WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Iran convulses under mounting unrest, repression, and regional aggression, a rare bipartisan gathering on Capitol Hill sent a pointed message this past week: the future of Iran is no longer an abstract debate about regimes, but a concrete question of whether the Iranian people will finally reclaim power for themselves.
Senior U.S. senators, national security leaders, and former administration officials convened on Thursday in the Kennedy Caucus Room for a Senate briefing titled Supporting the Iranian People’s Struggle For A Free, Non-Nuclear Republic. The timing was deliberate. Iran is facing one of the most volatile periods in decades, with widespread protests, economic collapse, and a regime that has responded with executions, mass arrests, and intensified regional destabilization.
At the center of the discussion was a message from Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, who laid out what she described as a clear and achievable democratic alternative to clerical rule. Her message challenged a long-standing assumption in Western capitals that Iran’s choices are limited to either authoritarian continuity or chaotic collapse.
“Our goal is not to take power for ourselves; our goal is to transfer power to the people of Iran through a peaceful and democratic process,” Rajavi said, outlining a plan for a nationwide election of a constituent assembly within six months of the regime’s fall.
The briefing brought together lawmakers from both parties, including Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, John Cornyn of Texas, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Ruben Gallego of Arizona. Their presence reflected a growing consensus that Iran policy can no longer be confined to nuclear negotiations alone, but must confront the regime’s legitimacy crisis at home.
Shaheen told attendees that the annual briefings amplify the voice of Iran’s democratic future and ensure the world hears what she described as the truth about the regime’s conduct, including threats to dissidents and residents of Ashraf-3, the opposition community in Albania. Cornyn, recalling a 2017 visit to Ashraf-3, described Tehran as the “head of the octopus of terrorism” and argued that the Iranian people have been systematically denied hope and opportunity by the theocratic state.
Booker framed the issue in moral terms, invoking Martin Luther King Jr.’s warning that injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere. He described the Iranian Resistance as a rare unifying cause in a polarized era, saying Democrats and Republicans stand together in support of a free Iran. Gallego echoed that sentiment, calling the Iranian struggle part of a broader global responsibility to encourage movements seeking freedom from repression.
Rajavi’s address was delivered one day after International Human Rights Day, a contrast she highlighted sharply. She cited torture, imprisonment, discrimination against women, and more than 1,950 executions in 2025 alone as evidence that gradual reform is no longer plausible. According to Rajavi, only two paths remain: the continuation of religious dictatorship or fundamental change driven by the Iranian people and their organized resistance.
She emphasized that the movement she represents does not seek foreign funding or weapons, but political recognition of the Iranian people’s right to overthrow a regime she said has occupied the country for nearly half a century. She pointed to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the principal member of the NCRI, as an organized force with thousands of trained members and an extensive internal network, backed by a broader coalition committed to democratic transition.
National security leaders reinforced the strategic implications of that argument. General James L. Jones, former national security advisor and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Iran’s terrorism, missile programs, and nuclear violations pose accelerating threats to global stability. He argued that U.S. interests align more closely with empowering a democratic alternative than with policies that inadvertently prolong the regime’s survival.
Jones cited Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan as a comprehensive framework for a secular republic grounded in free elections, gender equality, separation of religion and state, civil liberties, and a non-nuclear Iran at peace with its neighbors. He said support for that vision is expanding across the United States.
Former Senator Roy Blunt described longstanding bipartisan support in Congress for democratic values in Iran, noting that the regime has repeatedly proven itself unreformable. He highlighted the opposition’s role in exposing Iran’s secret nuclear sites, crediting those disclosures with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Former State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert focused on the importance of amplifying credible Iranian voices, particularly women. She said Rajavi’s leadership and platform reflect principles that resonate across party lines, including universal suffrage, equal participation for women, and governance rooted in human dignity rather than clerical authority.
Dr. Ben Carson framed the issue as a moral imperative, praising the courage of Iranian protesters and political prisoners. He argued that a democratic, non-nuclear Iran would not only transform the region, but strengthen global security.
The briefing concluded with a shared assessment that Iran’s ruling system is at its weakest point in decades, while the opposition presents a structured and disciplined alternative with a defined roadmap for transition. Rajavi closed by insisting that democracy is not merely the end goal, but the mechanism through which Iran can finally break its cycle of repression.
As policymakers reassess decades of failed assumptions, the message from Capitol Hill was clear: supporting the Iranian people’s struggle for self-determination is no longer just a moral stance, but a strategic necessity with profound implications for regional and global stability.
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