17 prominent Iranian political and civil society activists have issued a powerful statement expressing deep concern for the future of Iran. The full content of their statement is as follows:
Today, our nation stands at the crossroads of one of the most perilous moments in its modern history, a convergence of long-simmering domestic crises, regional volatility, and the structural injustice of the global order. Iran is caught in a storm from which there is only one meaningful way out: through the agency and active will of its people to determine their own future.
The only viable path forward is neither collusion with the ruling regime nor reliance on foreign powers and military conflict. Instead, it is a third path, one led by the people themselves, built on independence, solidarity, and shared goals. It is a path that resists both internal repression and external aggression, while reclaiming national sovereignty and dignity.
Faced with these dangers, compounded by the hour, we feel compelled, without delay, to take a clear and public stance. It is a national and moral duty to resist the regime’s Iran-devouring policies and to assert the people’s right to decide their own destiny, especially in matters of critical and existential importance.
The recent joint military action by Israel and the United States, an act that, by the standards of the United Nations Charter and established principles of international law, constitutes clear aggression, has tragically set a precedent and remains a looming threat. The specter of war continues to cast a dark shadow over our country.
Meanwhile, it is no secret that for more than two decades, nearly every aspect of life in Iran has been shaped by the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. By making this program the central pillar of its governance, and by pursuing perpetual adventurism abroad and relentless suppression at home, the regime has inflicted irreparable economic, social, psychological, and security-related damage on its people. Despite countless warnings, it has pushed the country closer and closer to the edge of catastrophic war. And yet, after all the regime’s obstinacy and autocracy, not a single meaningful or public good has emerged, nothing to justify the immense suffering borne by the Iranian people.
Even now, following a ruinous twelve-day war, the regime insists on maintaining a wartime posture, clinging to the same ruinous positions as before. This is not only a grave threat to the people’s sovereignty, freedoms, and civil rights, but it has also made everyday life even more bitter and unbearable.
We are deeply concerned about Iran’s future. And we believe:
- That the regime’s continued commitment to belligerent anti-Americanism and inflammatory slogans like “the destruction of Israel” is reckless and ruinous;
- That its persistence in pursuing an opaque nuclear policy, and tying the nation’s security and fate to extreme levels of uranium enrichment without any public mandate, is unacceptable;
- That its exploitation of Iran’s natural wealth and human capital in service of militaristic ambitions is indefensible;
- That its systematic securitization of society, through the suppression of women, students, workers, teachers, artists, retirees, religious minorities, and Iran’s diverse ethnic groups, is unjust and unsustainable;
- That its ongoing imprisonment of political and religious prisoners, and the recent spike in mass arrests, are intolerable;
- That its intensified use of the death penalty, designed to intimidate the public and conceal military and intelligence failures, is barbaric;
- That its suffocation of free speech, criminalization of protest, media censorship, and internet blackouts must end.
These are not just missteps. They are the core policies of a governance model that is rapidly eroding the foundations of Iranian society. Day by day, the regime strips the people of their most basic rights, including the fundamental right to determine their political future. If this trajectory continues, it will lead Iran into a disaster whose consequences will haunt generations to come.
We call for a free and transparent referendum, supervised by independent international bodies, followed by the convening of a constituent assembly to establish a national and inclusive government as the foundation for a democratic transition.
We are fully aware that no authoritarian regime ever consents to such a referendum willingly. Therefore, we call upon all political, civil, and cultural organizations, as well as every independent activist across the country and in the diaspora, to make changing Iran’s current trajectory their urgent priority.
We urge them to persist in nonviolent civil resistance through every available means: issuing public statements, organizing public forums and teach-ins, holding people’s assemblies, and employing the full range of individual and collective capacities for civil disobedience. Together, we must create the conditions for a national referendum and a constituent assembly that can draft a new democratic constitution and birth a representative and inclusive Iranian state.
May the sun of freedom rise once again over our homeland.
All of us, for a different Iran.
Signed by:
Abolfazl Ghadyani
Parastou Forouhar
Hatam Ghaderi
Hossein Razzagh
Saeed Madani
Sedigheh Vasmaghi
Fariba Hashtroodi
Abbas Sadeghi
Abdollah Momeni
Abdolfattah Soltani
Ataallah Shirazi
Mohammadreza Faghihi
Mohammad Seifzadeh
