Paris Court Upholds Ban on Iranian Opposition Rally While Kellogg Urges Regime Change at Indoor Gathering

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg told a two-day Paris gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran that the window for change in Tehran is wider than at any moment in a generation. "The window is open wider than at any moment in a generation, and windows do not stay open forever," he said.

"The theocratic regime in Tehran will not leave voluntarily. " Kellogg, a former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, framed any disarmament agreement as the first step toward a future without the current regime.

He urged the group to ensure verification of any deal, saying verification is the council's legacy and that it must confirm every barrel of uranium leaves and every centrifuge stops. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI's president-elect, said a peaceful, non-nuclear Iran is possible only through the overthrow of the regime by the Iranian people and their organized Resistance.

She added that any international agreement should end executions of political prisoners and the killing of protesters.

NCRI organizers had expected tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates from North America and Europe. French authorities banned a planned outdoor rally, citing security threats. A French court upheld the ban after intelligence reports of alleged bomb threats and risks of violence involving rival factions.

Demonstrators gathered at the site on Saturday despite the ban. Police ordered the crowd to disperse and arrested around 20 people. , and European Union in 2012. A foiled 2018 bomb plot had targeted an MEK rally outside Paris.