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Iran Opposition & Resistance

Coordinated Rallies Worldwide Mark Anniversary of Political Executions in Iran

Written by Shamsi Saadati
Supporters of the Iranian Resistance in Cologne, Germany, rallied on April 19, 2025
Supporters of the Iranian Resistance in Cologne, Germany, held a rally on April 19, 2025

From Washington, D.C. to Amsterdam, Paris, Sydney, and Vancouver, supporters of the Iranian Resistance held coordinated rallies over the weekend to mark the anniversary of the April 1972 and 1975 executions of MEK and Fedayeen members by the Shah’s regime. But the events, held in more than a dozen cities across three continents, carried a message aimed not just at the past, but at the future of Iran: the rejection of all forms of dictatorship, whether monarchical or theocratic.

The anniversary, known among Iranians as “30 Farvardin”, commemorates two of the most defining and brutal moments in Iran’s modern political history. On April 19, 1972, four leading members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) — Ali Bakeri, Nasser Sadegh, Mohammad Bazargani, and Ali Mihan-Doust — were executed by firing squad after enduring months of torture. Three years later, on April 19, 1975, nine political prisoners, including two MEK leaders and seven from the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas, were taken from their prison cells and gunned down on the hills of Evin in a secret operation ordered by SAVAK. The Shah’s regime later claimed the men had been killed “while escaping.”

This year, rallies honoring those victims served as a unifying moment for Iranians abroad who support the vision of a secular, democratic republic — and reject any return to monarchy or continuation of clerical rule. Demonstrations were held in cities including Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Stockholm, Bucharest, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver, and Bern, with a common slogan: “No to the Shah, No to the Mullahs.”

In Amsterdam, demonstrators gathered at Dam Square on April 19, joined by Dutch civil society leaders. Generational voices — from young Iranian activists to veteran campaigners — spoke in support of Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, which calls for free elections, gender equality, an independent judiciary, separation of religion and state, and a non-nuclear Iran.

“Zolang tirannie bestaat, blijft de roep om vrijheid klinken,” said one speaker. “As long as tyranny exists, the cry for freedom will be heard.”

In Paris, French MP Pierre-Yves Bournazel addressed protesters at Place Colette, declaring: “The Iranian people deserve freedom and they are deprived of it. We call for the immediate release of political prisoners in danger.”

Events in Berlin and Cologne featured the participation of Kurdish allies of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), with flags and banners denouncing the Islamic Republic while warning against any return to dynastic rule.

In Stockholm, the message was similarly resolute: “From Shah to Mullahs — the message is clear: the Iranian people reject them all.”

North America also saw parallel rallies. In Washington, D.C., supporters of the Iranian Resistance laid out a photo exhibition on the Capitol grounds, honoring those killed under both regimes. A statement from the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) read: “For over 50 years, two dictatorial regimes imposed draconian laws and preyed on Iran’s best and brightest. Yet today, images of the brave souls who sacrificed their lives remind us that darkness will soon end.”

Rallies in Toronto and Vancouver echoed these themes, stressing that the executions of 1972 and 1975 were not isolated crimes, but part of a broader historical pattern of silencing dissent, one that continues today under the clerical regime. A message read aloud in both cities called the 1975 executions “one of the Shah regime’s most shameful crimes,” and emphasized that Parviz Sabeti, the SAVAK official involved in the killings, remains politically active today.

Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, issued a message to the global gatherings: “No to the Shah, no to the Mullahs — victory to the democratic revolution of the Iranian people. The blood spilled under both dictatorships has charted a path toward a democratic republic that can no longer be ignored.”

In Bucharest, Iranians gathered in solemn remembrance of the 30 Farvardin executions, raising portraits of the fallen and echoing the same message shared across continents: the future belongs to a free Iran, not to monarchs or mullahs.

These global demonstrations echoed a parallel wave of defiance inside Iran, where, despite heavy surveillance and the constant threat of arrest, Resistance Units affiliated with the PMOI/MEK carried out more than 60 acts of commemoration across major cities. From Tehran and Mashhad to Isfahan, Zahedan, and Tabriz, activists hung posters, left flowers on the graves of fallen martyrs, and spray-painted slogans denouncing both the Shah and the current clerical regime.

In Tehran’s Behesht Zahra cemetery, messages such as “We swear by the blood of our comrades: we will stand until the end” and “Death to the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader” reaffirmed that the call for justice and freedom remains as present in the streets of Iran as it is among exiled voices abroad.

In dozens of cities, the rallies served not only as memorials but also as unmistakable signals that Iran’s resistance movement remains globally connected, deeply organized, and firmly rooted in a long-standing history of sacrifice. The message resonating across capitals was clear: the Iranian people are determined to bury dictatorship in all its forms — and they are not alone in that fight.

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