NCRI-US Free Iran Convention 2025 Highlights Youths as the Driving Force for Iran’s Democratic Future

Whether inside Iran risking their lives or abroad speaking to amplify the movement, Iran's youths are demonstrating that change in Iran is within reach.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, December 3, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A session of the Free Iran Convention 2025: “Youth as the Driving Force of Iran’s Democratic Future,” offered a powerful, multidimensional view of how young people are reshaping Iran’s struggle for democracy. Through testimonies from activists, law students, and scholars, as well as the observations of young attendees from across the United States, the session captured a generational movement defined by courage.

The session opened with moderator Nicole Shariati, who spoke of the regime’s campaign to break Iran’s youth through fear, humiliation, and violence. Yet, as she stated, the opposite has occurred. Despite shuttered universities, mass arrests, censorship, and internet shutdowns, young Iranians have turned repression into resilience. Shariati highlights her father, a political prisoner, as an inspiration for her to continue speaking up. She said that while many look to those they see on television or their favorite celebrities as heroes, hers has always been her father’s resilience and determination to fight for a truly free and democratic Iran.

She highlighted the resistance units and NCRI’s role with them as the “beating heart” of this momentum, small teams across Iran that defy tyranny through bold acts of protest and digital coordination. Their work proves that the youth are not just resisting, but rather leading.

The realities behind that resistance were vividly detailed by Mohammadreza Hesami, who reflected on childhood and teenage years in Iran as a battle between aspiration and suppression. He described a system focused on policing conformity, dictating how young people dress, speak, and behave. In such an environment, he explained, youth quickly learn how to threaten the regime, just as he did.

Hesami warned that the regime’s fear of independent thought is so profound that it has imprisoned many students seeking the truth, and even sentenced youth to death for supporting the MEK/PMOI. “The moment people stop being afraid,” he said, “is the moment the regime must answer serious questions.” That moment has already begun.

The panel also spotlighted blueprints for Iran’s future, rejecting both the current theocracy and the monarchical dictatorship. Mickey Mohammadi, a law student and youth leader, emphasized the MEK’s youth-centered plan for transitioning to democracy. She highlighted core priorities: dismantling the IRGC’s economic monopolies, redirecting stolen assets into youth entrepreneurship, reopening universities as centers of free inquiry, and institutionalizing women’s leadership through the repeal of compulsory hijab laws and discriminatory regulations.

For Mohammadi, the most critical pillar is the establishment of an independent judiciary, a secular, rights-based system capable of protecting freedom and enforcing justice. Without such a system, she argued, no real democracy can survive.

Ryan Nasir provided similar insight into why the Resistance Units have become the defining force in youth-led activism. These units, composed of a diverse demographic of Iranians, are able to offer hope in a country where minors face execution at some of the highest per-capita rates in the world.

Nasir emphasized that even acts, such as writing slogans on walls, signal to millions that the regime is vulnerable. Their open expressions of support for the MEK and NCRI reflect a nationwide refusal to submit. The synergy between Resistance Units inside Iran and NCRI-led movement abroad is the product of decades of sacrifice forming a unified movement with shared discipline, purpose, and vision.

Seena Saiedian, a J.D. candidate at UVA, explained why Iran’s youth overwhelmingly demand regime change rather than reform. After decades of failed leadership, each “reformist” presidency yielding only more executions, more censorship, and more repression, young Iranians no longer believe that change can emerge from within the system.

Saiedian argued that youth gravitate toward this movement because it is the only organized movement with a democratic platform and credible institutional plans for free elections and secular governance, referencing Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s 10-Point Plan for the future of Iran. He contrasted this with fake opposition figures who appear only during uprisings without clear policies or democratic commitments. Iranians do not want to go back, they want to go forward, he said.

The impact of the session extended beyond the panelists themselves. Young attendees also arrived with different backgrounds but shared a sense of purpose.
A master’s student in international studies at North Carolina State University, described the conference as a “real live experience of global diplomacy.” She found it deeply moving to witness how a community can rally around a common goal, resisting authoritarianism with unity, strategy, and hope.

A high school junior and member of the women’s rights advocacy group, connected the Iranian struggle to global youth-led movements. She viewed the convention as a firsthand example of how young people recognize national problems and build platforms for collective action. For her, the chance to observe this process in real time was “super cool” and profoundly educational.

Another high school student, attended spontaneously after learning about the event from a friend. As someone interested in law and politics, she found the conference an invaluable opportunity to broaden her understanding of global governance and political change. The experience offered her a tangible look at how political movements operate, organize, and mobilize.

The panelists and attendees illustrated a striking truth: Iran’s future is being shaped based on a history of sacrifice and commitment and a well-organized force, relying on young people who refuse to wait for permission to demand change. Whether inside Iran risking their lives or abroad speaking to amplify the movement, this generation is redefining what is possible. Indeed, change in Iran is within reach.

Alireza Jafarzadeh
NCRI-US
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Free Iran Convention 2025: Iran’s Young Generation: The Engine of Democratic Change