Iranian women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad blasted the United Nations at the Geneva Summit, accusing the organization of lacking a backbone and supporting the Iranian regime. She called out the global body for engaging in a strategy of appeasement, as tens of thousands of Iranians were brutally murdered by the regime amid civil unrest last month.
Rare Moment of Truth at UN: Iranian women's rights activist @AlinejadMasih takes the floor at United Nations @GenevaSummit to blast European politicians who for years failed to call out the regime's terrorism and gender apartheid, points to victims in the room shot by the regime. pic.twitter.com/zvgdS2J8Ld
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) February 18, 2026
“I am supposed to talk only in three minutes,” Alinejad said. “But in my country, in 24 hours, they killed 40,000 people in Iran. And I am here at the United Nations while the killers are walking here. I saw them with expensive Gucci bags. I saw them with expensive brands walking here at the United Nations."
"I am going to talk the truth," she declared
“The Secretary General of United Nations stands with dictators,” she said. "And I will ask you whether they stand with dictators or with the victims. As Hala mentioned, the United Nations stand with the victims."
The Secretary General of United Nations sends a congratulation letter to Islamic Republic for the anniversary of this murderous regime. You tell me, do they stand with dictators or the victims? The victims are here, these two women. One of them lost her eye because the Revolutionary Guard shot her in her eye. One of them carried a bullet in her arm. Do they stand with them?
Right now, after killing 40,000 people, they storm into hospitals; they’re finishing off the injured ones; they’re arresting doctors and nurses; they put the political prisoners on death row; they’re executing them. I want to ask Geneva to host a peace conference, invite the opposition from Iran, invite the leaders of Europe, invite the leaders from European countries and free world here to talk about an Iran without an Islamic Republic.
“The West waited too long,” she said, tearing up a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini. She criticized the UN for having its priorities completely misaligned, recalling how, when she fought to ensure wearing a hijab was not compulsory, the organization was instead focused on Islamophobia. Too often, Western countries prioritize avoiding offending terrible people over standing against evil. Rather than confronting a murderous regime, they worry about offending the religion behind it, even as innocent people suffer.
“The West waited too long, too long,” she said. “When I was fighting against compulsory hijab, they were like, ‘Oh, this is Islamophobic. Oh no, we have to respect others’ culture.’ All the female politicians from West, they went to my country, they borrowed compulsory hijab from Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, France, from everywhere, high representative of Europe…Suddenly, they realized, ‘Oh, this is not their culture.’ They started to cut their hair to show their solidarity with us.”
“Stop cutting your hair,” she said. “Cut your ties with our killers.”
The UN, despite viewing itself as the planet’s most virtuous governing body, too often fails to recognize that the Western way of life outperforms nearly every other system in measurable ways. They refuse to take pride in their heritage, their history, or the good they have done for the world, opting instead for strongly worded statements and moral ambiguity. If the West truly had a backbone, Iranian dissent might have toppled the regime by now. Instead, the ruling elite live in Western luxury while their people are trapped in third-world conditions.
“And now 40,000 people have been killed,” Alinejad said. “Now the time has come to understand. Don’t wait that long. … You call them reformists. We call them killers.”
“When I see my sister standing here, my sister, with bullets in their body, being blinded, standing here, I feel ashamed that I am alive that I don’t carry the bullet,” she said.
I’m going to leave Geneva forever. You can kick me out forever. But I couldn’t keep silent because I feel the guilt on my shoulder. I don’t know how to save my people with empty hands. I cannot sometimes sleep; I cannot breathe; I cannot even eat because I feel guilty. I cannot believe how come the leaders of European countries do not feel guilty by shaking the hand of those Islamic Republic officials full of blood. Shame on you.
“I need you to promise me that we’re going to stand together, all of us, with my brother in Venezuela, my sister from Belarus. I need you all to stand with us and help my people in Iran. We have to stop the massacre and kick these f***ing killers from Europe, from everywhere,” she concluded.
This comes just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a fiery speech at the Munich Security Conference, urging Europe to stand with the United States in defending their heritage and projecting strength globally. Whether European leaders will heed his call remains uncertain.
