A freely elected constituent assembly to rewrite Iran’s constitution is the only peaceful path to democratic transition, imprisoned politician Mostafa Tajzadeh said in a letter from prison made public on Tuesday.
Tajzadeh said the constituent assembly is the only way to avert state collapse or violent chaos once Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is no longer in power.
“As of now there are the likely scenarios: Continuing the status quo (which will lead to gradual “state failure from above”), violent overthrow (likely producing anarchy, foreign intervention and possible territorial break-up), or fundamental structural reform while Khamenei remains alive,” Tajzadeh said in the letter published on his Telegram channel.
Tajzadeh said mass civil disobedience has already defeated the compulsory hijab and internet filtering, and the same strategy can force the government’s hard core, including the Revolutionary Guards and senior clerics, to accept a national referendum and the formation of a constituent assembly.
“The ceiling and floor of constitutional amendments will be determined by representatives elected by the nation in a constituent assembly, who will then submit the new charter to a referendum,” Tajzadeh said.
‘Constitutional revolution'
“The minimum national demand will be the removal of velayat-e faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) from the constitution and the end of clerical rule – a failed experiment that has revived the bitter experience of Church domination in the Middle Ages in the modern era,” he added.
Tajzadeh said the path forward would be the model of Iran’s 1905–1911 Constitutional Revolution.
“The only peaceful transition passes through the Constitutional Revolution model: forcing the hard core (including the IRGC and clergy) to accept change while the Leader is still alive,” Tajzadeh said.
“Both preserving the status quo and violent overthrow would lead to the same destination - state collapse, prolonged chaos, foreign intervention, and possible fragmentation of Iran.”
'Chalice of poison'
In the letter titled 'Iran After 12 Days', Tajzadeh said Khamenei "has neither the courage to drink the chalice of poison, nor the bravery to resign."
The phrase "chalice of poison” is one of the most famous metaphors in the political lexicon of the Islamic Republic. It was used by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1988, when he accepted UN Resolution 598 that mandated a ceasefire to end the eight-year Iran–Iraq War.
Tajzadeh said “Khamenei no longer has the power to impose the compulsory hijab on women, nor the capacity to tolerate their freedom to choose. He can neither continue the militarization of the state and the barracks-style governance of society, nor hand over the management of the country to civilians.”
“Khamenei’s refusal to go along with unfolding transformations will not discourage the people from pursuing them; but his confrontation with the nation’s demands will carry unpredictable and extremely dangerous consequences — to the point where it may leave no path to repair the damage caused by his obstinacy.”
The letter, which was released just 13 days after Tajzadeh was rearrested and returned to Evin Prison after a brief furlough, is his clearest roadmap yet for a post-Khamenei Iran.
Tajzadeh, a former deputy interior minister under President Khatami, has been in and out of prison since 2009 for criticizing the Supreme Leader and calling for structural reform.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.