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Overview - National Council of Resistance of Iran

National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a broad coalition of democratic Iranian organizations, groups and personalities, was founded in 1981 in Tehran upon the initiative of Massoud Rajavi, the Leader of the Iranian Resistance.

Parliament in Exile
The NCRI has 550 members, including representatives of ethnic and religious minorities such as the Kurds, Baluchis, Armenians, Jews and Zoroastrians, representing a broad spectrum of political tendencies in Iran. Acting as parliament in exile, the NCRI aims to establish a democratic, secular and coalition government in Iran.

Women comprise 50% of the council’s members. Five organizations are also members of the NCRI, including the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the largest and most popular resistance group inside Iran.

Democratic decision-making
All members of the Council have one vote. All decisions are adopted by a simple majority.

Six-month provisional government
The council's 25 committees form the basis for a provisional coalition government once the mullahs are toppled. Chairing each committee is a prominent political personality who is an expert in the field.

The provisional government will be in power for only six months and its main responsibility is to hold free and fair elections for a National Legislative and Constituent Assembly and to transfer power to the representatives of the people of Iran.

President-elect
In August 1993, the NCRI unanimously elected Mrs. Maryam Rajavi as President for the transitional period. Her mandate is to oversee the peaceful transfer of power to the Iranian people following the regime's overthrow. Mrs. Rajavi was born in 1953 in Tehran and has a degree in metallurgy. The shah executed one of her sisters, Nargess, and the Khomeini regime murdered another, Massoumeh, who was pregnant at the time. Mrs. Rajavi was a leader of the anti-shah student movement in the 1970s.

Addressing a rally of 15,000 Iranians in Dortmund, Germany, on June 16, 1995, Mrs. Rajavi announced her Charter of Fundamental Freedoms for future Iran. In June 1996, Mrs Rajavi addressed some 25,000 Iranians at London’s Earls Court.

National Solidarity Front
In its two-day plenary session in November 2002, NCRI adopted a plan to form the "National Solidarity Front to Overthrow Religious Dictatorship in Iran." The front was designed as a platform to encompass all Iranian republicans who "are campaigning for a democratic, independent and secular regime."

The Council noted that brightening prospects for overthrow of the regime necessitate ever-greater national solidarity among Iranians; a fact that prompted the NCRI to ratify the formation of the Front.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi described the Front as "a reflection of the most profound democratic yearnings of all the people of Iran, regardless of ideology, belief, religion and ethnicity that transcends all partisan and political interests." She said the Front "embodies the unshakable resolve of the Iranian people to overthrow the mullahs' inhuman regime."

Platform

Human Rights:
The NCRI pledges to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all international covenants on human rights, including “freedom of association, freedom of thought and expression, media, political parties, trade unions, councils, religions and denominations, freedom of profession, and prevention of any violation of individual and social rights and freedoms.”

Women:
The NCRI recognizes “the right of women to vote and stand as candidates in all elections, and the right to vote in all referenda,” “the right to employment and free selection of profession, and the right to hold any public office, including the presidency or judgeship,” “the right to freely choose clothing,” and “the right to use, without discrimination, all instructional, educational, athletic, and artistic resources; the right to participate in all athletic competitions and artistic activities.”

Economy:
The council accepts national capitalism and the bazaar, private ownership and enterprise, as well as private investment. It emphasizes the need to utilize the latest scientific and technical achievements and views relations with industrial countries necessary to reconstruct Iran's economy.

Freedom of Religion:
The NCRI believes in the separation of Church and State. According to its ratifications, “all forms of discrimination against the followers of various religions and denominations in the enjoyment of their individual and social rights are prohibited. No citizen shall enjoy any privileges or be subject to any deprivations with respect to nomination for election, suffrage, employment, education, becoming a judge or any other individual or social rights, for reason of belief or non-belief in particular religion or denomination.”

National Minorities:
The NCRI recognizes the rights of all ethnic and national minorities. It has adopted a plan for the autonomy of Iranian Kurdistan, specifying that “the administration of all affairs of the autonomous region of Kurdistan,” except for those related to foreign policy, national defense, national security, foreign trade and customs, “fall within the authority of the autonomous organs.”

International Relations:
The council’s foreign policy is based on independence, respect for the United Nations Charter and international conventions and treaties, good neighborliness, international and regional cooperation and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. The NCRI supports the Middle East peace process and is committed to maintaining and protecting peace and tranquility in the region and condemns any aggression and expansionism. The council opposes nuclear proliferation and the production of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.

International support

During the last twenty years, the NCRI has enjoyed widespread support among political circles the world over. Several thousand members of parliaments, political leaders and party officials in Europe and the United States have supported the NCRI as a viable and democratic alternative against the mullahs' dictatorship in Iran.

The majority of members of the US Congress and the parliaments of Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, the European Parliament and numerous Danish, French, German, Dutch and Swiss parliamentarians declare their support for the NCRI and its President-elect.

Support in Europe:
June 2004: The majority of members of the parliament of Luxembourg urge the European Union to remove the name of the Mojahedin from the list of terrorist organizations.

June 2004: 41 members (majority) of the Belgian senate urge the European Union to remove the name of Iran's principal opposition movement, the People's Mojahedin of Iran, from the terrorism list.

April 2004: More than 120 members of the European Parliament publish a declaration condemning the "deterioration" of the human rights situation in Iran, urging the EU to remove the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran from the list of terrorist groups.

March 2004: 318 members of the Italian Parliament reiterate that the People's Mojahedin of Iran "represents the most important threat to the mullahs' regime and are the most serious obstacle in the way of establishing a religious dictatorship in Iraq by the Tehran regime."

January 2004: 305 members of the British Parliament urge the removal of the name of the Mojahedin from the European Union's terrorism list and oppose the expulsion of the PMOI from Iraq.

July 2002: 453 members of both houses of the British Parliament: "The right of the Iranian people to oppose those who terrorize them must be respected…The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the coalition which leads the campaign for a democratic, secular and pluralist government, challenges this internal terrorism."

June 2002: The majority of members of the parliament of Luxembourg: "We support the objectives of the National Council of Resistance of Iran for a democratic and secular government."

March 2002: The majority of members of the Italian Parliament: "The struggle of the Mojahedin has been recognized by thousands of parliamentarians the world over as the "anti-thesis of fundamentalism and terrorism". This is a legitimate resistance which has opened new perspectives for a fundamental change towards democracy in Iran."

March 2002: The majority of members of the Belgian Parliament: "Islamic fundamentalism, whose heart beats in Tehran, is the principal threat to the world peace… Supporting the democratic goals of the National Council of Resistance of Iran leads to peace and tranquility in the region and to respect of human rights in Iran."

Support in the United States of America:
November 2002: 150 members of the US House of Representatives expressed their support for the democratic objectives of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and of its President-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.

August 2001: 32 American senators: "US policy should reach out to those working to establish a democratic and pluralistic system in the country. In this context, support for the democratic goals of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and its President-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, whose objectives are supported by the majority of Iranians, can contribute to peace, human rights and regional stability."

October 2000: 228 members of the US House of Representatives: "It is only our support for the Iranian people's aspirations for fundamental change and the democratic goals of the National Council of Resistance, that can contribute to the promotion of peace, human rights and stability in this part of the world."

July 1992: 219 members the US House of Representatives: " This Resistance is the solution to the phenomenon of fanatic fundamentalism. We are convinced that support for the National Council of Resistance will contribute to the achievement of peace and stability for all the countries of the region."