{"id":126085,"date":"2026-05-22T11:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/126085\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:39:08","slug":"maryam-rajavi-irans-regime-is-at-its-weakest-point-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/126085\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryam Rajavi: Iran\u2019s regime is at its weakest point in\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Maryam Rajavi<\/a>, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran<\/a>, discusses why she believes Iran\u2019s clerical regime is facing unprecedented weakness, the role of organized resistance and women-led opposition inside Iran, and the NCRI\u2019s roadmap for a democratic transition. In this exclusive interview with The Washington Times\u2019 Tim Constantine, Ms. Rajavi outlines her 10-point plan for a democratic Iran and urges international support for the Iranian people\u2019s push for regime change.<\/p>\n

1. You know, analysts and experts look at the conflict between the United States and Iran and they look at the success the United States has had. Militarily, they\u2019ve done an enormous amount of damage. You\u2019ve seen relationships change in the Gulf, the United States relationships seem to be even stronger, and Iran seems to be on its own. The leadership has been cleaned out, not only the Supreme Leader, but many of the top leaders have been cleaned out there, and yet the regime is still there. Some pundits would tell you it\u2019s even stronger, that their resilience is so strong they may be in a stronger position than they were before February 28th. Is that a correct assessment?<\/p>\n

In my view, this assessment is incorrect, because the regime is at its weakest point in the past 48 years. The super-crises that led to the January uprising have not only remained unresolved but have in fact intensified after the war. This assessment overlooks two key realities:
First, the executions<\/a> in recent weeks demonstrate the regime\u2019s deep concern about defiant youth and resistance units. This reflects the strength of the resistance and the weakness of the regime. As you know, in the past month alone, at least 23 political prisoners have been executed: eight members of the MEK and commanders of resistance units, and also 15 others who were participants in the uprising. Some family members of these martyrs, who sought to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones, have also been arrested.
Finally, the analysis you mentioned underestimates the explosive state of society and the accumulation of public discontent in Iran. The regime has no way out of these crises.
Do not forget that just one year before the fall of the Shah\u2019s dictatorship, some were calling it an \u201cisland of stability,\u201d while others claimed Iran was not even in a pre-revolutionary phase. Yet, we saw that contrary to those assessments, the Shah\u2019s dictatorship was rapidly overthrown.<\/p>\n

2-You mentioned the executions that have gone there, and human rights groups are saying there have been a couple of dozen, and you mentioned 8 of those are MEK members. Why do you think the regime, the Iranian regime as it exists now, is carrying these out? But more importantly, what\u2019s the message that that sends to the rest of the world? You have long talked about how overthrowing the regime would take actual resistance on the ground. You\u2019ve been very clear that needs to be people on the ground.<\/p>\n

The regime\u2019s objective in carrying out these executions is to prevent an uprising and also to instill fear in the people who rose up in January for freedom and the overthrow of the regime. It knows that the war will eventually end, and that the already explosive conditions in society will become even more intense, with larger uprisings on the horizon. Therefore, on the one hand, it seeks\u2014by its own calculation\u2014to instill fear and terror among the public, especially the youth, to deter them from pursuing protest and rebellion.
On the other hand, it aims to prevent young people from joining resistance units and to halt their expansion, because these units play a significant role in organizing, spreading, and sustaining uprisings.
However, what the regime fails to grasp is that it is confronting a generation that is in no way willing to tolerate the mullahs\u2019 crackdown and suppression. This is a generation that has found its path in organized resistance and is prepared to pay whatever price it takes.
As Thomas Paine said, \u201cWe have it in our power to begin the world over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

3-What would that actually look like? How would that realistically unfold? And then what credible alternative exists if that effort for overthrow is successful?<\/p>\n

The clear alternative\u2014and the proven solution to the Iran question\u2014is change brought about by the Iranian people themselves, through organized resistance and resistance units.
Our specific strategy for overthrowing this regime is centered on the fusion of two elements: popular uprising and organized resistance, including the resistance units. Both elements have been tested and can be observed.
On the one hand, the social conditions are far more explosive than during the January uprising, and there is no doubt that larger uprisings are on the horizon.
On the other hand, organized resistance<\/a> is far more prepared than in the past. Resistance units\u2014during the January uprising alone\u2014carried out 630 operations against repressive centers to protect the demonstrators. On February 23, 250 MEK fighters launched an assault on Khamenei\u2019s heavily guarded headquarters. Resistance units, in their quantitative and qualitative expansion, have evolved into organized units of a liberation army.
In addition to the resistance units, there exists a vast, organized social network of MEK supporters across the country, playing an effective role in uprisings. Their struggle in cities and their resistance in prisons have had a profound impact on society. For example, members of a six-member MEK unit, commanded by Vahid Bani-Amerian, in the days before their execution, sang a collective anthem inside prison. This profoundly moving footage is now being widely circulated. International television channels have broadcast it repeatedly; French television, in airing their images, described it as a powerful symbol of the Iranian people\u2019s resistance and dignity and is quite powerful.
Here, I have their pictures. This is the scene where they had stood in prison and were singing together.
As I have repeatedly stated, real change in Iran requires a combat-ready, organized force on the ground. The fake alternatives, polished through social media engineering and glossy television programs, lack even the slightest real role or relevance. These represent remnants of the former dictatorship who aspire to return Iran to the past. But a people who sacrifice their lives do so not for a return to the past, but for a democratic future.<\/p>\n

One must not lose sight of the fact that elevating a manufactured alternative built around the Shah\u2019s son and the remnants of the former dictatorship serves as one of the clerical regime\u2019s key levers to confront and contain the uprising and the organized Resistance.<\/p>\n

4-The current regime has a reputation for oppressing women, and yet since 2017, women have been the ones who seem to be at the forefront of the protests on the ground in Iran. And at the same time, when I look at your group, not only you, but primarily all the leadership in your organization is female. Is that coincidence? And how is it that women are taking such a strong role in a country that has tried to hold women down?<\/p>\n

We, the Iranian Resistance, have presented a clear political roadmap for the period following the overthrow of the current regime. Under the Council\u2019s official plan, after the regime\u2019s overthrow, a provisional government designated by the Council will, within a maximum of six months, hold free and fair elections for a constituent and national legislative assembly, thereby transferring sovereignty to the people. The provisional government will then resign, after six months, enabling the constituent assembly to designate a government to administer the country.
The political foundation of this transition is outlined in the Resistance\u2019s Ten-Point Plan: a republic based on the separation of religion and state, pluralism, freedom of parties and the media, the abolition of the death penalty, gender equality, an independent judiciary, autonomy for oppressed nationalities, and a non-nuclear Iran<\/a>.
Therefore, our emphasis is on a republic grounded in freedom and democracy. And as Abraham Lincoln said in your own history, the fundamental principle is that government must be \u201cof the people, by the people, and for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

5-Following the death of Iran regime\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, you announced the formation of a provisional government. And to be perfectly candid, there were some critics out there that said that was premature.<\/p>\n

I must state clearly that this coincidence in timing is not accidental at all. The reality is that the prominent and active role of Iranian women in the nationwide uprisings of recent years was not spontaneous or created overnight. Rather, it is rooted in 48 years of struggle by Iranian women in the political and social spheres, as well as in the arenas of military battles, where MEK women played a leading and pioneering role. Under this regime\u2019s rule, thousands of courageous women activists and MEK members have been arrested, tortured, and executed. And today, one thousand heroic women serve in the MEK\u2019s Central Council, assuming leadership and guiding responsibilities at every level of this movement. Moreover, women constitute 52 percent of the more than 450 members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. In this way, women\u2019s leadership has been institutionalized within the resistance and serves as a springboard for achieving genuine gender equality. This is a source of inspiration and motivation for women across Iran.<\/p>\n

According to the Council\u2019s program and its Ten-Point Plan, equality for women and their full participation in all spheres of society\u2014especially in political leadership\u2014will guarantee democracy and development in a future Iran.<\/p>\n

6-Why did you think it was important to make that announcement then, to make that formation then, and what makes the provisional government legitimate?<\/p>\n

The provisional government is part of a pre-defined plan by the NCRI Iran for the transitional period. Its announcement at a time when the regime is experiencing severe fragility and weakness highlights the fact that a credible alternative exists\u2014one capable of transferring power to the Iranian people in an orderly, calm, and democratic manner after the regime\u2019s overthrow.
Regarding legitimacy of the provisional government, I must say that under conditions of repression\u2014where free elections are impossible\u2014the measure of legitimacy for any political force is its level of active participation in resistance and its demonstrated commitment to democratic principles in practice. The legitimacy of the provisional government is rooted in 45 years of unrelenting struggle against religious tyranny and in the sacrifice of more than 100,000 martyrs.
This government is based on a clear and publicly declared political program, grounded in principles such as free elections, the rule of law, separation of religion and state, and gender equality.
I must add that the provisional government does not seek to replace the will of the people; rather, it aims to facilitate its realization. We have consistently stated that we do not seek power for ourselves, but intend to transfer power to the Iranian people.
The mandate of the provisional government<\/a> is to hold free elections within a maximum of six months for the formation of a Constituent Assembly. Immediately thereafter, the provisional government will resign so that the representatives elected by the people in the Constituent Assembly can establish a new government to carry forward the affairs of the country.<\/p>\n

7-In the recent past, the collapse of oppressive rulers, like in Libya, for example, or maybe a great example would be in Iraq and Saddam Hussein. The collapse of those leaderships has ended up in chaos, in instability all over. If there is a regime change in Iran, can a different path be taken? Can that instability be avoided?<\/p>\n

Such a threat does not exist in Iran. Neither the experiences of Iraq and Libya are applicable to Iran, nor is a \u201cChalabi-style\u201d scenario conceivable, nor is a return to monarchical dictatorship. For several reasons:
First, there exists in Iran a deep and powerful societal desire for regime change and the attainment of freedom and democracy. For the past 45 years, there has been a continuous resistance aimed at overthrowing the regime. This prolonged struggle serves as a unifying force among the diverse components of Iranian society.
It must be noted that in Iraq and Libya, no credible alternative existed. The fall of those regimes occurred largely as a result of the sudden collapse of state structures. In contrast, change in Iran is fundamentally relies on the people and in an organized resistance that is backed by a political alternative and a provisional government.
In Iran, there exists an opposition force with defined structure, program, and networks, which has a clear roadmap for the \u201cday after\u201d the regime\u2019s overthrow. And as I said, a time-bound provisional government has been proposed with the explicit mandate to hold free elections. In other words, a designed mechanism exists to prevent a power vacuum.
It must be borne in mind that Iran possesses a long-standing national identity and a deeply rooted, cohesive social structure; it was not a state born out of the postwar global partitions that followed major wars.<\/p>\n

8-Your critics say that while you have a strong presence, you and your organization have a strong following abroad, they question how much of a following you really have inside the borders of Iran. Is there concrete evidence? Can you lay out examples of where the NCRI has a following on the ground?<\/p>\n

Let us begin with the regime\u2019s daily executions themselves: if the MEK did not have \u2014 and does not have \u2014 a social base of support, why do the clerical rulers persistently execute its members? As I mentioned, recently, eight MEK members were executed in just the past three weeks. In total, more than 100,000 members of the resistance have been executed by this regime. In the book you see here, the names of 20,000 of them have been compiled under conditions of severe repression, their names and pictures.
Therefore, if the resistance had no base in Iran, it would not have endured for 60 years\u2014indeed, it would not have survived even six.
Resistance Units carried out over 4,000 anti-repression operations in the past year alone. Is it conceivable for such a scale of operations to occur without a broad social base?
During the January uprising alone, 2,000 MEK members disappeared\u2014killed, or imprisoned. Yet at the same time, we are witnessing a growing number of women and young people joining the ranks of the Resistance Units.
Senior regime officials\u2014including Ali Khamenei\u2014have repeatedly acknowledged that the primary threat inside Iran is the MEK and that it plays a pivotal role in inciting uprisings. For 45 years, the slogan \u201cDeath to the MEK\u201d has been a staple of the regime\u2019s official and religious ceremonies.
Over the past two years, the regime has held a so-called absentia trial in Tehran\u2014convened every two weeks\u2014targeting 104 members of the resistance. Its purpose is to level accusations in an effort to halt the growing trend of youth joining the movement. In this very so-called \u201ctrial,\u201d death sentences have been issued against me and other members.
I must also recall that, relying on its popular network, this resistance was the first to expose the regime\u2019s secret nuclear program in 2002, and has carried out more than 130 such revelations since then.
At the same time, it is precisely this domestic social base that has enabled the resistance to maintain its financial independence to this day.<\/p>\n

9-I\u2019m not sure that some in the West realize how large the ethnic diversity is in Iran. And diversity can be a great asset, but it also creates some challenges. You talked earlier about your 10-point plan<\/a>. In that plan, do you have specifics to how to meet the various demands or the various needs of all these different ethnic groups within one nation?<\/p>\n

Preserving Iran\u2019s territorial integrity and national unity is possible precisely through guaranteeing the rights of all its constituent peoples and components. That is why we advocate internal autonomy for oppressed nationalities such as the Baluchis, Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen.
For many years, the NCRI has adopted a comprehensive plan for autonomy in Iranian Kurdistan. This plan represents an advanced model for democratic self-governance for Iranian Kurdistan.
Conversely, those who refuse to recognize the rights of oppressed nationalities are, in practice, pursuing the path of division and fragmentation in the country \u2014 a course the people of Iran firmly reject.<\/p>\n

10-We\u2019ve talked about the NCRI, we\u2019ve talked about your organization and who makes it up, we\u2019ve talked about action on the ground. There\u2019s one question remaining, and that is, what are you looking for from the international community in support for your efforts?<\/p>\n

As I recently stated at a meeting at the European Parliament:
The Iranian people expect the international community to predicate any diplomatic engagement or agreement on the halt in executions and the release of political prisoners.
Furthermore, the regime\u2019s dossier of human rights violations must be referred to the United Nations Security Council, so that its leaders can be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
The regime\u2019s embassies should be closed, and agents and operatives of the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards must be expelled from all countries.
Also, the requisite technical infrastructure must also be provided to ensure the Iranian people have access to a free and unrestricted internet.
Finally, it is essential that regime change by the Iranian people and their organized resistance be recognized, along with the provisional government announced by the NCRI.<\/p>\n

Thank you. Allow me to say a few words and to repeat that four decades ago, the Iranian Resistance, with its deep understanding of the nature of the religious dictatorship in Iran, emphasized that this regime is incapable of reform and that the only solution is the overthrow of this brutal dictatorship.
Our program can be summarized as: Freedom, Equality, and the separation of religion and state<\/a>.
Our struggle and sacrifices are not aimed at gaining power, nor do we seek a share of power. Our only goal is to establish popular sovereignty and democracy.
Thank you again.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/may\/20\/maryam-rajavi-irans-regime-weakest-point-decades\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, discusses why she believes Iran\u2019s clerical regime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[34,29103,34167,28435,29104],"class_list":["post-126085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-iran","tag-maryam-rajavi","tag-mullahs-regime","tag-ncri","tag-people-of-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116618039235219868","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}