The Return of the Snapback Mechanism
Since 28 September 2025, international headlines once again centered on Iran as the long-debated “snapback” mechanism was formally activated under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. This decision effectively reinstates the full spectrum of sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA). For Tehran, the consequences are dire: arms sales are banned, uranium enrichment is restricted, ballistic missile development is curtailed, overseas assets are frozen, and senior officials face renewed travel bans.
Iran’s economy, already fragile for dedicating all the country’s resources to domestic repression, support for terrorist proxies and war monger in the region, and development of missiles and nuclear weapons program, added by years of mismanagement, corruption, and, now braces for yet another shock. Inflation, and currency collapse threaten to spiral even further, pushing ordinary Iranians into deeper hardship. Diplomatically, the regime has lashed out, recalling its envoys from Germany, France, and the UK in protest, while signaling that it could end cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency altogether. At Midnight of Sunday, September 28, 2025, the UN sanctions suspended for 10 years providing a lifeline for the ruling dictatorship to advance its nuclear weapons program to new heights and advance its terrorist activities and warmonger in the region ended. Following triggering the sanctions, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi the president-elect of the NCRI said:
“The UN Security Council resolutions are essential to prevent the religious dictatorship from acquiring a nuclear bomb and must be enforced decisively. However she emphasized, The final solution is regime change by the Iranian people, and the right to resist against the regime of terror and massacre must be recognized.”
Executions at Record Levels: A Regime Under Siege from Within
While the external pressure is significant, Iran’s domestic crisis is even more alarming. Rather than addressing popular discontent, the authorities have chosen to intensify repression. According to reports by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), at least 27 executions were carried out between September 14–16 alone, pushing the total number since March 21, 2025, to more than 880, with at least 190 executions between August 21 to September 20, an unprecedented surge in executions under the ruling dictatorship in the past 25 years.
Looking back over the past year, estimates suggest that 1,850 people have been executed since August 2024. These include women, juvenile offenders, and political prisoners, often after unfair trials or on vague charges such as “enmity against God.” Put differently, someone is put to death in Iran every few hours.
Such figures reveal a regime increasingly reliant on the machinery of death to maintain its grip on power. Rather than projecting strength, this level of violence betrays weakness and fear: the authorities seem more concerned about unrest at home than about sanctions abroad.
A Democratic Opposition Rising on the World Stage
As repression at home intensifies, the Iranian democratic opposition is finding new momentum inside Iran, through its Resistance Units and their activities against the regime’s atmosphere of terror and intimidations by installing banners, writing graffiti, setting alight the symbols of repression and centers of IRGC, and the Basij.
The NCRI, alongside its main constituent group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), has organized large-scale rallies that have drawn global attention.
On September 6 in Brussels, tens of thousands gathered to mark the 60th anniversary of the PMOI. The rally called on European governments to align themselves with the Iranian people’s aspirations for regime change in Iran, rather than with a regime clinging to power through executions and fear. The event featured prominent European and international figures, underlining the political weight behind the opposition’s cause.
In New York, coinciding with the annual United Nations General Assembly, the NCRI staged another high-profile gathering two days in a row. Thousands of Iranian-Americans rallied around Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, which envisions a secular, democratic, and non-nuclear Iran. By highlighting Tehran’s human rights abuses and offering a viable alternative, these demonstrations positioned the NCRI as not just an opposition in exile, but a political force with growing international legitimacy.
In her speech before the United Nations, NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi captured the essence of this democratic alternative. She declared:
“Our message for Iran’s future is simple: the sovereignty of the people—just these two words! The people’s republic. We want neither a mullah nor a Shah. The era of all forms of dictatorship, whether religious or monarchical, is over. We will not return to the past, and we have risen up against the current religious dictatorship. Let the world hear this today, in front of the United Nations: Tomorrow belongs to us. Victory belongs to us.”
The Convergence of Pressure: Why the Regime’s Days Appear Numbered
Together, these dynamics paint a picture of a regime cornered on all sides. External isolation, internal unrest, and the rise of a credible opposition leave little room for long-term survival. While authoritarian governments often appear resilient until the moment of collapse, the trajectory in Iran suggests that the current rulers are running out of both time and options.
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