Crown prince urges world to stand with people of Iran as 250,000 rally in Munich

MUNICH: About 250,000 people demonstrated on Saturday against Iran’s government on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders in Germany, police said, answering a call from Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi for cranked-up international pressure on Tehran.

Banging drums and chanting for regime change, the giant and boisterous rally in Munich was part of what Pahlavi described as a “global day of action” to support Iranians in the wake of deadly nationwide protests. He also called for demonstrations in Los Angeles and Toronto. Police said in a post on X that the number of protesters reached some 250,000, more than the organisers had expected.

“Change, change, regime change”, the huge crowd chanted, waving green-white-and-red flags with lion and sun emblems. Iran used that flag before its 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Pahlavi dynasty.

At a news conference, Pahlavi warned of more deaths in Iran if “democracies stand by and watch” following Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters last month.

“We gather at an hour of profound peril to ask: Will the world stand with the people of Iran?” he asked. He added that the survival of Iran’s government “sends a clear signal to every bully: kill enough people and you stay in power.”

An estimated 350,000 people marched on the streets of Toronto as part of the Global Day of Action Rally, Toronto Police spokesperson Laura Brabant said.

At the Munich rally, demonstrators sported “Make Iran Great Again” red caps, mimicking the MAGA caps worn by US President Donald Trump’s supporters. Among those sporting the caps was US Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who gave a speech to the crowd during which he was photographed holding up the headwear.

Many at the rally waved placards showing Pahlavi, some of which called him a king. The son of Iran’s deposed shah has been in exile for nearly 50 years but is trying to position himself as a player in Iran’s future.

The crowd chanted “Pahlavi for Iran,” and “democracy for Iran” as drums and cymbals sounded.

“We have huge hopes and are looking forward to the regime changing hopefully,” said Daniyal Mohtashamian, a demonstrator who travelled from Zurich, in Switzerland, to speak for protesters inside Iran who faced repression. agencies