace of God goes every single person living under oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Kennedy condemned the regime\u2019s brutality, including mass executions and repression of youth, while praising the extraordinary courage of young Iranians who continue to rise despite danger. Echoing Speaker Bercow\u2019s remarks, he dismissed the Shah\u2019s son as irrelevant to Iran\u2019s future\u2014 \u201ca comedy,\u201d he said\u2014reaffirming that the only viable path is \u201cthe democratic example manifest in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryam-rajavi.com\/en\/viewpoints\/plan-for-future-of-iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ten-Point Plan of the NCRI<\/a> and Madam Rajavi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Closing with a reflection drawn from his uncle Robert F. Kennedy, he reminded the audience that great movements are built from countless small acts: \u201cEach time someone stands up, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope\u2026 and together those ripples can knock down the mightiest walls of oppression.\u201d Kennedy vowed to remain on this path until the day he can bring his children to a free Iran to witness the civilization reborn.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIranConvention2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIranConvention2025<\/a>: Hon. Patrick Kennedy is spot on. Watch this \ud83d\udc47 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pqYAcvXCtk\">pic.twitter.com\/pqYAcvXCtk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Amir R. Bolurchi (@ablrchi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ablrchi\/status\/1989811585779384700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"354\" data-end=\"845\">Professor <strong data-start=\"364\" data-end=\"386\">Hossein Sadeghpour<\/strong>, a leading theoretical physicist and director at the Harvard\u2013Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, declared that for Iranians, \u201cthe day they find out why they are born\u201d is the day they join the struggle for freedom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"847\" data-end=\"1544\">He traced Iran\u2019s battle for democratic governance back more than a century, beginning with the Constitutional Revolution of 1905, led by Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan\u2014\u201cthe first enlightenment revolution in the Islamic world\u201d. Yet each milestone, he argued, was sabotaged not only by foreign powers but by clerical opportunists who repeatedly betrayed the people\u2019s aspirations. The toppling of Prime Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/readingroom\/docs\/the%20central%20intelligence%20%5B15369853%5D.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mohammad Mosaddegh in the 1953 CIA\u2013MI6 coup<\/a>, he noted, was only operationally possible because of the treachery of \u201cyet another mullah,\u201d Mullah Kashani. Decades later, the Shah\u2019s authoritarianism and SAVAK\u2019s repression created the very conditions that enabled Khomeini\u2019s seizure of power.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1546\" data-end=\"2133\">Drawing from Marx\u2019s 18th Brumaire and Newton\u2019s Third Law, Sadeghpour argued that Iran\u2019s history can be understood as a series of cause-and-effect chain reactions\u2014cycles of genuine popular struggle followed by opportunistic hijacking. \u201cHistory repeats first as tragedy, then as farce,\u201d he said, warning that today\u2019s resurfacing monarchists and former torturers represent the same toxic forces that derailed past revolutions. Their sudden reappearance, he argued, is not a political revival but a sign that Iran\u2019s body politic is \u201crid[ding] itself of the remains of diseased organs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2135\" data-end=\"2432\">Prof. Sadeghpour emphasized that the Iranian people decisively rejected monarchy in 1979 and paid for freedom with \u201cthe blood of Iran\u2019s youth.\u201d The core lesson, he said, is that liberty is never granted from above\u2014\u201cIt is earned through sacrifice, resistance, and an unbreakable commitment to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2434\" data-end=\"2752\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">He concluded by identifying the NCRI and MEK as the only organized movement that has internalized these lessons and transformed them into a practical, evidence-based roadmap for a democratic future. Iran\u2019s next chapter, he said, will not be written by kings or clerics but by those who declare, \u201cWe shall free Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hon. Patrick Kennedy delivers his remarks at the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIranConvention2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIranConvention2025<\/a> sharing his high confidence in a future free and prosperous Iran. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/m9gEyhIaqB\">pic.twitter.com\/m9gEyhIaqB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NCRIUS\/status\/1989813370678382976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Closing the convention, political editor and national commentator <strong>Guy Benson<\/strong> delivered a deeply personal and unexpectedly resonant address, weaving his own early-life experiences in the Middle East into a powerful endorsement of the Iranian people\u2019s struggle for freedom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He recounted his family\u2019s memories of the Iran\u2013Iraq War and a small but symbolic act of defiance by his mother, who illegally drove a car on their last night in the country\u2014an anecdote he connected to the extraordinary courage Iranian women display today. \u201cIn an era of cheap posturing,\u201d he said, \u201cIranian women demanding freedom is true heroism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Benson told the audience that he fully shares their vision of a \u201cfree, secular, democratic, non-nuclear Iran,\u201d and said that for the first time in many years, that vision feels genuinely within reach. The regime, he argued, has exposed itself as a \u201cpaper tiger\u201d\u2014militarily, politically, and morally. The events following October 7, he said, revealed Tehran as the \u201chead of the snake of terrorism,\u201d while simultaneously laying bare its structural weakness: collapsing proxies, gutted military capability, a crippled nuclear program, and a propaganda machine that is \u201cimploding under its own lies.\u201d These cascading failures, he suggested, may be remembered as \u201cthe beginning of the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Benson emphasized that the American people overwhelmingly stand with the Iranian people, pointing to the bipartisan majority behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-resolution\/166\/cosponsors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. House Resolution 166<\/a>. He also cited the optimism of an Iranian-American scholar he deeply respects\u2014an optimism he now shares.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In his closing message, Benson urged the audience to reject despair and never surrender to complacency. \u201cYou have never walked away,\u201d he said, and now, after decades of sacrifice, \u201cthe tide has turned.\u201d He ended with a vision of the future: a Free Iran Convention held not in Washington or Paris, but \u201cin a free, thriving Tehran\u2014discussing not what might be, but what has been achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington D.C., November 15, 2025&mdash; The Free Iran Convention 2025 convened hundreds of Iranian American scholars, professionals, human rights advocates, youth, and community leaders from across the United States, joined [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":339424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,60],"tags":[204,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-339423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-resistance","8":"category-maryam-rajavi","9":"tag-maryam-rajavi","10":"tag-iranian-resistance"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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