France backs Iran protests with rally, Eiffel Tower display for Mahsa Amini

4 months after Kurdish woman’s death in Iranian custody sparked major protests, activists march as European Parliament readies to debate Revolutionary Guard terror blacklisting

By AP 16 January 2023, 6:11 pm Edit
Activists hold a rally against the Iranian regime and in support of widespread protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, near the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, January 16, 2023. (Screenshot: Twitter; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Activists hold a rally against the Iranian regime and in support of widespread protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, near the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, January 16, 2023. (Screenshot: Twitter; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

PARIS, France — Activists gathered Monday near the EU Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg in support of Iran’s anti-government protesters as Paris prepared an Eiffel Tower tribute to Mahsa Amini, whose death in September prompted the demonstrations.

The Strasbourg march comes after over 100 members of the international parliament signed a letter last week calling on the European Union to take a firmer stance against Iran.

The European Parliament’s plenary session is to debate the EU’s response this week to the protests and executions in the Islamic Republic. A non-binding resolution is to be voted on Thursday.

The MEPs’ letter to Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, called on the bloc to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “in its entirety as a terrorist organization.”

The IRGC was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US in 2019.

Paris City Hall said in a statement that the words “Woman. Life. Freedom.” and “#StopExecutionsInIran” will be displayed on the Eiffel Tower on Monday and Tuesday evening to mark four months since the death of Mahsa Amini, in a “homage to those who are bravely fighting for their freedom as the [Iranian] regime is continuing executions of protesters.”

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and some deputy mayors are expected to go to the Eiffel Tower Monday in a show of support. Paris posthumously declared Amini an honorary citizen in October.

Iran has been rocked by protests since the September 16 death of the 22-year-old, who died after being detained by the morality police. The protests have since become one of the most serious challenges to the theocracy installed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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