Thousands rally in Paris against Iran's leaders
Several thousand Iranians came from across Europe to rally in Paris Saturday, calling on world leaders to put greater pressure on the Islamic republic's ruling clerics.
"Instead of appeasing the mullahs, (the international community) should stand side by side with the Iranian people," Maryam Radjavi, president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told the rally.
The NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, which Tehran regards as a "terrorist" group.
Iran's opposition abroad has been emboldened by the fall in late 2024 of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of Tehran.
"The Iranian region will fall like the Syrian regime fell, at a speed that no one would have predicted," former Syrian rebel leader Riad al-Asaad told the crowd by videolink.
Several speakers at Saturday's rally voiced hopes that newly elected US President Donald Trump's promise to exert "maximum pressure" against Tehran would help their cause.
Trump has in the past lashed out at Tehran's nuclear programme, but has also expressed a desire to reach a peace deal with Iran.
On Friday Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic republic's supreme leader warned against negotiations with the United States.
"You should not negotiate with such a government, it is unwise, it is not intelligent, it is not honourable to negotiate," Khamenei told a meeting of military top brass.
In Paris, Radjavi told the rally that the Iranian government's "cascade of failures" had "pitted the regime's internal factions against each other over the question of whether or not to negotiate with the United States".
The throng in Paris was decked out in the flags of the NCRI, a lion holding a sword against a green, white and red backdrop, with a sprinkling of a few Ukrainian flags here and there.
"Many of the weapons which are killing our children in Ukraine come from Iran," said Lara, a Ukrainian living in the German town of Kassel who was bussed into the French capital by the NCRI.
bb/sbk/jj
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
40 minutes ago
- USA Today
What we know about Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear sites and senior military commanders
What we know about Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear sites and senior military commanders Show Caption Hide Caption Israel launches attack on Iran Israel launched a military operation against Iran after the country failed to stop enriching uranium. Iran launched retaliatory drone strikes on Israel on June 13, according to Israel's military, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had begun an operation aimed at rolling back Iran's "threat to Israel's very survival." The Israel Defense Forces said Iran launched more than 100 UAVs toward Israel, and it was working to intercept them. Iran has not confirmed its counter-attack, but it follows what Israel characterized as its "preemptive strike" on Iran's nuclear program and other military targets, including senior officials such as Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Israel's military and Iranian state media. Netanyahu said Israel's offensive will last "as many days as it takes." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed several of his nation's senior military commanders and nuclear scientists were killed in Israel's attacks, which struck parts of Iran's capital Tehran. Khamenei also warned Israel had "prepared a bitter fate for itself." Here's what you need to know about Israel's attacks on Iran − and what might happen next. Why is Israel attacking Iran now? Iran's rulers have been pledging to destroy Israel ever since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Netanyahu has long argued that Iran can't be trusted and that Israel would eventually need to attack Iran's nuclear sites to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Although Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes only, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, recently concluded that Iran was very close to reaching the 90% uranium enrichment level required to build a nuclear weapon.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Iran launches more than 100 drones at Israel in retaliation for striking nuclear sites: IDF
Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israel in retaliation for the Jewish state's latest effort to destroy Tehran's nuclear program through a wave of preemptive airstrikes. 'In recent hours, Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory,' IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin confirmed Friday. 'We are working to intercept the threats.' The Israeli military has already started to shoot down some of the drones outside of Israeli territory, an IDF spokesman told CNN. 'The IDF has begun intercepting UAVs fired from Iran, outside of Israeli territory,' the official said. 3 Iranian-made Shahed-136 'Kamikaze' drone flies over the sky of Kermanshah, Iran on March 7, 2024. Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images The retaliation attack by Tehran comes after Israel's Operation 'Rising Lion' targeted several sites across the Iranian capital to dismantle the country's nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile factories, and military facilities Thursday night. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the mission was carried out to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and ensure the 'survival' of Israel after 'decades' of Iranian leadership, 'brazenly' calling for his country's destruction. 'We can't leave these threats for the next generation,' Netanyahu said during an address shared on YouTube. 'Because if we don't act now, there will not be another generation. If we don't act now, we simply won't be here. We have internalized the lessons of history. When an enemy says he intends to destroy you — believe him,' he continued. 3 This picture shows the empty al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, on June 13, 2025, after Islam's Friday prayers have been officially canceled. AFP via Getty Images 3 A girl runs to a bomb shelter in an apartment building in Hadera, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. AP 'When the enemy develops the capabilities to destroy you — stop him.' Netanyahu vowed to continue strikes 'for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.' The IDF said that approximately 200 Israeli fighter jets participated in the operation, targeting around 100 sites. Iranian officials vowed to deliver a quick retaliation in response to the attacks as the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel 'should await a harsh response.' with Post wires
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Israel's attack on Iran was years in the making. How did they get here?
Here's a closer look: Why are Israel and Iran enemies? Following Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the country's leadership immediately identified the U.S. and Israel as its main enemies. This was connected in large part to American and Israeli ties to Iran's last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who fled Iran while fatally ill ahead of the revolution and despised by Iran's new leaders. Over the past two decades, Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons. Iran insists it has maintained its nuclear program for peaceful purposes only, but the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency has warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make 'several' nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. Advertisement The International Atomic Energy Agency and Western nations assess Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003. Iran insists its program is peaceful while still enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed Iran was not pursuing the bomb. Advertisement Israel sees a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, and breaking Iran's regional network of militant proxy groups has been a major goal. 'For decades, the tyrants of Tehran have brazenly, openly called for Israel's destruction,' Netanyahu said Friday. 'They backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons.' As he has done before, Netanyahu drew comparisons to the Holocaust. 'The Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear Holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime,' he said. Iran's Axis of Resistance has been weakened Over the past four decades, Iran built up a network of militant proxy groups it called the " Axis of Resistance." These groups – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and smaller militias in Iraq and Syria -- wielded significant power across the region in recent years. But the axis has weakened since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza and wider fighting across the region. Israel has decimated Iran's strongest proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. The weakening of Hezbollah contributed to the downfall of Iran's longtime stalwart ally and client in neighboring Syria, President Bashar Assad, last December. After Iran launched a pair of missile attacks on Israel last year, Israel responded with strikes of its own, including an October attack that destroyed Iranian missile sites and weakened its air defenses. The collapse of Iran's proxy network, coupled with Iran's new vulnerability, created an opportunity for Israel to strike. Why did Israel decide to strike now? Netanyahu said time was running out to strike Iran, alleging Iran had taken recent steps to weaponize enriched uranium. 'If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon within a very short time,' he said. Advertisement At the same time, the state of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran created a window. Those talks have been faltering, but a sixth round was scheduled for Oman on Sunday. An agreement could see the U.S. lift some of its crushing economic sanctions on Iran and make it much harder for Israel to strike. Israeli officials feared the talks were a way for Iran to buy time as it secretly took steps toward a nuclear bomb. On Thursday, for the first time in 20 years, the Board of Governors at the IAEA censured Iran for not working with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site and swap out some centrifuges for more advanced ones. By then, Israel apparently had already made up its mind. Trump said he asked Netanyahu not to attack Iran while the negotiations are ongoing. But Trump has a long record of support for Israel, and there appeared to be little immediate blowback.
