John Bercow: The NCRI Is the Democratic Alternative to Iran’s Fascist Regime

Staff WriterMarch 10, 2026
John Bercow: The NCRI Is the Democratic Alternative to Iran’s Fascist Regime
In a powerful address to an online conference held by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

Former UK Parliament Speaker John Bercow addresses the Free Iran Convention 2025 in Washington D.C. on November 15, 2025
Written by
Shahriar Kia

In a powerful address to an online conference held by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on March 5, 2026, John Bercow, the former Speaker of the British House of Commons, delivered a scathing critique of both the current Iranian regime and the prospect of a monarchical restoration. Bercow characterized the ruling religious dictatorship as a “bestial, depraved, appalling, thuggish, and terrorist” fascist regime that is “teetering on the brink” of collapse.

While acknowledging an international consensus on the regime’s brutality, he focused his remarks on the necessity of a viable democratic alternative, explicitly rejecting Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah. Bercow argued that Pahlavi represents a “way back” to a “feudal claim” rather than a “way forward” to democracy, citing his lack of public service, his absence of a base within Iran, and his failure to make personal sacrifices for the cause of freedom.

In contrast, Bercow endorsed Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) as the legitimate solution for the Iranian people. He praised Rajavi’s lifelong commitment to the struggle for freedom and highlighted her “Ten-Point Plan” for a future Iran based on the rule of law, gender equality, and the separation of religion and state. Bercow concluded by calling on the international community to support the NCRI’s provisional government, which he believes offers a “vastly better, sunnier, and more hopeful future” than either the current dictatorship or a return to hereditary monarchy.

The full text of John Bercow’s speech follows:

Thank you for the warmth of that welcome.

Let me say at the outset, colleagues and friends, that it is an honor and a privilege to follow Mrs. Rajavi, and you will not be surprised to hear that I endorse everything that she has said. Look, let it be simply stated what we all know to be true. The regime at the moment, teetering on the brink, is a bestial, depraved, appalling, thuggish, and terrorist regime. That we know.

We also know that it can legitimately be described as a fascist regime. Between us, there is consensus on that point. The issue today, upon which I wish to focus, is what is the alternative to that appalling, blood-thirsty, tyrannical, fascist regime? And if I may, I’ll start by saying what it isn’t, and then move on to what I think it is.

What it isn’t is an alternative known as son of Shah. As an outsider, keenly interested in and a close follower of the politics of Iran over the last couple of decades, I admit to you that I am absolutely astonished, flabbergasted, and gobsmacked at the notion that Reza Pahlavi can seriously be considered as an alternative to the present regime.

To me, it is an act of the most breathtaking presumption and arrogance on his part that he thinks he’s a suitable leader of the Iranian people. What is his claim to fame, or indeed to infamy? He is the son of the discredited, reviled, dismissed, and hounded out of Iran Shah. That’s why he’s known, not for anything else. His name Pahlavi, son of Shah. He apparently considers himself the Crown Prince. Well, the fact that he is the son of the Shah does not automatically mean that he agrees with his late father, but, but, but, he’s had every opportunity in terms unmistakable to denounce the appalling record.

What I was saying is there’s somebody who isn’t a solution and someone who is to the crisis engulfing Iran. Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah, is not a way forward, he’s a way back. And there are five reasons for that.

First, he’s known only by virtue of his name, Pahlavi. He’s the son of the Shah, the son of a dictator, the son of an autocrat, the son of a bloodthirsty tyrant.

Secondly, he has absolutely no base whatsoever in Iran. Can I be heard? He has absolutely no base whatsoever in Iran.

Third, I put it to you, colleagues, when you’re thinking about people to lead a country, you’d normally ask yourself: “What’s that person done? What has been his work? What are his achievements? What are his signal features in a track record of years or decades?” Or indeed hers. What has she done? How has she worked? What has she achieved?

The point about Reza Pahlavi is that he has never, as far as we know, worked in any public capacity at all. He’s an extremely wealthy man, but he has lived a life of leisure and freedom and enjoyment in the United States for four and a half decades. He’s shown his complete insensitivity to the needs, for example, and the identity of the Kurds by describing them as separatists.

And crucially, and this is the point I want to underline, he has made no sacrifice whatsoever for the freedom of the people of Iran. Indeed, he is on the record as saying he does not see why he should give up the freedom that he has for other people’s freedom. He’s absolutely entitled to that view, but I put it to you listening to this great event that that’s not the mark of a national leader. It’s not someone who can lead Iran to political salvation. It’s not someone who puts others’ interests before his own. This man is not a leader. He’s the son of a monarch. He has a feudal claim but no democratic claim.

By contrast, Mrs. Rajavi, from whom you’ve heard, is the leader of an organization that can be the solution for the people of Iran because her life for over half a century has been a life of struggle, of service, and of sacrifice. As she’s explained very clearly today, she envisages a six-month transition to democratic elections and she has a Ten-Point Plan for the future of Iran which is based on individual liberty, the rule of law, free association, a free media, a separation of church from state, a non-nuclear republic, autonomy for ethnic groups, and the abolition of the death penalty.

So, her credo and the credo of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and of the thousands of Resistance Units which are operational across the country is a democratic credo.

And what we are saying to our friends and supporters around the world and people who want a better future for Iran is simply this: “No to dictatorship, whether by a monarch or by a mullah, whether through a crown or a turban. No to dictatorship, yes to democracy.”

The National Council of Resistance of Iran and Mrs. Rajavi, who has devoted 50 years of her life to the struggle, are standing for democratic principles and a free future. And that’s why I say to everybody listening to this event: “Support Mrs. Rajavi, support the National Council, support their campaign, their drive, their prospectus, their program for freedom, for democracy, for justice, and for gender equality.”

And recognize that the National Council of Resistance of Iran has announced its provisional government and that provisional government offers a vastly better, sunnier, more hopeful future for the people of Iran than either the present vicious dictatorship or some sort of dewy-eyed retreat into backing for the son of a monarch.

Staff WriterMarch 10, 2026
Arab-Islamic Committee in Defence of Ashraf
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