MUNICH, Germany — Some 200,000 people demonstrated 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 increased international pressure on Tehran.
Banging drums and chanting for regime change, the giant and boisterous rally near the site of the Munich Security Conference 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.
The police estimate of 200,000 protesters in Munich was reported by German news agency DPA and was higher than organizers 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, the son of Iran’s last shah, warned of more deaths in Iran if “democracies stand by and watch” following Tehran’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.”
At the Munich rally, demonstrators sported “Make Iran Great Again” red caps, mimicking the MAGA caps worn by President Trump’s supporters. Many waved placards showing Pahlavi, some that called him a king. The son of Iran’s late 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 that the regime is going to change hopefully,” said Daniyal Mohtashamian, a demonstrator who traveled from Zurich to speak for protesters inside Iran who faced repression.
“There is an internet blackout and their voices are not going outside of Iran,” he said.
About 500 protesters also rallied outside the presidential palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, with many holding up banners with slogans against Iran’s government and in favor of Pahlavi.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says at least 7,005 people were killed in last month’s protests, including 214 government forces. It has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of violence and unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists inside Iran to verify deaths.
Iran’s government offered its only death toll on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.
The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, as authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran.
Iranian leaders are facing renewed pressure from Trump, who has threatened U.S. military action. Trump wants Iran to further scale back its nuclear program. He said Friday that regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.”
Iran was also the focus of protests in Munich on Friday, the opening day of Munich’s annual security conference in the city gathering European leaders and global security figures. Supporters of the Iranian opposition group People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, demonstrated.
Hodina writes for the Associated Press. AP journalists John Leicester in Paris and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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