OPINION:
June 17, 2026 — As Americans who have served the national interests of the United States, we stand united in solidarity with the millions of Iranians who seek an end to the nightmare of repression, economic deprivation, and lies imposed by morally corrupt clerics since the 1979 revolution.
This regime has one priority, which is to survive in power, no matter the cost in lives and economic sacrifices by the Iranian people. Decades of prolific executions at home with no due process and destabilizing meddling in other countries have left no doubt that Iran under the fascist clerics can never follow a path of benign governance and trusted cooperation with other countries.
Americans are united in their opposition to Iran’s unrelenting terrorism, executions, hostage takings, cyber-attacks, threats of assassination, and support of armed militias inside and outside their sovereign territory. Iran’s longstanding nuclear enrichment program is an unacceptable threat and must end; as our political leaders irrespective of party have vowed for years, Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
We, the undersigned, have engaged in serious dialogue with Iran’s organized resistance, led by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Some of us have known the NCRI for many years. In the past, we were criticized for speaking with a group alleged to be a Marxist cult with a history of terrorism, including the killing of Americans a half century ago. Even today one may hear these allegations repeated in Washington, even though they have been definitively debunked and exposed as regime disinformation.
Today, the world knows of Tehran’s atrocity crimes against many tens of thousands of resistance supporters who were arrested, tortured and executed solely because they believed Islam is consistent with full political rights. Mrs. Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for the Future of Iran, which she has advocated since 2006, has the support of over 125 former heads of government, majorities in 34 parliaments including a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 80 Nobel Laureates. The NCRI is not seeking to take over power in Iran, as many have incorrectly assumed; its mission is to help bring about self-government for the Iranian people.
Neither the U.S. nor other Western governments have held senior-level consultations with Iran’s organized resistance to date. The boycott of talks with the NCRI and Mujahedin-e Khalq has lasted for many years, because the regime has made it a precondition for negotiations on hostage releases and the nuclear issue. We believe events have made abundantly clear that the United States should not be appeasing Tehran’s clerics by avoiding dialogue with the NCRI out of fear of offending them. Indeed, being held hostage to Tehran’s boycott demands has been a strategic mistake.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Free Iran 2026
In January, resistance units in all of Iran’s 31 provinces were building a revolutionary level of popular support for regime change in Iran. The military intervention has paused the internal uprising, but it will return. When it does, we hope our government will have opened a robust dialogue with Maryam Rajavi and the NCRI, and express support for its call for separation of church and state, full political rights with gender equality, and a non-nuclear republic.
This is what the Iranian people have been demanding for decades, often at the cost of their lives. We ask our government and others to join us in providing full support to the Iranian people and the cause of a free Iran.
Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell – Former U.S. Ambassador, U.N. Human Rights Commission
Hon. Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. – Former Special Envoy and Asst. Sec. State
Col. (Ret.) Thomas Cantwell – Former U.S. Military Commander of Camp Ashraf
Hon. Linda Chavez – Former Assistant to the President for Public Liaison; Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity
Col. (Ret.) John Cirafici – Former Defense Attaché, Algiers
Gen. (Ret.) James Conway – 34th USMC Commandant
Lt. Gen (Ret)/Amb (Ret) Dell Dailey – Former Commander of Joint Special Operations Command
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) David Deptula – Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Intel, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, U.S. Air Force
Prof. Alan Dershowitz – Professor of Law, Harvard University
Hon. Newt Gingrich – Former Speaker of House of Representatives
Hon. Marc Ginsberg – Former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco
General (Ret.) James L. Jones – Former USMC Commandant, NATO Commander, National Security Advisor to the President
Hon. Robert Joseph –Former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
Hon. Patrick Kennedy – Former U.S. Congressional Representative, Rhode Island
Col. (Ret.) Mark Martin – Former U.S. Military Commander of Camp Ashraf
Col. (Ret.) Wes Martin – Former Senior Antiterrorism Officer, Coalition Forces – Iraq
Hon. R. Bruce McColm – President, Institute for Democratic Strategies
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) David D. Phillips – Former U.S. Military Commander of Camp Ashraf
Hon. Ted Poe – Former U.S. Congressional Representative, Texas
Hon. Mitchell B. Reiss – Former Ambassador, Special Envoy to the Northern Ireland Peace Process
Hon. Tom Ridge – Former Pennsylvania Governor, U.S. Secretary Homeland Security Professor
Hon. John Sano – Former Deputy Director C.I.A. National Clandestine Service
Hon. David R. Shedd – Former Acting Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
Prof. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Ph.D. – Interim Dean and Professor, College of Public Affairs, University of Baltimore
Hon. Eugene R. Sullivan – Retired Federal Judge
Hon. Robert Torricelli – Former U.S. Senator, New Jersey
Hon. Louis J. Freeh – Former Director Federal Bureau of Investigation
Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. – 7th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Former Commander – U.S. Joint Forces Command
Col. (Ret.) Gary Morsch – Former Senior Medical Officer at Ashraf
Hon. Michael B. Mukasey – Former U.S. Attorney General
Gen. (Ret.) Chuck Wald – Former Deputy Commander U.S. European Command
Gen. (Ret). Tod Wolters – Former Commander, U.S. European Command/Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Please read our comment policy before commenting.