An international conference was held near Paris on April 10 to protest the recent rise in executions in Iran. The event brought together European political and legal figures, former political prisoners, and members of the Iranian diaspora.
Titled “A Call for Immediate Action to Halt the Executions of PMOI and Dissident Political Prisoners,” the gathering focused on the execution of six members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and seven young protesters. Speakers presented the cases as part of a broader pattern of repression against political dissent.
Commemoration of Executed PMOI Members and Protesters
The price paid for freedom and lasting peace in Iran and the Middle EastMembers of the PMOI—Mohammad Taghavi, Akbar Daneshvarkar, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Abolhassan Montazar, and Vahid Bani Amerian—who at the time of… pic.twitter.com/6VbpnMtXz7
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 10, 2026
Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s President-elect, opened the conference by describing the executions as evidence that the Iranian authorities continue to regard organized domestic opposition as their principal adversary. She pointed to the spread of “Resistance Units” across provinces, from Tehran to Zahedan, as a sign of growing opposition networks inside the country.
Rajavi said Iran’s future depends on internal organization rather than foreign military action or diplomatic bargaining. She also called for the issue of executions to be included in any future international engagement with Tehran.
The legal focus of the conference was reinforced by Prof. Dr. Herta Däubler-Gmelin, former German Minister of Justice. She said the executions require an international legal and moral response and described political prisoners and street protesters as the “voice of a society that refuses to be silenced.”
She warned that silence from the international community risks becoming complicity. Däubler-Gmelin also referred to the NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan as a framework for democratic governance based on the rule of law.
Several speakers contrasted the NCRI’s platform with both the current political system and monarchist alternatives. Former UK House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said “the idea of freedom cannot be executed,” arguing that the persistence of opposition activists would outlast the machinery of repression.
Bercow also dismissed the political relevance of Reza Pahlavi, presenting monarchist narratives as disconnected from developments inside Iran. Former German Federal Minister Franz Josef Jung similarly endorsed the NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan, highlighting its emphasis on free elections, press freedom, and political pluralism.
French participants widened the discussion to international policy. Jean-François Legaret, former mayor of Paris’s 1st district, cautioned against assumptions that diplomatic shifts or foreign strikes alone could bring change in Iran. He argued instead that domestic uprising remains central.
Jean-Pierre Béquet, former mayor of Auvers-sur-Oise, made a similar point. He said the Iranian people are often overlooked in geopolitical calculations and stressed that democratic change must come through their continued struggle rather than external force.
Former prisoners gave the conference some of its most personal testimony. Nasrollah Marandi, a survivor of the 1988 prison “death corridors,” linked the recently executed PMOI members to earlier generations of prisoners who resisted under both the Shah and the Islamic Republic.
Reza Shemirani, who said he spent more than 4,000 days in prison, described Evin and Gohardasht as symbols of continuity in Iran’s repressive institutions. Both speakers portrayed today’s Resistance Units as heirs to that earlier legacy of prison resistance.
Representatives of the Iranian diaspora added an external perspective. Minoosh Mashhadi, speaking from the Netherlands, described the state’s confrontation with its own people as a four-decade conflict and called for the closure of Iranian embassies in Europe, alleging they are used to monitor exiles.
Mohsen Kasechi focused on the participation of younger generations, saying the involvement of Gen Z and millennials in Resistance Units shows the movement’s message continues to resonate despite the risks.
Overall, the conference delivered a consistent message: condemnation of the recent executions, emphasis on organized internal resistance, and repeated endorsement of the NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan as a democratic alternative. Through legal arguments, political speeches, and firsthand testimony, the gathering sought to place Iran’s executions at the center of international attention.
