At the Paris conference titled “1,000 French Cities Against the Death Penalty in Iran,” Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), delivered a compelling message emphasizing the urgent need to confront Iran’s clerical regime and its machinery of repression.
Mrs. Rajavi commended the solidarity of over a thousand French mayors who have taken a stand against the wave of executions sweeping across Iran. “This collective voice is a powerful cry that echoes through the regime’s prisons and gives hope to the thousands on death row,” she said. She praised the resolve of Iranian political prisoners and the families who wait outside prison gates, reaffirming that they are not alone in their fight.
Drawing attention to Supreme Leader Khamenei’s recent threats branding uprisings as sedition, Rajavi stated that the regime’s existential fear lies in the people’s resistance—embodied today by the Resistance Units active across the country. She highlighted that over 1,150 executions were carried out in the past year alone, with five political prisoners executed just days before her speech.
Mrs. Rajavi warned that silence and inaction by the international community only embolden the mullahs to intensify their executions and acts of terror. “Every execution under this regime is political,” she declared, urging a clear and principled policy response.
She also criticized the Western approach to hostage diplomacy, cautioning that paying the price for each hostage’s release by pressuring and demonizing the Iranian Resistance merely incentivizes further hostage-taking. “French policy must not be held hostage by the regime’s blackmail,” she said, calling for diplomatic and commercial ties with Tehran to be made conditional on ending executions and releasing political prisoners.
By supporting the “No to Executions” campaign, thousands of elected officials call for recognition of the Iranian people’s right to resist religious fascism.
By adopting this policy, European governments could create a serious obstacle against the clerical regime’s resort to… pic.twitter.com/diy86XTRIa— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 11, 2025
In her vision for Iran’s future, Mrs. Rajavi reaffirmed the NCRI’s commitment to a secular, democratic republic based on gender and ethnic equality, free from executions and torture. She concluded with a powerful reminder: “Freedom is never given; it is won.”
Her message was not only a tribute to the growing international solidarity with the Iranian people but also a call to action for governments and lawmakers worldwide to recognize the Iranian people’s right to resist and overthrow the regime.
At a major conference in Paris’s 5th Arrondissement, @FBerthout unveiles a statement signed by over 1,000 French mayors, condemning executions in Iran and supporting @Maryam_Rajavi’s call to abolish the death penalty. Follow our reporter for coverage! #FreeIran2025 pic.twitter.com/pb3EzRcMrG
— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) April 11, 2025