Amid reports that Iran’s recent wave of protests is fading following widespread internet blackouts and mass arrests, Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), insists the uprising is far from over. In an interview with Newsmax, she said the rebellion against Iran’s theocratic system continues “unabated” and has entered an irreversible phase.
According to Rajavi, street confrontations between protesters—many of them young—and security forces are still taking place despite the regime’s efforts to suppress information and limit communication. She argued that a reduction in visible demonstrations does not mean the movement has been defeated. “Social uprisings never follow a straight line,” she said, pointing to Iran’s 1979 revolution as an example of how protest movements can rise, fall, and then surge again.
She accused the government of attempting to create a false sense of stability through staged pro-regime rallies, intimidation, and violence. Citing figures she said show thousands killed and tens of thousands arrested, Rajavi claimed the authorities are relying on mass repression to maintain control. Yet, she added, the underlying causes of the unrest—poverty, corruption, and public rejection of the entire political system—remain firmly in place.
Rajavi stressed that change in Iran must come from within. The overthrow of the current system, she said, can only be achieved by the Iranian people and an organized resistance movement. “Freedom is not something that can be imported,” she argued. “It comes from the sacrifices and determination of a nation itself.”
While rejecting foreign military intervention, Rajavi called on democratic governments to stop accommodating Tehran and to hold Iranian leaders accountable for repression and violence. She warned that as long as the current leadership remains in power, it will continue internal crackdowns while also pursuing policies abroad that threaten regional and international security.
Addressing concerns that Iran could descend into chaos after a regime collapse, Rajavi said the country’s situation differs from places like post-Saddam Iraq or post-Gaddafi Libya. She pointed to what she described as a long-standing democratic alternative represented by the NCRI, which advocates a secular republic, separation of religion and state, gender equality, and an independent judiciary. She argued that such a framework could prevent a power vacuum and guide a transition.
Rajavi also dismissed any prospect of restoring the monarchy, repeating the NCRI’s long-held slogan of “neither Shah nor Sheikh.” She criticized both the former royal system and the current clerical leadership as forms of dictatorship, saying Iranians want a republic based on popular sovereignty rather than a return to authoritarian rule in any form.
On the question of whether defections from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could tip the balance, Rajavi was skeptical of strategies that rely on appealing to senior commanders. She described the Guards as deeply intertwined with the ruling system. However, she said that sustained popular resistance combined with organized opposition on the ground could eventually weaken the regime’s grip and lead to larger defections among lower-ranking forces.
“Iran has reached a historic crossroads,” Rajavi concluded. “The conditions for change exist. What matters now is turning the people’s determination into an organized force capable of shaping the country’s future.”