The world stands up against the Mullahs regime in Iran

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(Red) – On April 18 and 19, thousands of Iranians and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) rallied in 14 cities across Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Demonstrators called for urgent action to prevent the execution of death row political prisoners, namely supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), five of whom are in the process of forcible transfer from Evin Prison to Ghezelhessar Prison, a notorious execution site. Three other PMOI supporters were previously transferred to Ghezelhessar for execution.

The rallies coincide with the anniversary of the 1975 atrocities committed by the Shah’s Secret Service, SAVAK, during which nine political prisoners were killed on the hills of Evin under the false pretext of attempting to escape from prison. Additionally, on this day in 1972, four members of the central committee of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran were executed.

The demonstrations were also a response to alarming reports of human rights violations in Iran. In the days leading up to the protests, 22 prisoners were executed across 10 prisons in Iran, including five political prisoners and three women. This recent wave brings the total number of executions since Masoud Pezeshkian became president in August 2024 to a staggering 1,015. According to Amnesty International, 64 percent of all executions worldwide in 2024 took place in Iran.

Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, addressed the protesters via video, honoring the anniversary of the martyrdom of political prisoner under the shah’s dictatorship. She renewed the Iranian Resistance’s pledge to fulfill the ideals of those martyrs while the crowd chanted: “No to the Shah, no to the Mullahs – Victory to the Democratic Revolution of the Iranian People!”

Drawing a parallel between the crimes of the Shah’s tyranny and the ruling theocracy, she recalled, “The 1975 massacre was one of the most horrific crimes of SAVAK and the Shah’s regime”, adding, “at that time, the Shah had amassed billions of dollars in windfall revenue from the plunder of Iran’s oil. By declaring the Rastakhiz Party and making his regime a single-party system, he had maximized royal oppression and savagery. Thus, he resorted to spilling the blood of imprisoned leaders and pioneers. Today, the surge of this pure blood prevents the true boundaries between the people’s front and the anti-people front from being blurred. It blocks the path to empty and false slogans and the whitewashing of committed crimes.”

Maryam Rajavi underlined, “Indeed, the multitude of crimes by Khomeini and Khamenei (the regime’s Supreme Leaders) has not and cannot erase the bloodshed and atrocities of the Pahlavi dictatorship from memory. Ruhollah Khomeini was the true heir of the Shah. The people of Iran are determined to establish a society through a democratic revolution where there is no place for the Shah, Khomeini, or their inhuman tyranny, and this will happen. Neither a return to the past nor stagnation in the present”, she emphasized.

She underscored, “This 60-year-long struggle, with the suffering and blood of the best children of this land, is the greatest asset of contemporary Iranian history in the struggle for freedom against tyranny and reaction. With all the blood shed during the dark eras of monarchy and clerical rule, neither a return to the past is conceivable nor stagnation in the present. Iranian society and its pioneers are moving towards a glorious future based on freedom, equality, and democracy, and they will pay whatever price is necessary.” She then concluded, “The people of Iran will settle for nothing less than the overthrow of the religious dictatorship and the establishment of a democratic republic: a free and non-nuclear Iran with the separation of religion from the state and the ten-point plan of the Iranian resistance.”

Scores of distinguished politicians and human rights figures spoke at various rallies in different cities, some of which include, in Paris, Dominique Attias and Pierre-Yves Bournazel, Former Deputy of the French National Assembly, and Ophélie Van Elsuwe, a departmental, intercommunal, and municipal councilor, participated. In Berlin, speakers included Martin Patzelt, former Member of the Bundestag (CDU), Detlef Wagner, Deputy Mayor of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, and Dr. Masumeh Bolurchi, Representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Germany. In Cologne, Helmut Geuking, former Member of the European Parliament, Emanuela Danielewichz, head of an NGO (SPD), and Ms. Dowlat Nowruzi, Representative of the NCRI in the UK, addressed the rally. In Bern, Switzerland, Paolo Gilardi, Member of the Executive Committee of Trade Unions, and Ms. Pergo, Former Representative and Honorary Professor at the University of Bern, spoke. Lars Rise, Former Representative from Norway, participated in Stockholm, Sweden. In The Hague, Netherlands, Dorien Rookmaker, Former Member of the European Parliament, addressed the demonstrators. Finally, in Sydney, Australia, Peter Murphy, Human Rights Advocate, spoke at the rally.

Protesters echoed the slogan from the 2022 uprising: “Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the mullahs”, emphasizing their demand for justice and human rights, drawing a line against any type of dictatorship, be it the Shah or the mullahs. Participants urged the United States, the European Union, Canada, and Australia to take concrete action against the Iranian regime forcing it to halt executions in Iran and advocating for the recognition of the Iranian people’s right to resist the violent suppression by the IRGC. They also called for the terrorist designation of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in Europe.

Supporters of the NCRI emphasized the urgent need for action by international bodies, including the United Nations, to save the lives of all political prisoners currently on the death row, particularly the three PMOI supporters who have been transferred to Ghezelhessar and the five awaiting transfer, who are at imminent risk of execution.

In many cities, including Berlin and Cologne, protesters marched, waving the large ancient Iranian flags with the lion and the sun in the middle. Colorful and lively exhibitions with large displays of the victims of human rights violations in Iran were deployed alongside the rallies, drawing significant attention to the ongoing abuse in Iran.

The international community must act now and support the efforts of NCRI which advocates a radical change towards democracy, a nuclear-free Iran and a country which can exercise a peaceful influence over a region which is in full turmoil. For decades, Iran was lacking a structure such as the NCRI which has presented a powerful 10-Point-Plan for a peaceful transition of Iran into a modern state which assumes its responsibilities for the entire region. Time to act is now.