The massive rally of the Iranian Resistance in Brussels on September 6, 2025, was more than just a gathering; it was a powerful and public verdict on decades of failed Western policy toward Iran. For too long, the international community has pursued a strategy of appeasement, hoping to moderate a regime that is fundamentally incapable of reform. This policy has not only failed to bring about change but has actively emboldened the theocracy in Tehran, making it a greater threat to its own people, the region, and the world.
The rally, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), showcased the enduring power of the only viable alternative: the Iranian people and their organized Resistance. It is time for the West to abandon its failed policies and embrace the “Third Option” of regime change by the people of Iran.
The indisputable failure of appeasement
As former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt stated at the rally, the continued existence of the mullahs’ criminal regime “is proof of the failure of the strategy of appeasement that the international community, the West, and especially Europe, has followed until now.” He argued that this approach has made things worse on every front: for the suffering Iranian people, for a region destabilized by the regime’s proxies like the Houthis and Hezbollah, and for global security, as Tehran provides military backing for Russia’s war in Ukraine. This policy has not produced moderation; it has funded terror and prolonged tyranny.
However, the alternative to this failed policy is not another foreign war, an option that has proven disastrous in the region. The choice is not limited to placating the mullahs or military intervention.
Free Iran rally in Brussels
Marking 60th founding anniversary of the PMOI and six decades of relentless resistance against two dictatorships of the Shah and the mullahs. #MEK60 #WeSupportMEK https://t.co/1HEMyiZVIO— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 6, 2025
Debunking the myth of ‘no alternative’
The regime’s most successful piece of propaganda sold to the West has been the lie that there is no alternative to the status quo, except for a return to the hated dictatorship of the Shah. At the Brussels rally, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said: “One of the biggest lies the ruling regime sold to the wider world is that there is no alternative… But you all know there is an alternative, well-organized, fully prepared, perfectly qualified.”
This sentiment was echoed by other speakers. John Bercow, former Speaker of the UK House of Commons, dismissed the idea of a monarchist restoration, rejecting any role for a “baby Shah” or “clown prince.”
The tens of thousands gathered in Brussels represented the true alternative—a democratic, organized movement with deep roots in Iranian society.
That alternative is the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its pivotal force, the PMOI. Its viability is not a matter of theory but of historical record. As speaker after speaker emphasized, this movement has a “six-decade record of service, of sacrifice, and of selfless struggle” against both the Shah’s monarchy and the mullahs’ theocracy. Having endured the Shah’s secret police and the mullahs’ terrorists, its members have proven their unwavering commitment to a democratic republic through decades of torture, executions, and the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. This is a movement that has risen “time and again from its ashes,” as NCRI president-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi noted.
Video
Historic Brussels Rally Marks 60 Years of MEK Resistance, Calls for Democratic Change#MEK60 #OurChoiceMaryamRajavi #NCRIAlternative #FreeIran2025 pic.twitter.com/xf94j0EKMZhttps://t.co/sCsJZKe1Sq— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) September 8, 2025
The Third Option: A clear path forward
The Iranian Resistance offers a clear and viable path forward: the “Third Option.” As Mrs. Rajavi declared, this means “neither appeasement nor war, but regime change by the people and their organized resistance!” This is not a vague aspiration but a concrete political vision articulated in her Ten-Point Plan for a future Iran. The plan guarantees a secular, democratic, and non-nuclear republic based on free elections, gender equality, the rule of law, and universal human rights—a vision that stands in stark contrast to the tyranny of the past and present. Prime Minister Verhofstadt urged the international community to “start a structural dialogue with the democratic opposition and to use the Ten-Point Plan of Mrs. Rajavi as the start for this structural dialogue.”
The inevitable victory of the Iranian people
The regime’s deepest fear is not a foreign power but its own people. As Vice President Pence stated, “The greatest threat to this regime is the Iranian people themselves.” This is why it relentlessly persecutes the PMOI and its Resistance Units inside Iran—they are the “beating heart of hope” and the “driving engine of change.” After 60 years of sacrifice and struggle against two dictatorships, the PMOI has proven its resilience.
As Mr. Pence said, “There is no weapon in the arsenals of the world so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.” That will is alive and well in Iran, as evidenced by the growing number of PMOI Resistance Units and the continued activities of the rebellious youth, who are challenging the regime in every corner of the country.
The victory of the Iranian people is inevitable. The West must now choose the right side of history. After decades of failed appeasement, it is time for a change of policy. It starts with designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization and recognizing the regime as what it is: a threat to the Iranian people, the region, and the world. But it must eventually culminate in embracing the ultimate solution: recognizing the right of the Iranian people to resist against this regime reclaim their country from the criminal mullahs who have usurped their national sovereignty.