Iranians rally in France against Tehran government

VILLEPINTE, France, June 30 (Reuters) Thousands rallied in support of an Iranian exile group today, calling for support against the Tehran government and the removal of the group's guerrilla wing from a list of terrorist organisations.

Maryam Rajavi, leader of the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, told supporters at a meeting near Paris that protests in Iran this week over gasoline rationing meant the Tehran government was teetering.

''These events mark the beginning of the final phase of the regime's fall. There should be no appeasement, only democratic change,'' she said.

Local police declined to give an estimate of the size of the crowd, but organisers said tens of thousands were present.

France has a large Iranian community and housed the late Ayatollah Khomeini during the latter's exile from Iran.

Rajavi says her group is a legitimate opposition organisation and should be seen as such by the EU and France, who have banned it from fundraising and consider a guerrilla group it is linked to, the People's Mujahideen, as terrorists.

''We will use all legal means at our disposal to reverse the (EU) Council of Ministers' decision and remove the group from the list,'' she said.

The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran over the country's uranium enrichment programme. Tehran says the programme does not have a military purpose while the United States says it is designed to produce a nuclear bomb.

Reuters KK VP0210