It wasn’t a protest march, but rather a large assembly that took place on the Place de la République. At the center of the Place de la République is a bronze statue of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic. She holds aloft an olive branch in her right hand. Resting her left hand on a tablet engraved with the Droits de l’Homme (the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen), Marianne is surrounded by three statues personifying Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, the values of the French Republic. At the statue’s base is a lion that represents the people who express themselves through the ballot box.

The state of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran is abysmal. The Middle East and North Africa hold some of the worst records of freedom of expression in the world. Many countries in the region lack legal protection for human rights and the rule of law is undermined by gross corruption and ineptitude by the religious-political elite.

There are approximately 40,000 Iranian exiles living in France. Many of them were at the Paris protest today. Worldwide, the Iranian diaspora consists of around 4 million. The United States is the most popular destination for Iranians living abroad, Canada is next followed by Germany, the United Kingdom and Turkey.

According to data extrapolated from the U.S. Census Bureau, they are one of the most highly educated minority populations in the country.

To pressure the Tehran regime, the international community must listen to the voices of the Iranian diaspora and support them.