'Free Iran' rally to give voice to those still suffering in the Islamic Republic

'Free Iran' rally to give voice to those still suffering in the Islamic Republic

On July 9, I will be joining a large number of my fellow Iranian expatriates and their international supporters at the annual “Free Iran” rally in Paris. The National Council of Resistance of Iran has been hosting such events for over 10 years.
How do I know? After this year’s rally, I will have seen the event from both sides of the ideological wall that separates the Islamic Republic from most of the rest of the world. In past years, I was among those Iranians who supported the NCRI and its main constituent group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), from a silent place inside the country. I put my safety and freedom at risk, as did many of my colleagues, to carry on the groups’ local activism. I spent five years in jail from 2009 to 2014 and suffered extensive physical and psychological torture for my support for the PMOI.  I fled Iran at the age of 29 last year....