Mrs. Rajavi discussed the power of the Resistance Movement in bringing down the mullahs, the ways in which the regime’s corruption has harmed the Iranian people and the global community, and she listed the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI) pledges to the Iranian people and the future.

Mrs. Rajavi declared early in her speech that “the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance, will overthrow the clerical regime and will take back Iran.”

She also said that the people of Iran and their Resistance would “build a free and democratic Iran” and that they would commit 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.”

The Power of Protest

Mrs. Rajavi described the November 2019 Uprising, in which 1,500 protesters were killed by regime security forces and 10,000 more were arrested. “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 said.

Mrs. Rajavi noted that the uprisings were significant in that they did not call for reform, they called for regime change. Further, they dismantled the argument that the MEK did not have a large following inside Iran. The regime was forced to acknowledge the size and influence of the MEK inside Iran.

She also quoted Massoud Rajavi, who explained the quagmire faced by the mullahs after the December 2017/January 2018 Uprising. Mr. Rajavi said, “To contain this uprising, the mullahs’ Supreme Leader has no options but to solve a number of economic, social, political and security problems, in which case it would pave the way for its overthrow.”

In other words, reform would compromise the absolute rule that defines the clerical regime and keeps it in power. Failing to reform will fuel the protests and lead to overthrow. Either choice ends in the demise of the mullahs’ regime.

Funding Death Instead of Saving Lives

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi pauses for a moment of silence to honor the 72,000 people in Iran who have died from the novel coronavirus. She called attention to the 15,000 healthcare workers who have been infected by the disease while caring for others and condemned the regime for neglecting to provide adequate equipment for nurses and failing to pay their wages. She called for a minute of applause in appreciation of Iranian healthcare workers.

“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,” she said.

While hospitals overflow and nurses go unpaid, the regime spends billions on nuclear and ballistic weapons programs and terrorist activities in the Middle East. 60 million Iranians live in poverty while Khamenei controls billions.

A Pledge

Mrs. Rajavi concluded her speech with a pledge to “overthrow the regime, take back Iran and restore all the violated and plundered rights of the people of Iran.”

She said, “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.

“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.