Iran rejected a joint statement by the United States and thirteen allied governments that said Tehran has engaged in plots targeting individuals in Europe and North America, the Iranian foreign ministry said on Friday.
“The solution to changing this regime lies in the hands of the people and the Iranian Resistance. With the regime’s overthrow by the people and organized resistance, Iran will move toward democracy and prevent a major regional war,” Maryam Rajavi told attendees at a conference in Rome.
“We will have a free, non-nuclear Iran, without executions, without mandatory hijab, without forced religion and without coercive rule,” she added.
Audience members, some wearing matching red and white outfits and headscarves, frequently interrupted her remarks with fist-pumping chants of praise.
The banned Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) group is the largest component of the NCRI whose leaders are based in Paris.
A leftist-Islamist group, the MEK carried out attacks against the shah's government and US targets in the 1970s but fell out with other factions during the 1979 revolution which toppled the monarchy and has been at war with Tehran ever since.
Opposition figures have stepped up calls to rally against Tehran following a punishing 12-day war with Israel last month, but there have been no significant protests.
Iranian exiled prince Reza Pahlavi urged unity among Iran's opposition during a pro-monarchy conference in Munich on Saturday, saying the Islamic Republic's downfall would lead to sustainable peace and prosperity in the Middle East.
The Rome gathering was titled “Neither war nor appeasement - change by the hands of the Iranian people and organized resistance” and hosted a series of senior Western ex-officials who criticized Iran's leadership and praised the NCRI.
These included former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former UK foreign minister James Cleverly and former Belgian prime minister and former president of the European Council Charels Michel.
Iran executed two MEK members accused of targeting civilian sites with improvised weapons, state media reported on Sunday.
“We hold this gathering while the religious tyranny, by executing heroic fighters Behzad Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, expresses its desperation against the people and organized resistance. They never bowed and said “no” to the executioner,” Rajavi said.
The men were accused of like baghi or armed rebellion, moharebeh or waging war against God, efsadfel-arz corruption on earth, membership in a terrorist organization, gathering classified information and conspiracy against national security.
Amnesty International described their trial as "grossly unfair". Iran executed at least 901 people in 2024 - the highest number since 2015 - according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Since 2013, some 2,500 of the MEK members have been sheltered in Albania, where they are banned from engaging in political activity.
The term—now increasingly invoked in political discourse—refers to an unofficial power network believed to influence key decisions behind the scenes, beyond the authority of the Foreign Ministry.
In an unsigned commentary on Tuesday, the conservative Jomhouri Eslami newspaper accused the ministry of failing to assert control over foreign policy, blaming Tehran’s limited success on interference from shadow actors.
“Those whose heavy shadow over the 2015 nuclear deal and many negotiations caused irreparable damage continue to dictate terms in foreign policy, especially in the realm of negotiations,” it wrote.
The piece warned that such interference, “under the very sensitive current circumstances, is more dangerous than deadly poison.”
Jalili in the Crosshairs
Although no names were mentioned, Iranian media widely interpreted the remarks as targeting ultra-hardliner Saeed Jalili and his circle of allies in the Paydari Party.
Jalili, who lost the 2024 presidential election to Masoud Pezeshkian, previously served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator during the years leading up to 2010, when multiple rounds of UN sanctions were imposed on Tehran.
He remains a trusted figure for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, serving as his representative to the Supreme National Security Council and sitting on both the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and the Expediency Discernment Council.
A day after the Jomhouri Eslami piece, the IRGC-affiliated Javan newspaper hit back.
“If this alleged shadow government truly exists, why doesn’t Jomhouri Eslami reveal its leaders and operators?” it asked. “And if the claim is entirely false, why doesn’t the public prosecutor step in? Is the reputation of the Islamic Republic to be handed out freely to whoever wishes to exploit it?”
Sanctions looming, stakes rising
The controversy underscores growing divisions over Iran’s foreign policy direction following the 12-day war with Israel.
Moderates are calling for serious diplomacy and a renewed effort to reach agreements with the US and Europe. Hardliners, meanwhile, accuse them of appeasement and advocate for a more confrontational approach.
With the return of UN sanctions looming under the nuclear deal’s snapback provision, Tehran has warned European governments it may pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in retaliation—threatening a complete breakdown in diplomatic engagement.
“This is a clear fabrication and a desperate move to divert attention,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in remarks carried by state media. “These baseless narratives are part of a broader Iranophobia campaign designed to justify hostile policies toward Iran.”
The US and countries including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada issued a statement this week warning that Iranian intelligence services are cooperating with international criminal networks to surveil, intimidate and potentially harm journalists, activists and political figures living abroad.
In response, Baghaei said the countries involved “must be held accountable for their open support of violent and terrorist groups who have committed acts of bloodshed against the Iranian people.” He added, “Instead of answering for their illegal behavior, they resort to media campaigns based on lies.”
Western concerns grow after publicized incidents
The Western statement followed a string of recent warnings from European and US authorities. The UK’s counter terrorism police said Iran is among the most active foreign states involved in plots to harm people on British soil. Officials in London said the Islamic Republic uses criminal intermediaries and targets vulnerable individuals to carry out surveillance or attacks.
“We are increasingly seeing these three states — Iran, Russia and China — undertaking threat-to-life operations in the United Kingdom,” said Dominic Murphy, head of London’s Counter Terrorism Command, earlier this month.
Belgian lawmaker Darya Safai said this week that local police told her about a plot to abduct her via Turkey, which she linked to her calls to label Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group.
A pattern of pressure and denials
Western governments say Iran’s operations abroad are growing more frequent and bold. A report by the Intelligence and Security Committee this month said Iran was behind at least 15 attempted assassinations or kidnappings on British soil since 2022.
Iran denies involvement in such operations and frequently calls international criticism part of a politically motivated campaign.
