Thousands of Iranian expatriates and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gathered in Paris on Saturday, April 11. The massive demonstration, held at the Place Trocadéro near the Eiffel Tower, was organized to condemn the alarming surge in political executions carried out by the Iranian regime. Protesters also sent a resounding message to the international community: true democratic change must come from within the country, not through foreign military intervention or bombings.
A primary demand of the protesters was that halting the execution of dissidents must be an essential, non-negotiable condition in any potential agreement between Washington and Tehran.
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Freedom-Loving Iranians Rally in Paris Back Democratic Republic, Condemn Executions of Political Prisoners#StopExecutionsInIran #NCRIAlternative #FreeIran10PointPlan #No2ShahNo2Mullahs pic.twitter.com/KnRe0EwckO— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) April 12, 2026
The demonstration featured a sea of Iranian flags and emblems of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Protesters held aloft portraits of political dissidents who were recently executed in Iran, including six PMOI members. Resonating throughout the square was the definitive chant, “No to the Shah, no to the mullahs.”
This delivered a clear message that the Iranian people reject any return to the former monarchical tyranny just as fiercely as it opposes the current ruling dictatorship.
Demonstrators expressed grave concerns that the Iranian regime is actively exploiting the current regional conflict and the “fog of war” to systematically eliminate its domestic opposition. The recent wave of killings—which has seen at least 13 political prisoners executed since late March, including six PMOI members aged between 33 and 67—has sparked fears of a mass purge. Protesters warned that this severe crackdown could be a prelude to a massacre similar to the summer of 1988, when tens of thousands of political prisoners were secretly executed behind closed doors.
A central theme of the Paris rally was the firm rejection of foreign military strikes. Protesters condemned recent bombings by foreign nations, arguing that external wars only hinder the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom. The voiced their conviction that liberation is the sole responsibility of the Iranian people and their organized resistance.
In a message to the Paris demonstration, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said, “Your gathering today is a flame of the Iranian people’s Resistance and uprising; people who are counting the days to achieve freedom and popular sovereignty, and who have raised the banner of peace and freedom.”
Message to the demonstrating Iranians in Paris
Global protest against the execution of heroic PMOI members and brave young protesters:
The ruling clerics in Iran have seized upon war as an opportunity to tighten the noose and block the path of a new generation of resistance and… pic.twitter.com/Br0d7D99zt— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 11, 2026
Mrs. Rajavi linked the recent executions to efforts by the regime to contain dissent following the January uprising. “The ruling clerics have seized upon war as an opportunity to tighten the noose and block the path of a new generation of resistance and uprising,” she said, adding that executions are being used “to confront the rising tide of uprisings.”
Referring to the execution of 13 individuals, including PMOI members and young protesters, she said their deaths carried “a powerful message” that “a resolute generation, forged in determination, has stepped onto the battlefield… determined to replace this reactionary system with a democratic republic, freedom, and the sovereignty of the people.”
The Paris rally served as a powerful reminder to the international community. As global powers navigate the complexities of Middle Eastern geopolitics, the Iranian diaspora insists that human rights and the halt of executions cannot be sidelined. Furthermore, they made it unequivocally clear that the path to a free, secular, and democratic republic lies not in foreign bombs, but in the resilience of the Iranian people themselves.