SPEECH BY STRUAN STEVENSON
ODEONSPLATZ, MUNICH, 13th FEBRUARY, 2026

Dear friends,

We are once again at a decisive moment in history. Inside the Security Council Conference, world leaders speak of security, stability, and the future of nations. But let us be absolutely clear, there can be no meaningful discussion of global security without addressing the central source of instability in the Middle East, the religious fascism ruling Iran.

In January, the Iranian people made their will unmistakably clear to the world. They seek nothing less than the complete overthrow of the theocratic dictatorship that has strangled their nation for nearly half a century. The cost has been immense. Tens of thousands were killed or wounded, among them hundreds of women, teenagers, and even children. Yet across cities, towns, and villages, one message rang out with unmistakable clarity: “Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader.”

That slogan speaks volumes. It rejects tyranny in all its forms. It rejects both the corruption of the mullahs and the dictatorship of the past monarchy. It is a declaration that the Iranian people will not exchange one form of despotism for another.

Like all great popular uprisings, the tempo of this movement may fluctuate. There are moments of visible eruption and moments of enforced silence. But let no one deceive themselves. There is no return to the pre-uprising status quo. The wall of fear has been shattered. The legitimacy of the regime is broken beyond repair.

I salute you, and tens of thousands of your compatriots, who stood firm in Berlin last Saturday. You braved freezing temperatures and treacherous travel conditions to demonstrate, once again, the resolve and unity of Iranians committed to freedom. Your presence sent a powerful message, that the diaspora will not be silent, will not be divided, and will not allow the struggle inside Iran to be forgotten.

And yet, against this backdrop of sacrifice and courage, we have witnessed something deeply troubling. A manufactured and cynical attempt is underway to impose a figure upon the Iranian people, a man with no organization inside Iran, no record of meaningful struggle against tyranny; a man living comfortably in exile, shuttling between Washington and Paris in a futile bid to reclaim his father’s toppled throne.

Let us speak plainly. Iran’s future cannot and must not be decided by nostalgia, by dynastic ambition, or by foreign lobbying tours. It must be decided by the Iranian people themselves, those who have risked imprisonment, torture, and execution for the cause of liberty.

Some media outlets have shamefully abetted this charade. They have provided wall-to-wall coverage, asked soft questions, and maintained a studious silence regarding Reza Pahlavi’s own record, most notably his refusal to unequivocally condemn the crimes of his father’s dictatorship. The SAVAK prisons, the repression, the silencing of dissent, these are not footnotes in history. They are wounds that have not healed.

More troubling still is the invitation extended to him by the Munich Security Conference. This Conference has rightly closed its doors to representatives of the current regime because of its terrorism and repression. Yet it has opened a prestigious platform to a divisive and deeply controversial figure whose so-called roadmap for Iran’s future offers no credible democratic framework and indeed, seeks to revive authoritarian rule under a different guise. To many Iranians, this looks dangerously like an attempt to anoint a leader from above, rather than respect the leadership emerging from within the resistance movement itself.

And let us not ignore the historical echoes. This action projects an unmistakable colonial mindset. One rooted in the 18th and 19th centuries, when foreign powers presumed the right to determine the fate of other nations by installing rulers of their own choosing. Iranians know this history all too well. In 1925, Reza Shah Pahlavi was installed with foreign backing. In 1953, his son was restored to power through a coup orchestrated by outside forces. Those interventions condemned Iran to 57 years of repression, corruption, and national humiliation. They directly paved the way for the rise of the reactionary mullah, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Iranians paid dearly for those foreign-imposed experiments. And today, they reject, unequivocally, any attempt to repeat them. The Munich Security Conference should reflect seriously on the message it sends. By inviting a discredited and divisive figure, it risks appearing to endorse a would-be leader rejected by many Iranians both inside the country and across the diaspora.

Security cannot be built on nostalgia for dictatorship. Stability cannot be achieved by recycling failed models of governance. And democracy cannot be imposed from hotel conference rooms in Europe.

Real legitimacy comes from the streets of Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, and Zahedan; from the women who remove their headscarves in defiance, from the students who chant for freedom, from the workers who strike, despite threats of imprisonment. The Iranian people are not asking for a new Shah. They are not asking for a rebranded autocracy.
They are asking for a secular, democratic republic grounded in human rights, equality, and the rule of law. They are asking for a nation where women and men are equal before the law. Where ethnic and religious minorities are protected, not persecuted. Where no child fears a midnight knock at the door. Where power derives from the ballot box, not from bloodline or clerical decree.

I stand with the Iranian people, in Iran and here today, in condemning this misguided decision by the Security Council. And I call unequivocally for this invitation to be rescinded. But beyond that, I call on the international community to adopt a principled stance. Stand with the Iranian people, not with any form of dictatorship, past or present. Reject appeasement of the current regime. Reject romanticization of the former monarchy. Support the democratic aspirations of the people themselves. History is watching.

Inside those Security Council halls, diplomats debate policy. Outside, you embody principle. You represent the conscience of a nation that refuses to surrender its future, not to the mullahs, not to monarchists, not to foreign powers. Iran’s destiny belongs to its people. And that destiny, forged in sacrifice, resilience, and courage, will not be dictated from Munich, Washington, Paris, or anywhere else. It will be written by the Iranian people themselves.

Long live freedom. Long live a democratic Iran.