Paris: A significant exiled Iranian opposition group vented its rage on Tuesday after Paris police rejected permission for a sizable rally next month on the grounds that it might inflame tensions and make people targets of attacks.

The de facto ban on the rally, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), was the result of "pressure" exerted on France by Tehran. The NCRI is a coalition that includes the People's Mujahedin (MEK), a group that Tehran has outlawed.

Tens of thousands of supporters from France and other parts of Europe are expected at the NCRI rally in Paris on July 1. The NCRI calls for the overthrow of Iran's clerical leadership.

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Since the rally is "likely to generate disturbances to public order because of the geopolitical context," according to a Paris police source who asked to remain anonymous, Paris police did not approve it.
The source added that the terrorist threat should not be disregarded and that hosting the event would make it difficult to ensure both its security and the security of the vulnerable attendees.

Authorities prevented an attack on a significant NCRI rally outside of Paris in 2018. A Belgian court found an Iranian diplomat guilty of terrorist offences in connection with the foiled attack; however, Tehran last month exchanged him for a Belgian aid worker.

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The NCRI asserted that Tehran had pressured Paris into caving in because France was worried about the fate of the four French nationals Iran was holding in what activists claim is a deliberate hostage-taking plot.

"The banning of the Iranian rally represents a disgraceful act against democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly, and succumbing to extortion and hostage-taking by the religious dictatorship ruling Iran," the NCRI said.

It continued, denouncing the "regime's pressure on France," that it would "employ all legal and political avenues to challenge and file a complaint against this unjustified prohibition."

The group had hoped to capitalise on the upsurge in anti-clerical leadership demonstrations that erupted in Iran in September following the passing of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for allegedly disobeying the country's stringent dress codes for women.

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Although there have been fewer protests inside Iran, they still happen occasionally. The MEK views itself as the most important Iranian opposition organisation outside of Iran.

An unpopular group that some have compared to a cult, the Iranian diaspora is far from unanimity in its support. However, a number of prominent former US and European officials, including the former US vice president Mike Pence, support it.