Thousands of Iranians and some prominent supporters marched in Brussels on Saturday, calling for tougher European measures against Tehran and a democratic alternative to the repressive theocratic regime.
Organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled Iranian opposition organisation, large crowds gathered around the Atomium and the Heysel Plateau.
Police estimated about 10,000 participants, though organisers said “tens of thousands” attended.
The protest marked the 60th anniversary of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (EK), the NCRI’s infamous militant wing, once deemed a terrorist organisation in some Western countries.
Protestors called for tougher EU sanctions on Tehran and to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the national military, as a terrorist organisation. Maryam Rajavi, the Paris-based dissident who serves as the NCRI’s elected president, also made a rare public appearance.
According to the NCRI, Rajavi said in her speech that the time had come for the Iranian regime to be toppled, as it was faltering and the Iranian people were better prepared than ever before.
The rally also featured prominent international figures, including former US vice-president Mike Pence, former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt and John Bercow, the former Speaker of the UK House of Commons.
Pence called for a “democratic, secular, non-nuclear Iran”, adding that “the greatest threat to this regime is not America, not Israel — it is the Iranian people themselves.”
Brussels has repeatedly been a focal point of large-scale protests of the exiled Iranian opposition movement. EU countries are home to a significant part of the Iranian diaspora outside the Middle East, with Germany deemed to accommodate the largest Iranian community in Europe.
(cp)
