The following is a compilation of live reports from Fox News Digital covering the “Free Iran” rally and march in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2026. Thousands of demonstrators gathered near the U.S. Capitol to protest the Iranian regime, calling for an end to political executions, support for the Iranian opposition, and regime change in Tehran. Speakers included retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former Ambassador Carla Sands, and former Rep. Patrick Kennedy. These reports are presented as originally published, with only minor corrections for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Anti-Iran regime protesters march through DC as rally against Tehran gets underway
May 16, 2026
Demonstrators wave Iranian opposition flags during a “Free Iran” rally and march in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Protesters called for regime change in Tehran and an end to political executions. (Credit: Goodman & Co., Inc.)
Iranian opposition supporters flooded the streets near Capitol Hill on Saturday as a “Free Iran” march got underway in Washington, D.C., with demonstrators waving green, white and red Iranian flags and calling for regime change in Tehran.
Large crowds marched behind a massive yellow banner reading, “IRAN: Support Maryam Rajavi’s Provisional Government for a Democratic Republic Toward Peace and Freedom,” as supporters moved through downtown streets near the U.S. Capitol and World War I Memorial.
Many demonstrators wore yellow hats and shirts while carrying flags associated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran and other Iranian opposition groups. Signs in the crowd read “Stop Executions in Iran” and “No Shah No Mullahs,” reflecting opposition both to Iran’s current Islamic regime and to a return of the monarchy.
The march came as Iranian American activists and opposition supporters gathered in the nation’s capital to urge U.S. policymakers and world leaders to condemn political executions and crackdowns inside Iran.
Posted by Jasmine Baehr
Iranian regime is ‘desperate’ and must be put ‘to rest,’ retired US general says
Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander, addressed a crowd on Saturday, May 16, at the Free Iran Rally in Washington, D.C. (OIAC Organization of Iranian American Communities)
Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander, told the crowd gathered Saturday for the Free Iran Rally in Washington, D.C., that the Iranian regime is “crumbling under fear, and you and the MEK must put it to rest.”
“Iran is a great nation, it’s a great people, a historic civilization held captive by a small band of zealots, who are ruthless, cruel, and determined to loot the oil wealth of Iran for their own purposes,” Clark said.
“The freedoms we take for granted in the United States, they are not there in Iran,” he added. “Instead, they are suffering under a regime that believes in mass incarceration, shooting people in the streets, arrests, torture, hanging, killing some of the best young people in the country.”
“It is a desperate regime, it is a regime that is crumbling under fear, and you and the MEK must put it to rest,” Clark said, referencing the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian exile organization.
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond
Iranian American student says youth are ‘tearing apart the walls of tyranny’ imposed by regime
Keemia Aria, an Iranian American and biology student at the University of Houston, and members of the Coalition for Young Iranians, speaks at a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., today against the Iranian Regime. (Goodman & Co., Inc.)
Keemia Aria, an Iranian American and biology student at the University of Houston, told supporters at the Free Iran Rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that Iranian youth are “tearing apart the walls of tyranny” imposed by the regime.
“I am here because I am standing in solidarity with the courageous youth of Iran, especially the young women and girls who rose up during the January 2026 protests when Iranian authorities carried out brutal massacres against protesters,” Aria said. “I find myself here in the U.S. with the privilege to speak about their stories as they right now face the violence of the IRGC.”
“They stand with courage, raise their voices and fight with the hope of a different future. The Iranian youth are at the forefront, tearing apart the walls of tyranny. And at the heart of this movement are women,” she continued.
“For decades, women in the Iranian resistance have refused to accept the culture of submission imposed first by the Shah’s dictatorship and later by the ruling mullahs. Under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi, thousands of young Iranian women have been encouraged to believe in themselves as leaders of change. They’ve challenged misogyny, they’ve challenged dictatorship, and they have demonstrated the pivotal role women play standing at the front lines in the struggle for freedom,” Aria added.
Rajavi is the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran organization, one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally and march.
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond
Iranian regime is ‘back on its heels’ as resistance is rising, former US ambassador says
American businesswoman and former Ambassador Carla Sands speaks at a Free Iran Rally taking place on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. During the first Trump administration, Sands was U.S. ambassador to Denmark. (Goodman & Co., Inc.)
Carla Sands, a former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, told a crowd of supporters gathered for the Free Iran Rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that the “regime is back on its heels.”
“Freedom has never been granted willingly by tyrants. It is always required the sacrifice from men and women prepared to stand against oppression, regardless of the cost,” she said.
“And that spirit lives today in Iran, and nowhere is it more organized, more disciplined, or more persistent than within the National Council of Resistance of Iran, led by the NCRI and the MEK,” she continued, naming the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian exile organization.
“The existence of a democratic alternative destroys the false narrative that the world only has two choices: the mullahs or chaos. The Iranian resistance has shattered this lie,” Sands said. “And let’s be honest, what exists here is historically unique. Where else do we see a resistance movement with a clear democratic platform, a structured coalition, a commitment to free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, minority rights and a non-nuclear Iran?”
“Where else do we see women leading at every level of the movement? And where else do we see an organized network inside the country capable of mobilizing resistance under conditions of brutal repression?” she continued. “And this movement didn’t appear overnight. It survived massacres. It survived execution. It has survived terrorism. It survived demonization campaigns spanning decades. And today it stands stronger, more experienced and more credible than ever before.”
Sands also said the future of Iran “must belong to the Iranian people.”
“The United States must treat the Iranian resistance as an irreplaceable ally and recognize the right of the Iranian people to resist tyranny. America and the Western world should recognize the legitimacy of the resistance units confronting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the machinery of repression,” she declared.
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond
Former Rep. Kennedy says there is ‘democratic alternative’ to ‘religious fascism ruling Iran’
Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy addresses the crowd at a Free Iran Rally taking place today in Washington, D.C. (Goodman & Co., Inc.)
Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., told a crowd gathered Saturday in Washington for a march against the Iranian regime that the “cause of freedom is alive, is organized and is advancing.”
“Good to see so many people out here in our nation’s capital, which is a symbol of democracy all around the world. And how appropriate it is that we’re here celebrating democracy in the longest democracy in the world and about to celebrate the future of democracy in a liberated Tehran,” Kennedy said.
“So it’s an immense privilege for me to stand with you today for the Free Iran march here in Washington. It’s a declaration that you have not surrendered, and that tyranny has not prevailed, and that the cause of freedom is alive, is organized and is advancing,” he continued.
“We are obviously in a moment of history shaped by people who refuse to bow,” Kennedy added. “And by a movement that refuses to abandon its ideals. Your message today is unmistakable. There is a democratic alternative to the religious fascism ruling Iran.”
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond
Crowds call for ‘regime change in Iran’ ahead of march in Washington
Demonstrators gather in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 16, for a march and rally against the Iranian regime. The rally honored individuals they say have been executed by the Iranian regime as political prisoners. (Goodman & Co., Inc.)
A crowd is gathering in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for a march against the Iranian regime, chanting, “We want justice, we want peace, free Iran, we insist!”
“Regime change in Iran by the people of Iran!” and “Stop executions in Iran, now, now, now!” the crowd also was heard chanting ahead of a planned march in the nation’s capital.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran said it is expecting thousands of supporters to gather for the rally and march.
“The event, organized under the banner of stopping the regime’s surge in executions and supporting the Iranian people’s resistance, is expected to draw thousands of people demanding international action against the terrorist regime ruling Iran,” it said.
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond
Thousands expected to rally, march in Washington in protest of Iranian regime
A demonstrator makes the victory gesture as Iranians and supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran take part in a rally calling for the European Union’s action against political executions in Iran, ahead of European Union leaders’ summit, in Brussels, Belgium, April 22, 2026. (Omar Havana/Reuters)
The National Council of Resistance of Iran is expecting thousands of supporters to gather in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for a rally in opposition to the regime in Tehran.
“The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) office in the United States and diaspora activists are preparing for a high-profile demonstration in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 16, 2026, directly in Upper Senate Park, next to the U.S. Capitol,” the organization wrote on its website.
“The event, organized under the banner of stopping the regime’s surge in executions and supporting the Iranian people’s resistance, is expected to draw thousands of people demanding international action against the terrorist regime ruling Iran,” it added.
Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander; Carla Sands, a former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark; and former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., are expected to speak at the demonstration.
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond