The demonstration of Iranians in Paris was held on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at Saint-Michel Square, in solidarity with the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people. The gathering was organized to honor the memory of the victims of Iran’s nationwide uprisings and to emphasize the urgent need for justice for those killed in government repression. The participants, who were supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, commemorated the fallen by lighting candles and by chanting slogans such as “No to Shah, No to Mullah” and “No to the Dictator,” underscoring their rejection of all forms of dictatorship, both the current regime and any return to monarchy. These slogans directly reflect the demands voiced inside Iran.
At the rally, Helen Fathpour, a member of the Iranian Resistance, delivered a speech, which is presented below
The martyrs of the January uprising in Iran already number more than 3,000 people who have lost their lives. Many of them were young people, including university and high school students. More than 50,000 individuals have been arrested and tortured for freedom and for the overthrow of this regime. Their blood and their suffering are living testimony to this national uprising, which stands in direct continuity with the 120,000 martyrs of freedom over the past four decades.
Our tribute goes especially to the Resistance Units, in which women are so numerous and so active, and to this rebellious youth who rose up with bare hands against the regime’s brutal apparatus of repression. These units protected demonstrators at the risk of their own lives. They stood as a barrier against the forces of repression; through their organization, they routed and disarmed the regime’s special units.
They stood up to terror with inexhaustible determination. Faced with the regime, they did not retreat, they did not give in, and their courage and perseverance have ensured that the torch of resistance remains lit, and that the flame of the uprising is still alive today.
Despite the pain and what the regime has inflicted on the Iranian people through massacre and brutality, these young people confront the climate of terror with solidarity, sacrifice, and ingenuity. They ensure that this revolution will not be stolen through plots by foreign powers using counterfeit alternatives aimed at restoring the Shah’s dictatorship.
No Shah no mullahs! The Iranian people are sovereign—this is what the Iranian people are proclaiming. The Iranian people have a democratic alternative that has been fighting for more than 40 years to return sovereignty to the nation: the National Council of Resistance of Iran, with a clear and transparent program—the Ten-Point Plan of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.
Thus, by inscribing into history the slogans ‘Down with the dictator’ and ‘Down with the oppressor, whether Shah or Supreme Leader,’ the Resistance Units have taken their oath. That is why we are so proud of them. And we, too, swear an oath. We swear to fight alongside them until the overthrow of the regime and until the establishment of a democratic government in a free Iran.
Long live the Iranian people! Tribute to the martyrs of the resistance!”
