On June 21, 2025, thousands of freedom-loving Iranians rallied in Berlin and Stockholm to demand regime change in Iran, voicing strong support for the “Third Option” proposed by the (NCRI).
The demonstrators emphasized their rejection of both the current clerical regime and any return to monarchy, calling instead for a democratic, secular republic rooted in the will of the Iranian people.
In a message to the crowds, NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi said, “Today, we are on the threshold of a great transformation.” She echoed the words she delivered at a Berlin rally in 2005: “Our message is clear: The Iranian people’s resistance for freedom must be recognized. We say no to appeasement and saving the mullahs’ regime, and no to war. There is a Third Option: regime change by the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance. Democratic change is the will of the Iranian people and the verdict of history.”
In Berlin, participants marched with placards and chanted slogans supporting the Third Option, expressing solidarity with the organized resistance movement inside Iran.
Simultaneously, demonstrators in Stockholm echoed the call for “No to war, no to appeasement, yes to democratic change by the Iranian people and their resistance.” Among the chants were: “Change by the people of Iran—this is the Third Option,” and “The Iranian people’s uprising is the way out of the crisis.”
Speakers stressed that the core conflict is not between governments, but between the Iranian people and their repressive regime. They criticized Western governments for years of appeasement that have emboldened Tehran’s rulers.
Rally participants urged Western nations and international institutions to formally recognize the NCRI as the only viable democratic alternative to the current regime, reaffirming that Iran’s future lies not in past dictatorships but in a free, democratic, and secular republic.