NewNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
As the Trump administration moves forward with a new Iran deal, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg told a Paris gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (an exiled Iranian opposition coalition aligned with the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK)) that Tehran’s regime is weaker than it has been in decades and urged dissidents to celebrate what he described as a historic inauguration.
“The window remains open more widely than at any moment in a generation, and the windows do not remain open forever,” Kellogg said at the two-day event. “The religious regime in Tehran will not go away willingly. You have to force it. Hope lies here. Action must be taken now.”
Kellogg, a retired US Army lieutenant general and former US special envoy to Ukraine, framed any disarmament agreement not as an endpoint but as “the first step of something bigger”, saying it should become the foundation for Iran’s future without the current regime.
Pompeo says Iranian regime has reached ‘natural terminal’: ‘Let’s not waste this historic opportunity’
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg speaks at a two-day conference of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Paris, where he urged Iranian opposition supporters to seize what he called a historic start against Tehran’s regime. (Uncle Mohebbi)
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi used her remarks at the conference to argue that neither war nor negotiations resolve the threat posed by Tehran’s rulers. Rajavi said, “A peaceful, non-nuclear Iran is only possible through the overthrow of this regime by the Iranian people and their organized resistance.” He said that any international agreement to end the war must include an end to the executions of political prisoners and the killing of protesters.
Kellogg also cited NCRI’s disclosure of Iran’s Natanz and Arak nuclear sites in 2002, saying the group should play a role in pushing for strict verification of any agreement. He said, “When I say trust, but verify, understand that verification is not an abstract thing for this council. It is your legacy.” “You have to be the conscience that makes sure every barrel of uranium is drained, every centrifuge is stopped, and every promise on that page becomes a fact on the ground.”
The comments came as NCRI organizers were expected to draw thousands of Iranian expatriates from North America and Europe for two days of events in Paris. French authorities banned a planned outdoor rally, citing security threats. A French court later upheld the ban, pointing to specific intelligence about alleged bomb threats and risks of violence linked to rival Iranian opposition groups, including potential threats from actors linked to the Iranian regime. Or monarchist groups.
France condemns Iran protests, weighs in on satellite internet aid amid blackouts
Maryam Rajavi, chairwoman-elect of the National Resistance Council of Iran, speaks at the NCRI’s two-day conference in Paris, where she called for a democratic republic in Iran and said any international agreement must include ending the execution of political prisoners. 21 June 2026. (Uncle Mohebbi)
NCRI’s main member organization is the MEK, which was listed as a terrorist organization by the US, UK and EU before being delisted in 2012. The group is a major thorn in the side of the Tehran regime and has been the target of alleged Iranian plots in the US and Europe, including a failed bomb plot in 2018 against the group’s rally outside Paris.
Despite the ban, protesters gathered at the site on Saturday. Police ordered the crowd to disperse and arrested about 20 people, a police source told AFP.
Ali Safavi, a member of the NCRI’s foreign affairs committee, told Fox News Digital that the French decision was “an inappropriate act of capitulation”, arguing that Paris should have protected the rally by banning it, “rather than intimidating, France The fundamental democratic right of peaceful assembly should have been protected.”
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also criticized the French sanctions, calling it a “tragic mistake” and saying Western capitals should allow Iranian opposition voices to be heard.
Iran went into darkness as the regime used force and cyber tools to crush protests.
Supporters of the National Resistance Council of Iran gather in Paris, June 20, 2026, after French authorities banned an outdoor rally against repression and executions in Iran. According to AFP, police ordered protesters to disperse and arrested about 20 people. (National Resistance Council of Iran)
“If the voices of freedom are to be heard in Iran, we must allow the voices of freedom in the West to be heard in our capitals and around the world,” Johnson said during his speech.
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also addressed the event on Saturday and linked Ukraine’s struggle against Russia to the Iranian opposition’s fight against Tehran. Kuleba said Ukrainians wanted to attend the rally and were “shocked” by the French ban, adding, “The people of Ukraine stand with those who defend democracy, freedom, independence in their land.”
He also pointed to Iran’s support for Russia’s war efforts, saying that while Russian ballistic missiles were targeting Kiev, drones using technology “provided to Russia by the current regime in Iran” were also attacking Ukraine.
Supporters of the National Resistance Council of Iran gather in Paris after French authorities banned a rally against repression and executions in Iran on June 20, 2026. (National Resistance Council of Iran)
Click here to download Fox News App
“Like you, I know all too well what it means to be attacked, killed and destroyed by the regime that currently exercises its grip over the people of Iran,” Kuleba said.
The French government did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
