The Iranian dissidents came from the United States, the Middle East, every corner of Europe, and countless other countries spread across the globe. They demanded change, and a new, democratic government in Iran, and their demands were echoed by leading public figures from numerous countries.
The biggest rally was held on June 13th, though the weekend was filled with panels and other events.
On the day of the rally the Parc des expositions de Paris-Nord Villepinte convention centre outside of Paris became perhaps the largest Persian city in the world outside of Iran, with organizers estimating that as many as 100,000 people, mostly Iranians, were in attendance. To put that into perspective, all of Canada is home to less than 100,000 Iranians.
The Iranian dissidents and their supporters gathered to denounce the ruling Iranian regime, which is currently dominated by hard line Shia clerics. Many of the attendees came in support of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), though supporters and representatives from as many as 400 different groups were also in attendance.
Key speakers included former presidential candidate Howard Dean, who has emerged as one of the strongest critics of the current Iranian regime, and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Both Dean and Giuliani had choice words to say about the presiding Iranian government. Dean cautioned the United States government against rushing any nuclear deal with Iran, and stressed that no ground should be given on human rights.
Giuliani took it a step further, stating:
“The ayatollah must go (sic Supreme Leader). He and Rouhani and Ahmadinejad and all of the rest of them should be put on trial for crimes against humanity for the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people they have killed.”
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) also voiced his support via video link, addressing the Mojahedin-e-Khalq directly, noting that “your cause is our cause and your fight is our fight. … Iran is setting fire to sectarian tensions in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.”
But as loud as the applause was for the American representatives and their condemnations of the regime in Tehran, it was Maryam Rajavi who drew the crowd to their feet and into a fervor. Mrs. Ravaji is the President-Elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and the wife of Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the MEK.
When Mrs. Rajavi took the stage, she was met with thunderous applause, and chants. Her own fiery speech, demanding for ““freedom, democracy and equality”” in Iran, drew even more frenetic applause and cheers.
The MEK has a controversial past, having been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States from 1997 to 2012. The group was removed from the list by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012.
Members of the group, as well as ardent supporters such former ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, have argued that this classification was politically motivated, and done in order to appease the current Iranian government.
The MEK has been accused of using violence to further its own aims, a factor that contributed to the State Department’s classification of the group as a terrorist organization. The MEK states that it has targeted only Iranian government forces, and that it was fighting to install a secular democracy within Iran.
Further, the MEK renounced violence in 2001, and disarmed completely in 2003, following the American invasion of Iraq.
Over 2,000 MEK members remain trapped in Iraq at Camp Liberty, where they have been attacked by Iraqi government forces on multiple occasions.
The attacks came in spite of assurances made by the U.S. government during disarmament and relocation agreements that MEK members would be provided full protection.
