Here, we will look at Maryam Rajavi’s speech, focusing on why velvet revolutions in Iran a myth are and why the international community must end its silence and inaction on the regime’s crimes.

Maryam Rajavi said that the November uprising dispelled certain myths and illusions about the regime, highlighting that the regime is unstable and has no future.

She said: “This uprising proved that the idea of velvet revolutions in Iran is nothing but an illusion. No one in Iran has pinned any hope on change from within the regime. The only solution is the overthrow of the regime in its entirety, and this will definitely happen.”

This is exactly why the world should end its silence and inaction on the Iranian regime. There is no hope for reform from the regime who would commit such horrific crimes against their own people, who were merely protesting peacefully for democracy.

Maryam Rajavi said: “Governments and international bodies must call for an immediate end to the killings and arrests. [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, who openly ordered the crackdown, Hassan Rouhani, who repeatedly declared support for the suppressive operations, Ali Shamkhani, secretary for the Supreme Security Council, and Hossein Salami, the IRGC’s commander, have committed crimes against humanity. The UN Security Council must declare them perpetrators of crimes against humanity and they must face justice.”

She also urged the United Nations to dispatch fact-finding missions to Iran immediately in order to investigate what exactly happened to those killed, wounded and imprisoned during the protests.

Maryam Rajavi said: “The world must support the legitimacy of the resistance waged by Iran’s rebellious youths against the ruthless Revolutionary Guards. It must recognize the struggle of the people of Iran to overthrow this regime. This is the same right stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the French Revolution, and in America’s Declaration of Independence. The people of Iran, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have risen up and taken recourse ‘as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression’. This right must be recognized.”

It seems clear that the regime is about to fall, toppled by the Iranian people as the oppressed throughout history have toppled dictatorships. The world does not need to send arms or money; they need only not stand in the way of justice, freedom, and democracy. This means to stop the appeasement of the mullahs and to enforce stringent sanctions against them. This will deprive the regime of their means to hurt the Iranian people.

In our next piece, we will look at how this is a learning experience for the young people of Iran and why solidarity is needed to continue the uprisings.