Charles Michel Backs “Third Way” for Iran, Endorsing NCRI’s Democratic Roadmap

Charles Michel, former President of the European Council

addresses an online conference held by the NCRI on March 15, 2026
Written by
Shamsi Saadati

At an online conference held by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on March 15, 2026, Charles Michel, the former President of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Belgium, delivered a landmark address characterizing the current state of Iran as a “pivotal turning point.” During his speech, Michel provided a scathing critique of the clerical regime, describing it as a failing dictatorship defined by “religious fascism” that has replaced the previous tyranny of the Shah with a modern “machine of repression.”

Michel dismissed the false choice between foreign military intervention and diplomatic appeasement, asserting that “silence is complicity.” Instead, he advocated for a “third way” driven by the sovereignty and mobilization of the Iranian people. He explicitly endorsed the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) as the only inclusive, organized democratic alternative capable of managing a transition to a secular republic.

Highlighting the “Ten-Point Plan” presented by the NCRI President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, Michel called it the “only credible and realistic framework” for moving from tyranny to democracy. He further warned against any attempt to “steal” the revolution again, specifically denouncing “monarchical illusions” and the use of artificial intelligence to manufacture political legitimacy. He concluded by saluting the “Resistance Units” on the ground for their daily courage in confronting the regime’s atrocities.

An English translation of Charles Michel’s full speech follows:

Dear friends for a free Iran, President Rajavi, let me first thank you for the very lucid and strong analysis you have just made of the current situation in Iran. This virtual meeting is taking place at an important moment because, as you have rightly indicated, there is now a turning point and a new Iran—a different Iran, perhaps closer than ever. In such a context, it is important to be ready, to be prepared, to have clear ideas, and the availability to implement the commitments you mentioned.

The Iranian people have suffered from decades of dictatorships. Each time, it is essential to recall the dictatorship of the Shah, with its corruption and the terrible crimes that were committed—a dictatorship of the Shah that ended with a citizen revolution, to the point that the Shah was forced to escape, to flee abroad. But unfortunately, an Iranian revolution that was stolen—stolen by the mullahs. And this dictatorship of the mullahs, whose DNA and deep nature we know well, is founded on religious fascism on the one hand.

It is a dictatorship of the mullahs that oppresses its own people. We saw this again very recently during the January mobilizations with many victims, and once again, horrors and atrocities committed against its people. We also see a dictatorship of the mullahs that has practiced, for so many years, the destabilization of not only the neighborhood through proxies in a number of countries, but also the generalized export of terrorism. It is a dictatorship that seeks the possession of nuclear weapons, fully aware that possessing nuclear weapons is a way to kill even more, and a way to grant itself a form of immunity to export more atrocities and even more hatred. We also see that this dictatorship of the mullahs uses political hostages as weapons of blackmail to pressure a number of governments.

This dictatorship of the mullahs also shows its incompetence by not being able to provide the basic necessities of the Iranian people—neither access to water, nor bread, nor electricity.

Furthermore, we see in recent developments this dictatorship of the mullahs practicing generalized attacks against the neighborhood, particularly against the Gulf countries, and, as was indicated a few moments ago, using the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz to attempt to exercise economic blackmail on the entire world—once again putting intimidation and threat at the heart of the process.

Carles Michel: Freedom is the right of the Iranian people to choose their future — March 14, 2026
This is the context that each of us knows well and to which, I think, each of us can subscribe. There is a resistance, organized for decades, that pleads in favor of a position that is at once solid, simple, full of common sense, and extremely clear. On one hand, there is the conviction that no foreign military intervention, no war, will bring a lasting solution. On the other hand, there is the conviction—demonstrated by the facts—that appeasement, silence, and a form of complacency will not lead the regime to reform from within. Experience has shown this in an extremely striking manner. And so yes, there is an alternative; there is a third path; there is a third way.

This third path, this third way—in reality, the only path, the only way—is the will of the Iranian people. It is the legitimacy of the Iranian people; it is the determination and mobilization of the Iranian people to fix their political future, their institutional future, and to found their destiny within the framework of a transfer of sovereignty from a dictatorship to a democracy. This obligation, this responsibility to look toward the ‘day after,’ must, in my opinion, be based on three central elements. To allow this ‘day after’ to arrive, there must be a team with leadership, a credible program, and finally, partners and friends.

First, the team with leadership. The team is the democratic opposition which, for decades, has shown its courage and resilience, but has also acquired, through deep suffering, experience in political combat and the sophisticated capacity to elaborate a project and a program. Part of this team—and I am thinking here of the activists of Ashraf-3—are survivors of the crimes committed massively against this movement. We can never, at any moment, forget this historical reality.

This team is not only Iranians outside of Iran. They are also Iranian activists on the ground who, at the risk of their lives daily, fight to defend the ideas of freedom and an Iran full of hope. These are the Resistance Units, and we have seen them regularly, including in recent weeks and months, showing their determination to stand by their ideas for a free Iran.

But there is an important point when I mention this team. We saw it a few weeks ago in the demonstration of political force in Berlin, with tens of thousands of participants. This team is inclusive. It is a team that gathers different communities. Iranian groups are represented there—Kurds, Baluchis, Azeris, Persians. All communities are represented. This is an extremely central point to guarantee unity and pluralism. The Berlin meeting highlighted this. In this regard, I would like to firmly denounce the serious threats made by the Shah’s son against the Kurdish community.

These threats are obviously absolutely intolerable and unacceptable, but they also show the profound nature of the ideas carried by the Shah’s son. This allows me to indicate a very strong wish: we cannot tolerate the future of Iran being stolen once again. It is essential that the Iranians themselves determine this future. We cannot repeat the past and tolerate someone self-proclaiming as a leader by using, in an absolutely massive and industrial way, artificial intelligence technologies and social networks to create an illusion. It is an illusion, and only free and democratic elections should allow for the organization of this political transition.

This, of course, is the major difference with the organized, democratic, and articulated opposition, which carries—and this is my second point after the team—a plan, a project, and a program. This is the Ten-Point Plan carried by this democratic opposition. It is not a self-proclamation. It is a transitional government to guarantee that the Iranian people are able to make a free and democratic choice through free and very transparent elections. This Ten-Point Plan must be communicated widely and explained, because this plan is the only credible, realistic, and sincere framework to move from dictatorship to democracy.

This Ten-Point Plan is a commitment to a democratic Iran, a secular Iran, a peaceful Iran at peace with its neighbors, and a prosperous Iran. This Ten-Point Plan must be supported by partners and friends of Iran.

I conclude: What we all want is peace and freedom, and it is the moment to gather our forces around this ambition of peace and freedom. I hope that the Iranian people will soon have the capacity to look to the future with more confidence and optimism.

I thank you.