WOMEN, FREEDOM AND THE FUTURE OF IRAN

Speech to a Side Meeting at the United Nations Human Rights CouncilRoom XI, United Nations Headquarters, GenevaThursday 12 March 2026

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends, for more than four decades, the ruling theocracy in Iran has systematically violated the most fundamental human rights. Arbitrary arrests, torture, public executions, suppression of free speech, persecution of minorities, and brutal repression of women have become defining features of the regime. The institutions of power, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), function not as guardians of national security but as instruments of fear and control.

Today the regime faces a crisis of legitimacy unprecedented in its history. The death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has opened a new and dangerous chapter. Instead ofresponding to the demands of the Iranian people for freedom and reform, the ruling establishment has consolidated power through dynastic succession. Mojtaba Khamenei has already been installed as the new Supreme Leader.

This development exposes a profound irony. The 1979 revolution claimed to overthrowmonarchy. Yet the regime has now transformed the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih into what amounts to a hereditary religious autocracy.

But Mojtaba Khamenei represents more than dynastic succession. He has long operated at the center of the regime’s security apparatus, maintaining close ties with the IRGC and the intelligence services. His name has been repeatedly associated with the violent suppression of popular uprisings in 2009, 2017, 2019, 2022, and most recently the nationwide uprising of January this year.

The consequences are already visible in the regime’s escalating use of terror. In 2025 alone, at least 2,028 people were executed in Iran. In the first two months of this year, another 650 executions have already been recorded. These grim figures do not even include the victims of the brutal crackdown during the January 2026 uprising. By some accounts, as many as 30,000 protesters were slaughtered in that nationwide repression. These are not merely statistics. They represent lives taken, families shattered, and a nation subjected to systematic intimidation.

For women in Iran, the oppression is even more severe. The regime’s hostility toward women is not incidental, it is ideological. Mandatory veiling, legal discrimination, and exclusion from many areas of public life are pillars of the system. Women who challenge these restrictions are treated as enemies of the state.

Yet despite relentless repression, the spirit of resistance inside Iran has not been extinguished. On the contrary, it has grown stronger. Across the country, networks of Resistance Units continue to challenge the regime’s authority. Demonstrations, strikes, and acts of civil disobedience have become increasingly frequent.

The Iranian people have made it abundantly clear that they reject both the theocratic dictatorship that rules them today and any attempt to restore the monarchy of the past. What they seek instead is a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state, respect for human rights, and equality for all citizens.

Central to this vision is the leadership of women. Few political movements in the Middle East, and indeed few anywhere in the world, placed women so prominently at the forefront of their struggle.

In Ashraf-3 in Albania, hundreds of Iranian women activists have built a center of political organization, education, and resistance. Their courage and determination have become a powerful symbol for young people across Iran who yearn for a future free from tyranny. These women embody the very opposite of the misogynistic ideology imposed by the ruling clerics. At this critical moment, the international community must recognize that the struggle of the Iranian people is not only a national cause; it is also a global one.

The regime in Tehran has long exported extremism, terrorism, and regional instability. The IRGC supports armed proxies throughout the Middle East while simultaneously crushing dissent at home. The international community must hold the Iranian regime accountable for its human rights crimes. Independent investigations into executions, torture, and the killing of protesters must continue, and those responsible must face justice.

As we move forward, the human rights of the Iranian people must be placed front and center in international policy toward Iran. Democratic governments should stand with the Iranian people’s legitimate aspirations for freedom, democracy, and human rights.

The future of Iran must be decided by its own people. They do not ask for foreign troops orfinancial assistance. What they ask for is recognition of their right to resist tyranny and to build a democratic alternative.

Today the regime is weaker than it has been in decades. Its leadership is divided, its economy is collapsing, and its legitimacy has been shattered by the courage of its own citizens. Installing Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader will not solve this crisis. It will only deepen it.

After decades of sacrifice, including the loss of more than one hundred thousand lives in the struggle against dictatorship, the Iranian people will not accept another tyrant, whether cloaked in religious authority or dynastic privilege. Their message is clear: Neither the Shah nor the mullahs. What they seek is freedom, democracy, and a republic based on the rule of law.

And if we listen carefully to the voices rising from Iran today, especially the voices of its courageous women, we will hear the sound of a nation preparing to reclaim its future.

Thank you.