Breitbart: Hundreds of Iranian-American scholars, professionals, human rights advocates, students, and community leaders from across the United States gathered in Washington, DC, alongside former senior U.S. and European officials, to outline what organizers described as a practical roadmap for a democratic transition in Iran. Speakers warned that Iran’s clerical establishment has entered its “final phase” and argued that a “democratic alternative capable of replacing it” already exists in the form of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Held last Saturday at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, DC, the Free Iran Convention 2025 carried the theme “The Path to a Democratic, Prosperous Republic in Iran.” Organized by the NCRI’s U.S. Representative Office, the all-day conference drew more than 1,000 participants for a series of panels and keynote speeches. The event culminated with remarks by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former U.K. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, former U.S. Ambassador Carla Sands, and former Congressman Patrick Kennedy.
In comments to Breitbart News, Bercow said that in more than 40 years in politics, he had “never attended a convention which had such a current of electricity, energy, and enthusiasm,” calling the gathering “an organizational triumph” for the NCRI and “a tribute to the participants.”
Organizers said the day produced a clear central message: Iran’s multifaceted crisis is now irreversible under clerical rule; the essential conditions for regime change are in place; and the NCRI—built around President-elect Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic—presents itself as the organized alternative ready to step in.
Rajavi: Regime in Its ‘Final Phase’
Speaking via video link from France, NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi described the current system in Tehran as having reached “the final phase of its winter,” arguing that the regime is incapable of reform and locked into repression, corruption, regional aggression, and nuclear brinkmanship. She reiterated her “Third Option”—rejecting both Western appeasement and foreign military intervention, and instead calling for the overthrow of the system of absolute clerical rule (Velayat-e Faqih) by the Iranian people and their organized Resistance.
“The central question facing the Iranian people and the international community is how meaningful and lasting change can be achieved in Iran,” Rajavi said. She insisted that toppling the ruling system is both necessary and urgent, and argued that decades of conciliatory policies by Western governments have facilitated the spread of fundamentalism while obstructing democratic transformation. Iranian society, she said, has become a “powder keg,” with workers, teachers, retirees, slum-dwellers, and Resistance Units confronting the Revolutionary Guards across all 31 provinces.
Rajavi reiterated the NCRI’s commitment to a democratic republic based on universal suffrage, free and fair elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, abolition of the death penalty, and recognition of autonomy for Iran’s nationalities. “We are not fighting to seize power. Our goal is to return sovereignty to the people of Iran,” she said, pledging that a provisional government would hold elections for a Constituent Assembly within six months of the regime’s fall.
Society ‘Ripe for Change’
The opening panel, “Society Ripe for Change,” examined why speakers believe Iran’s crisis can no longer be contained under clerical rule.
Dr. Kazem Kazerounian, former dean of engineering at the University of Connecticut, described Iran’s economy as structurally “collapsed,” functioning as an instrument of repression and looting. He noted that an estimated 80 percent of Iranians live below the poverty line while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dominates key sectors of the economy.
Dr. Hossein Saiedian, a computer science professor at the University of Kansas, linked Iran’s economic and political failures to what he called the regime’s fundamental illegitimacy, arguing that clerics “stole the revolution” in 1979. He praised the NCRI’s revelation of the Natanz nuclear facility in 2002 as a “courageous act of patriotic intelligence” that exposed Tehran’s clandestine nuclear work and prompted international sanctions and isolation.
California physician Dr. Ashraf Zadshir traced the evolution from isolated protests to nationwide uprisings in 2017, 2019, and 2022. She stressed that demonstrations in all 31 provinces increasingly reject both so-called “reformists” and “hardliners,” concluding that Iran has entered what she described as a “permanent state of defiance.”
Women: From Targets to Leaders
The second panel, “Iranian Women and the Legacy of Resistance,” explored how women have shifted from being prime targets of repression to central leaders of Iran’s democratic struggle.
Pediatrician Dr. Azadeh Sami argued that entrenched misogyny under both the Shah’s monarchy and the current theocratic regime pushed women into organized resistance networks—where they gradually assumed strategic and operational leadership roles. She described this as “the longest-running women-led movement in the region.”
Family-law attorney Hannane Amanpour said discrimination against women in Iran is “completely by design,” grounded in a constitution that denies equal rights in family, social, and political life. She pointed to the PMOI’s internal structure, culminating in Rajavi’s election as NCRI President-elect in 1993, as proof that “No to compulsory hijab, no to compulsory religion, no to compulsory government” can serve as a governing framework, not just a protest slogan.
Mapping the Transition
A third session, “Transition Strategy: Mapping Iran’s Path from Dictatorship to Democracy,” focused on how regime change might unfold and how a post-theocratic order could be managed.
Software engineer Farideh Sedighi argued that regime change is “not only possible but increasingly inevitable,” citing intersecting pressures from an imploding economy, escalating social unrest, and rapidly expanding Resistance Units. She said these units carried out thousands of activities and symbolic operations in more than 100 cities over the past year.
NASA scientist Dr. Behzad Raofi explained that engineers approach complex systems by breaking them into components, and applying that logic to Iran, he concluded that “the only realistic strategy to bring this regime down is to fight it and overthrow it.” In his view, the clerical establishment closed off avenues for peaceful change from the beginning and has consistently met peaceful protests with bullets and executions.
Surgeon-scientist Dr. Firouz Daneshgari responded to skeptics by pointing to what he called the Resistance’s proven track record: from mobilizing hundreds of thousands of supporters despite having only a few hundred surviving MEK prisoners at the end of the Shah’s rule, to exposing Tehran’s clandestine nuclear program from 2002 onward, and building resilient Resistance Units that re-form after arrests and executions. “History, capability, and evidence all point to one truth: the Resistance is not only ready, it is already leading the path to freedom,” he said.
Youth Reject Dictatorship as Iran’s Fate
The fourth panel, “Youth as the Driving Force of Iran’s Democratic Future,” highlighted a generation that refuses to “accept dictatorship as Iran’s destiny,” as one participant put it.
Senior medical dosimetrist Mohammadreza Hesami recalled growing up in Iran under a system more interested in policing clothing, behavior, and thought than in fostering young people’s potential. He argued that the harsh crackdown on student activists and young PMOI supporters reflects “a generation that no longer believes in them.”
Computer science student Ryan Nasir characterized PMOI-affiliated Resistance Units—comprising nurses, students, workers, and professionals in all 31 provinces—as “the tip of the spear.” Their slogans and operations, he said, demonstrate that “the regime is not ten feet tall.” Nasir pointed to videos of youth openly expressing support for the PMOI and NCRI, sometimes recorded in broad daylight in Tehran, as evidence of a dictatorship losing its hold over society.
University of Virginia law student Seena Saiedian explained that many young Iranians now reject the idea of reform from within, arguing that decades of failed “moderate” presidencies have convinced them meaningful change is impossible under the current constitution. He said their determination rests on the belief that “a viable alternative exists” in the NCRI and the PMOI—one with clear democratic principles and institutional safeguards for free elections.
A special “Voices from Iran” segment brought the struggle into the conference hall through recorded messages from political prisoners on death row and Resistance Units inside the country. The segment highlighted 17 dissidents reportedly sentenced to death for alleged cooperation with the PMOI.
Western Speakers: Regime Weak, Resistance Organized
Keynote speeches by Western officials echoed the themes of regime decline, growing internal resistance, and the NCRI’s claim to serve as a prepared alternative.
Pompeo: ‘These Rotten Regimes Fail’
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed Rajavi’s leadership and said the possibility of change in Iran is “real” because of “the bravery of Iran’s organized political opposition.” He portrayed the regime as increasingly fragile, “more internationally isolated than ever,” devoid of popular legitimacy, and reliant almost entirely on fear to maintain control.
Pompeo argued that Tehran’s regional reach is shrinking—saying Hezbollah has been reduced to a shadow of its former strength, Bashar al-Assad’s position in Syria has significantly weakened, and Iran’s nuclear program has been “massively diminished.” He likened the moment to his time patrolling the East German border as a young Army officer, when few believed the Soviet system would collapse.
“These rotten regimes fail,” he told the audience. “We only know that the requirement is internal resistance to force that moment to come more readily and sooner.”
Pompeo urged the U.S. and Europe to fully enforce snapback sanctions and “starve the regime” of funds. He warned that “if you appease tyrants, they will grow in power and stature,” and emphasized that the NCRI has not requested foreign troops, only political backing and pressure to help pave the way for “a thriving, democratic, popular government in Iran, not a theocracy, not a monarchy.”
Bercow: ‘They Cannot Be Improved. They Have to Be Removed.’
Former U.K. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow condemned Iran’s clerical rule as a decades-long exercise in brutality and a “failed state.” He argued that the current rulers fundamentally misconstrue the role of government, which he said should “serve, facilitate, and empower” citizens, but which in Iran is used “to repress, dominate, and terrorize.”
“For that reason, they can’t be improved,” he declared. “They have to be removed.”
Bercow also took aim at calls for a return to monarchy, insisting that “the alternative is not Son of Shah—no way,” and dismissing Reza Pahlavi’s proposals as a blueprint for renewed autocracy. He said genuine legitimacy lies with those who remained on the ground, built resistance networks, and paid the price in blood—the PMOI and the NCRI, whose tens of thousands of martyrs and ongoing Resistance Unit activities he cited as evidence.
In the end, he said, the regime will fail because “you cannot extinguish the flame of freedom… hope ultimately triumphs over fear.”
‘No Turban, No Crown’
Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands argued that the regime’s intensifying repression is “not a sign of confidence but of fear.” She said the restoration of U.N. snapback sanctions has further constrained Tehran but maintained that the regime’s real fear is not exiled monarchists or lobbyists abroad—it is “the PMOI,” which she described as an organized movement with leadership, structure, and networks of Resistance Units preparing for a transfer of power.
Rejecting a return to any form of dictatorship, Sands said Iranians “will not trade a turban for a crown,” asserting that political legitimacy belongs to those who “paid the price in prisons and in the streets,” not to individuals who inherited titles.
She praised the NCRI’s women-led leadership culture as “the only revolution in the Middle East led by women,” adding, “When Iran rises, it will rise under the leadership of its daughters.” Sands called on democratic governments to recognize the Iranian people’s right to overthrow the regime and to acknowledge the NCRI as their legitimate representative.
Kennedy: A ‘Universal Fight for Freedom’
Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy framed Iran’s struggle as part of a broader, “universal fight” for human dignity, drawing parallels with his family’s civil-rights legacy. He recalled visiting Ashraf-3 in Albania—home to exiled PMOI members—and described it as “a model of what Iran can look like,” where, despite bombings and siege, residents “still played their music, recited poetry, and celebrated one another.”
Kennedy endorsed Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan as the democratic alternative to both clerical rule and monarchy, dismissing the latter’s attempted revival as “a comedy.” The real future, he argued, lies in a pluralistic republic grounded in democratic norms.
Quoting his uncle Robert F. Kennedy, he told attendees that each courageous act of resistance creates “a tiny ripple of hope” which, combined with countless others, “can knock down the mightiest walls of oppression.” He said he looks forward to one day taking his children “to a free Iran” to see a country rebuilt by its own people.
Benson: ‘The Regime Is a Paper Tiger’
Conservative commentator Guy Benson closed the conference by pledging his support for “a free, secular, democratic, non-nuclear Iran, as determined and secured by and for the people of Iran and no one else.” He argued that, especially since the events of October 7, global awareness has grown that “the head of the snake of terrorism lies in Iran” and that the regime has been revealed as a “paper tiger” whose proxies and nuclear ambitions have suffered “massive” setbacks.
Pointing to bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives for a resolution backing the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic republic, he praised the opposition for refusing to succumb to despair. Benson urged the audience to envision a future convention “not in Washington, New York, Paris, or Brussels—but in a free, thriving Tehran,” where Iranians and their allies would gather “not to discuss what might be, but what has been achieved.”
By the end of the convention, organizers said a single conclusion had crystallized: change in Iran is both inevitable and urgent. They argued that it is being driven by a society in continuing revolt, a regime weaker than at any point in its history, and an organized alternative in the NCRI grounded in Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan.
That program calls for universal suffrage, free elections, separation of religion and state, gender and ethnic equality, abolition of the death penalty, regional autonomy for Iran’s nationalities, and a non-nuclear, peaceful foreign policy. According to NCRI officials, these principles have attracted support from more than 4,000 lawmakers around the world, 130 former heads of state or government, and 80 Nobel laureates, as well as a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.