France denies Iran asking for ban on opposition rally in Paris

PARIS — France’s foreign ministry denied on Friday that it had asked for the ban of an Iranian opposition rally that had been due to take place on Saturday in Paris following a phone call by the Iranian foreign minister to his French counterpart.The Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said earlier in the day that the Paris police had banned their rally at the last minute and linked it to a call by France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot with Iran’s Abbas Araghchi on Thursday, where they discussed the latest developments to end the Iran war. The French foreign ministry rejected the allegation by the Iranian group that ​the ban was linked to the call.”This allegation is false. The (Iranian) minister did not mention this ⁠protest or request its cancellation,” the ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters.The Paris police were not immediately available ​for comment on the NCRI statement.”After business hours on the ​evening of Thursday, June 18, the Paris Police Prefecture banned the planned demonstration of 100,000 people against the wave of political executions in Iran, scheduled for Saturday, June 20, citing bogus reasons,” it said.Organizers had coordinated with police for two months and followed all the legal procedures, the ​statement said.The NCRI, political arm of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, has held frequent ​rallies in the French capital over the years. They have been attended by thousands of people, including high-profile former US, European and Arab officials ‌critical ⁠of the Islamic Republic.NCRI said it was appealing the decision to ban its rally.In 2023, a court reversed an initial decision by the French capital’s police to ban ​an NCRI rally. At the time the police had said the ban had been motivated ​by security concerns.Speaking earlier on French TV, Barrot said Iran’s population had been the biggest victims of ⁠the war ​and that the killing of Iranians during protests in January should not be ​forgotten.He said France was setting up a platform to allow artists in exile to fully express themselves independent of any political considerations.”Iran is, above all, a ​great people, and we distinguish between the Iranian regime and Iran itself,” he said.