Iran International
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi told Eye for Iran that the Islamic Republic was not long for this world and that the Iranian people must rally together to uproot what she called a corrupt and violent system to win a brighter future.
"An overthrow must take place. I hope this overthrow will happen without a heavy price and in a short time," Ebadi said.
"To achieve that, there is no other way except for the people inside Iran to take to the streets ... It thrashes about to delay its fall, but it can't hold on for much longer. Day by day, we are moving closer to the end of the Islamic Republic."
Ebadi, 78, is an activist and lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her human rights work, has been a longtime critic of the theocracy in power in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. She has lived in exile in London since 2009.
"The disputes that for many years they pointlessly had with each other over minor issues must be set aside, and they must form a coalition with each other and help so that an overthrow can happen," Ebadi said, referring to rifts in Iran's opposition.
"Then, at the ballot box, during the referendum, it will be determined what Iran's political system will be in the future. My message to the people has always been unity, because I know that unity is the key to our victory."
Centering human rights in talks
Iran's media and elections are tightly controlled by the conservative religious establishment, which has repeatedly deployed deadly force to quash street protests in recent decades.
Iran's adversaries are mostly concerned by Tehran's perceived military threat and disputed nuclear program.
Years of on-off negotiations ultimately failed to resolve those qualms and Israel launched a shock 12-day war on Iran in June which was capped off by US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Still, Western powers have pressed Iran to return to negotiations aimed at definitively resolving the nuclear standoff - demands resisted by Tehran so far.
Ebadi argued that Western governments have consistently sidelined human rights in their negotiations with Iran — a failure she believes has emboldened Tehran’s crackdown on women, minorities and activists.
“Western governments, which claim to respect human rights, should raise the issue of rights violations in every negotiation and deal with the Islamic Republic’s leaders. Yet in these 46 years, we have seen the opposite,” Ebadi told Eye for Iran.
"If they deal or negotiate with a criminal government like Iran, they must also talk about human rights issues, and it must be at the top of the matters they ask the government to improve," she added.
Repression
The cost of this approach, Ebadi argues, is borne by ordinary Iranians.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that Iran executed at least 160 people in the past month alone, averaging one every five hours.
So far this year, at least 818 people — including 21 women — have been executed, part of what Amnesty International has called a sharp acceleration since June’s 12-day war with Israel. Citizens risk prison for even a short social media post.
Iran also faces a deepening economic and environmental collapse.
Banks are effectively bankrupt, the rial continues to lose value, and water and electricity shortages have pushed millions further into poverty.
Tehran’s main reservoir, Karaj Dam, is down to just a few percent of its capacity, forcing authorities to declare public holidays in several provinces to conserve supplies.
In recent weeks, protests erupted in cities such as Sabzevar, Shahr-e Kord, and across Khuzestan province, reflecting anger in both Iran’s northeastern and southwestern regions. Demonstrators chanted, “Water, electricity, life — our basic right.”
Ebadi said the ruling system is not just ailing, but terminal.
"No way forward remains. No hope remains. All the signs show clearly that this government cannot continue," Ebadi asserted. "If we unite, hand in hand, we can achieve victory over the demon of tyranny that has coiled itself around Iran."
'No justice'
Ebadi’s own loss of faith in reform helps explain her sharp criticism of Western governments for treating nuclear talks as a substitute for real change.
Her first defining moment came in the revolution’s opening months, when Hassan Bani-Sadr — whose brother Abolhassan would become the Islamic Republic’s first president — told her to wear the veil “even if you don’t believe in it.” She shot back: “Why are you encouraging me to be a hypocrite? To lie?”
It was then, she says, that she realized what she had fought for was already turning against her.
For years she still hoped gradual reform might bring improvements. At times, negotiations with the West have opened space for private investment and modest changes in daily life — especially after a 2015 nuclear deal, when sanctions relief allowed foreign companies back into Iran and consumer goods reappeared in shops.
It was the 1999 Tehran University dormitory raid — when her legal client Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad was killed — that convinced her reform was no longer possible.
“We expected Khatami and the reformist government to take the students’ side," said Ebadi. "But sadly, instead, many students were arrested, and no justice was served. That was when I thought, ‘There is no longer anything we can do.’”
After decades of setbacks, her message to Iranians remains one of unity. “I am not a monarchist, nor am I a republican. I am for Iran. My wish is to live in a homeland that is democratic and secular. Right now we all have one common demand: overthrow. So we must join hands to achieve it.”
You can watch the full episode of Eye for Iran on YouTube or listen on any major podcast platform like Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music and Castbox.
