Thousands of opposition groups held a rally in Paris for the second day in an effort to call on the European Union countries to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. The call comes as a response to Tehran’s crackdown on its citizens in the midst of the ongoing protests.
A rally hosted by the National Council of Resistance to Iran was held in Paris on Sunday, following Saturday’s rally held by European-based Iranians. The rally aimed to highlight the IRGC’s role in Tehran’s crackdown on protesters in the demonstrations across the country that have been occurring since September. Aside from the crackdown, the rally also aimed to highlight the IRGC’s activities outside Iran, and the EU has increasingly become critical of Iran following the protests.
“This will be a revolution…The youth know there is no future under this regime. They say they are better off dying in the streets than living in this country with this regime,” said London university lecturer Ela Zabihi.
“The IRGC must be added to the list of designated terrorist organizations by the European Union,” NCRI president-elect Maryam Rajavi told attendees of the rally. “The valiant youth have the right to defend themselves against the IRGC, covert agents, and the barrage of bullets that pierce their eyes, head, and hearts.”
Some EU countries and the European Parliament have sought to make the designation, but others have expressed fears that it could result in a complete break of formal ties with Tehran, which would jeopardize any chance of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal that has been stalled since then.
Protests in Iran erupted in September last year when Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police for allegedly flouting the Islamic dress code on women. Tehran has also tried to shift the blame to its foreign adversaries like the United States and Israel.
Iran celebrated the 44th anniversary of the 1979 Revolution on Saturday with state-organized rallies. In the midst of the celebrations by Tehran, hackers briefly interrupted the televised remarks of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi’s remarks were interrupted on the internet, showing a logo of a group of anti-Islamic Republic hackers known as “Edalate Ali” or “Justice of Ali” and a voice was heard shouting “death to the Islamic Republic.”