The NCRI is a coalition of democratic Iranian resistance groups, with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK) as its largest member, to bring freedom and democracy to Iran.
The NCRI is determined to bring a democratic and secular republic in Iran, but until the mullahs are overthrown, the NCRI works as a parliament-in-exile with more than 500 members.
Unlike the mullahs’ regime, the NCRI features representatives from ethnic and religious minorities, different political ideologies, and at least half of the posts are filled by women.
The NCRI, has a set of guiding principles, including:
- democratic decision making, where the decision is made by a majority vote and each member has one vote
- a six-month provisional government, where the NCRI and its president-elect Maryam Rajavi will take power after the regime falls for long enough to hold democratic elections and transfer power to those representatives
- the National Solidarity Front, which includes all Iranians who want to overthrow the regime in favor of a secular republic
The NCRI is dedicated to human rights, women’s rights, religious freedom, respect for ethnic minorities, and peaceful international relations. Let’s look at each of them in a bit more detail.
The NCRI adheres to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is committed to ensuring all individual and social rights and freedoms, including:
- freedom of thought and expression
- a free press
- freedom of association
- freedom of profession
- freedom of religion and denomination
- freedom of political parties
- freedom to participate in trade unions and councils
They would also ban any form of discrimination based on these freedoms and abolish the death penalty.
The NCRI supports national capitalism, the market economy, private ownership, and private investment.
The NCRI believes that scientific and technological advances are vital to establishing and maintaining a healthy economy, which is why relations with the industrialized world is integral to Iran’s reconstruction.
The NCRI recognizes:
- “the right of women to elect and be elected in all elections, and the right to suffrage in all referendums”
- “the right to employment and free selection of profession, and the right to hold any public, office or profession including the presidency or judgeship”
- “the right to freely choose to clothe and covering”
- “the right to use, without discrimination, all instructional, educational, athletic, and artistic resources; the right to participate in all athletic competitions and artistic activities”
The NCRI is committed to the separation of religion and state, with a platform that decrees “all forms of discrimination against the followers of various religions and denominations… are prohibited. No citizen shall enjoy any privileges or be subject to any deprivations… for the reason of belief or non-belief in a particular religion or denomination.”
Minorities’ Rights
The NCRI affirms the rights of all ethnic and national minorities, with support for an autonomous Iranian Kurdistan.
The NCRI’s foreign policy is based on independence, adherence to the United Nations Charter and all of its international conventions and treaties, good relationships with neighboring countries, and regional and international non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
