Paris Police Disperse Banned Iran Opposition Rally and Arrest 20 Demonstrators

Paris police arrested 20 people on June 20 after hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Place Vauban near the Les Invalides monument in central Paris in defiance of a ban on a rally organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The demonstrators were dispersed by police, according to Shahin Gobadi of the NCRI.

The group had scheduled the rally for Saturday, June 20, to protest political executions in Iran and said it expected 100,000 participants.

Paris police issued the ban after business hours on June 18. Organizers stated they had followed all legal procedures during two months of coordination with police and described the stated reasons for the ban as bogus. The NCRI said it is appealing the decision.

French officials stated there was no connection between the ban and a telephone conversation between France's foreign minister and Iran's foreign minister on June 18. A French ministry statement said the Iranian side did not mention the protest or request its cancellation during the call. The NCRI is the political arm of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran.

The group has held multiple rallies in Paris over the years, with past events drawing thousands of participants, including former officials from the United States, Europe, and Arab countries. In 2023 a French court overturned an earlier police ban on an NCRI demonstration that had been justified on security grounds.

That decision followed the release of an Iranian diplomat convicted of planning a 2018 bombing targeting the NCRI near Paris.

The Paris police prefecture has not yet commented on the NCRI statement or explained the specific security concerns cited. Iranian authorities have long urged France and other countries to restrict NCRI activities abroad.