Massacres in Iran: in Paris, the mobilization does not weaken

Paris, by Arthur Bassil

Since the beginning of January, the Iranian diaspora in Europe has been mobilizing to stigmatize the Islamic Republic and the massacres perpetrated against the Iranian people. In Paris, this gathering is renewed every Sunday.

Around 3 PM, Place de la Bastille, this Sunday, February 8, a sunny day in Paris. Approximately five thousand demonstrators are gathered around the Iranian flag adorned with the lion and sun to denounce the massacres perpetrated by the Islamic Republic. In addition to this strong symbol, demonstrators brandish images of the victims of these massacres. On January 8 and 9, 2026, exactly one month ago, the Khamenei regime committed the unthinkable: thousands of Iranians were killed in cold blood. Their crime? Having dared to demonstrate against the socio-economic crisis, but above all against the oppression that has plagued Iran for decades.

This Sunday again, Iranians in France were not alone in the street shouting “close the mollahs’ terrorist embassy” or “Islamic Republic, we don’t want it, we don’t want it!” In the procession, French, American, Kabyle, and even Israeli flags could clearly be seen, “the only country in the world that is truly putting pressure for an attack against the mullahs’ regime,” emphasizes Mona Jafarian, co-founder of the collective Femme Azadi, who called for participation in this demonstration.

The Franco-Iranian activist, under police protection, says she is disappointed by Donald Trump due to his willingness to negotiate with the Islamic Republic, but she believes that the conditions set by the United States “cannot be honored by Khamenei.” Ending nuclear weapons, ballistic armament, support for terrorist proxies in the region… All these factors would lead to the end of the Iranian regime.

Mona Jafarian believes that in any case, these negotiations will lead to a deadlock and that the only solution lies in concrete aid that should be given to the Iranian people to get rid of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

 

Choose between the Iranian people and the mollahs

Also present among the demonstrators, Saeed Amini, founder of the association Homa, banned from Iran since 2017 due to his political activities. He does not understand the inertia of European Union leaders who persist in not taking drastic measures against the Islamic Republic. He nevertheless welcomes the mobilization of European peoples and the world against the mollahs. “We expect good decisions from European states who must choose between the Iranian people and the mollahs’ regime,” he declares before calling on them to “side with the right side of History.”

On many signs held by the demonstrators is the portrait of Reza Pahlavi. He enjoys very broad support among the demonstrators. Son of the Shah exiled in 1979, he presents himself as the alternative to the regime. For Yaël, a French citizen of Jewish faith present at the demonstration and founder of the Atlas collective (collective of Jews and Kabyles against Islamism), “democracy owes everything to the Middle East, which includes enlightened peoples, including the Kabyle, Israeli, Lebanese, and Iranian peoples.” She believes that Reza Pahlavi is supported by the Iranian people and that his political program is “hyper-democratic,” and therefore she supports him unreservedly.

The demonstration ends around 7 PM, Place des Pyramides, at the foot of the statue of Joan of Arc. Samuel Davoud, an activist at the head of the procession, calls on demonstrators to join a large demonstration in support of the Iranian people scheduled for Saturday, February 14, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.