NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2026 – Thousands of freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the Iranian Resistance gathered outside United Nations headquarters for two days, to protest the reception of Masoud Pezeshkian, arguing that the Iranian regime’s president does not represent the people of Iran.
Maryam Hosseini, a member of the Youth Supporters of the Resistance Committee, delivered a speech at this gathering. The full text of her speech is provided below.
Today, we are gathered here in New York under the honorable leadership of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. This month marks the 61st anniversary of the PMOI‘s founding, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations on this important milestone. Sixty-one years represent sixty-one years of resistance, sixty-one years of organization, sixty-one years of sacrifice, and sixty-one years of sustained and consistent efforts toward the goal of a free and democratic Iran.
For me, one of the most defining aspects of this movement has been the prominent role women have played in its leadership. This is especially striking in contrast to the Ayatollahs’ regime, whose laws and policies have systematically restricted women’s rights. Since 1989, the resistance has been led by ten successive women serving as Secretaries General, reflecting a deep and sustained commitment to women’s leadership. This is not simply a symbolic gesture, but rather a central part of the movement’s identity and direction.
This shows that Iran’s younger generation has a future worth fighting for, and its young women are leading the way!
They are standing up, speaking out, refusing to surrender, and demanding the rights and freedoms that belong to them. The restrictions imposed on women by the Iranian regime are not merely individual limitations. They are part of a broader system that affects women’s education, employment, political participation, dress, expression, personal freedoms, and much more.
Iranian Women: Standing Against Repression and Upholding Freedom and Human Dignity
However, Iranian women have continued to defy these restrictions. From students and activists to artists, professionals, and ordinary citizens, women across Iran have repeatedly demonstrated that they will not accept a future defined by fear or silence.
None of this would have been possible without Iran’s principal resistance movement, which has worked for decades to foster a culture of women’s leadership from which successive generations have benefited.
To the female martyrs of Iran, your resilience and determination have inspired us all. From Fatemeh Amini, the first female martyr and a symbol of resistance under the Shah, to the women who were imprisoned and killed in the 1980s, including those who perished in the 1988 massacre, such as Nasrin Shojai, who was only 17 years old, and to women whose deaths sparked uprisings, such as Neda Agha Soltan and Mahsa Amini, you have shown the world what courage looks like.
To the women who continue to take to the streets today, and to the political prisoners who stand with them, your courage is no less powerful. In the words of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, whose leadership strengthens us all, we can, and we must!
Despite imprisonment, intimidation, and the constant threat of persecution, you continue to speak out, resist, and demand a future built on freedom and dignity. You remind us that resistance does not end with those who came before us. Resistance lives on in every woman who refuses to be silenced and in every voice that continues to rise inside Iran.
The women of the Iranian Resistance embody the determination, courage, and organizational strength necessary to advance the struggle for a free Iran.
Their leadership is a powerful guarantee that the aspirations of Iranian women will not be silenced, diverted, or stolen by those who seek to replace one dictatorship with another. This movement belongs to the women and people of Iran who have sacrificed, endured, and continue to stand for freedom.
With determined leadership and an organized movement, their struggle cannot be hijacked or erased. It can move forward toward the future for which they have fought: a free, democratic, and equal Iran.
