Last night, simultaneous with the 12th day of hunger strike by 36 Ashraf residents taken hostage by the Iraqi forces and on the 10th day of a hunger strike by the courageous residents of Ashraf City, which takes place in the scorching heat of Iraq, Iranian exiles in nearly 100 locations in four continents around the world staged sit-ins, protests, poem recitals and prayer ceremonies, and held candle vigils to express solidarity with Camp Ashraf. They also honored the memory of the devoted Ashraf martyrs, expressed solidarity with the residents who struggle in Ashraf, and rekindled their promises to them.

Several of the cities which were home to the ceremonies were (in the United States) Washington, Los Angeles, Orange County, Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, Denver, Sacramento, Fresno, San Jose, Berkley, Seattle, Mexico City, and New York, (in Britain) London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Oxford, Cambridge, Sheffield, Middleborough, (in Ireland) Belfast and Dublin, (in Italy) Rome, Bologna, Ancona, Florence, Torino, Urbino, (in Germany) Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Manheim, Munich, Stuttgart, Gottingen, Hanover, Cologne, Munster, Dusseldorf, (in Belgium) Brussels, (in Denmark) Copenhagen, Kruså and Arhus, (in Sweden) Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo, Linköping and Borås, (in Switzerland) Geneva, (in The Netherlands) The Hague, Amsterdam and Zwolle, (in Australia) Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, (in France) Paris, (in Canada) Vancouver and Ottawa, and also Luxembourg (capital of Luxembourg).

It should be noted that in many of these cities protest actions were held in multiple locations around town and in various churches.

In Paris, renowned Iranian singer Marzieh attended a church ceremony to pray and hold a candle vigil for the courageous residents of Ashraf.

Many citizens and political, religious and social figures of host countries also joined Iranians in yesterday’s ceremonies to voice solidarity with Camp Ashraf residents. In London, the bell at Grosvenor Chapel near the American embassy in Britain toll 36 times to keep in mind the same number of residents of Ashraf taken hostage by Iraqi forces. Attendees at the church gathering prayed for the release of the hostages from the hands of Iranian regime agents in Iraq.