These protests, held around January 20, are important to show the Iranian people that they and their legitimate protests have backing in the West, but also to show the Iranian regime that the world is watching their brutal crackdown on protesters.
The MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), have supported the Iranian people’s popular protests since the very beginning, but the protests took on a whole different feeling in November, with the anti-government demonstrations calling for regime change and 1,500 protesters murdered by the regime as a result.
On Saturday, January 18, MEK supporters in Stockholm gathered to show solidarity with the Iranian people, voice their support for the Iranian Resistance movement, and pay tribute to Rajavi for his contribution to the MEK and the sacrifices he made.
(Rajavi is the last remaining member of the original MEK membership, as the rest were killed in prison under the Shah. He was only spared thanks to an international campaign by his brother, who was living in Switzerland. His brother was then assassinated by the mullahs and when Rajavi left the country, his first wife was killed by the regime.)
The MEK supporters then echoed the Iranian people, with the chant, “Down with the oppressor; be it the Shah or [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei”.
That same day, MEK supporters gathered outside the White House in Washington DC, USA, to call for all political prisoners to be released immediately and show their support for the November uprising.
Meanwhile, in The Hague, the Netherlands, Iranians and MEK supporters held a protest outside the Dutch Parliament to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners. They also called on the international community to dispatch a fact-finding mission to Iran to stop further bloodshed by the regime.
In Hamburg, Germany, Iranians and MEK supporters held a rally to support the ongoing protests in Iran as well as commemorate Rajavi’s release from prison. Some of the representatives of Iranian associations in Germany addressed the rally, noting that Rajavi was among the last group of political prisoners to be freed on January 20, 1979, just four days after the Shah fled Iran.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, the MEK supporters organized a protest, where they chanted slogans in solidarity with their risen compatriots, such as “Regime change in Iran by the people of Iran” and “Down with the dictator. Down with Khamenei”.
In Tehran and other cities across Iran, the MEK’s “Resistance Units” began to put up large banners of Rajavi with the quotes “The world should know that Massoud Rajavi is our leader” and “The end of the mullahs’ tyranny is near”. The MEK is dedicated to freedom in Iran and will not end its protests until the regime is overthrown.
