Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in her speech at the rally, saluted the rebellious people of Behbahan as well as the millions of compatriots who rose up in a tweet-storm to show their outrage against the inhumane death sentences of young protesters arrested during the November uprising. Last night, the people of Behbahan demonstrated with anti-government slogans and confronted the onslaught of the repressive forces.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), delivered the keynote address at Friday’s Free Iran Global Summit. Mrs. Rajavi’s speech focused on the Iranian Resistance’s three commitments to the people of Iran and the international community. First, “the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance, will overthrow the clerical regime and will take back Iran,” she said.

The second commitment is to “build a free and democratic Iran,” and the third is “to remain faithful to our people’s sovereignty and vote; to not seek power at any cost, but to establish freedom and justice at any cost; to never return to the dictatorships of Shah and the mullahs.” Mrs. Rajavi added that the NCRI and the Iranian Resistance want to establish a secular, non-nuclear Iran.

Uprisings Are an Effective Tool

Mrs. Rajavi described the effectiveness of the recent uprisings in Iran, saying, “Although the ruling religious fascism and its ally, the coronavirus, have united to dishearten and pacify our people and society, we saw during the November 2019 uprising that the protests suddenly erupted in 900 locations across the country. This created a brilliant model for the   great uprising that will overthrow the regime.”

She pointed out the uprisings did not seek to change the system but to bring it down. The uprisings also destroyed the regime’s claims that the MEK does not influence Iran. “They were searching for young and teenage (PMOI / MEK Iran) members and suddenly, saw throngs of young people overflowing in the streets of Iranian cities. They ran out of patience by arresting the elite and award-winning students [who supported the MEK],” she said.

Mrs. Rajavi emphasized that December 2017/January 2018, November 2019, and January 2020 Uprisings proved that the people of Iran are capable of rising and overthrowing their oppressors. After the 2018 Uprising, Massoud Rajavi explained the regime’s dilemma: “To contain this uprising, the mullahs’ supreme leader has no options but to solve several economic, social, political and security problems, in which case it would pave the way for its overthrow.”

The Coronavirus in Iran

Mrs. Rajavi acknowledged with a moment of silence the 72,000 people in Iran who have lost their lives during the coronavirus pandemic. She hailed the 15,000 healthcare workers in Iran who have been infected with coronavirus while caring for the sick and called for a minute of applause in appreciation of all Iranian healthcare workers who risk their own lives to help others.

She stressed, “the abnormal surging trend of the number of coronavirus victims in Iran is a product of the criminal policies of (the mullahs’ Supreme Leader, (Ali) Khamenei and (President Hassan) Rouhani. The strategy of launching mass casualties as a barrier  against the threat of an uprising and eventual overthrow is exactly designed to pacify and dishearten the Iranian society, rendering it hopeless and paralyzed.”

Mrs. Rajavi pointed out that while the regime refused to allocate adequate funds to fight the coronavirus, they continue to spend massive amounts of money on their nuclear and ballistic weapons programs and terrorist activities in the Middle East.

A Pledge from the Iranian Resistance

Mrs. Rajavi pledged on behalf of the Iranian Resistance to “overthrow the regime, take back Iran and restore all the violated and plundered rights of the people of Iran.

“Our people must enjoy the right to be healthy, to have shelter, jobs, organization and syndicates, the autonomy of ethnic minorities, the right to equal participation in running the society’s affairs, gender equality and popular sovereignty,” she continued.

“They must be free of want, fear, religious slavery, and sexual exploitation. They must enjoy the freedom of expression, opinion, choice.

“We have pledged to restore all these freedoms and rights. We make this pledge before the Iranian people and history. This is our pledge to 120,000 martyrs who fell for freedom,” she added.

Mrs. Rajavi concluded her speech with comments on sacrifice and freedom. “As I have reiterated time and again, we have not come to gain something for ourselves; we have come to sacrifice and pay the price,” she said.

“We are determined to restore freedom and people’s sovereignty in Iran, and it will be so.

Long live freedom,” she added.

“God bless the people of Iran.”