250,000 protesters rally in Germany to demand ‘game over’ for Iran’s leaders

MUNICH, Germany - Cheered by a massive crowd under a sea of flags, the son of Iran’s toppled monarch told a mass rally on Feb 14 in Munich that he wants to lead the country into a democratic future.

Police said some 250,000 pro-monarchist opponents of the Islamic Republic’s leadership travelled from across Europe to take part in the demonstration, which was held while world leaders met nearby at the Munich Security Conference.

Anger has grown at Tehran’s leaders after a bloody crackdown on protesters in January, while US President Donald Trump has been massing warships in the Middle East and declared on Feb 13 that a change of government in Iran would be the “best thing that could happen”.

Protester Ali Farzad told AFP: “We are here today to support the people in Iran that were murdered by the mullah regime.”

“And we are here to support Reza Pahlavi as our leader through the transition for a period,” added the 40-year-old.

Braving a cold drizzle, the protesters cheered loudly when Mr Pahlavi took the stage and told the crowd: “I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future.

“I am committed to be the leader of transition for you so we can one day have the final opportunity to decide the fate of our country through a democratic, transparent process to the ballot box.”

Many waved flags with a lion and a sun against horizontal green, white and red stripes, the emblem of the monarchy overthrown in 1979.

Speakers chanted slogans, including “Javid shah” (long live the Shah), “Pahlavi bar migarde” (Pahlavi is coming back) and “Reza II”, in a call for Mr Pahlavi to become the successor to the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, his grandfather Reza Shah.

“The Iranian regime is a dead regime,” said a 62-year-old protester originally from Iran who gave his name only as Said. “It must be game over.”

‘Iranians will have their freedom’

US Senator Lindsey Graham also addressed the rally, pumping his fist in the air as he told the protesters: “The Iranian people are going to have their freedom.”

The Republican senator added: “It is a matter of time, help is on the way – make Iran great again.”

Rallies calling for international action against Tehran were also planned in Toronto and Los Angeles on Feb 14.

Mr Pahlavi earlier spoke at the Munich Security Conference and called on Mr Trump to “help” the Iranian people.

Mr Pahlavi, who has lived in exile since his father was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, urged an outside “humanitarian intervention to prevent more innocent lives” being lost in Iran.

Several demonstrators who spoke to AFP denounced US-led international negotiations with Iran, saying that Iran’s leaders do not have legitimacy.

“They shouldn’t talk to them because they are not actually a government. We don’t like them, we don’t accept them,” said Ms Riana, a 40-year-old doctor in Germany who declined to give her last name out of concern for her family’s safety.

“When a government kills their people on the street, they are not (trustworthy),” she said, adding that the world should know that “too many people have been killed and too many people have been injured”.

Mr Farzad added: “The people that you are negotiating with are not representative of the Iranian people.”

The rally was held at the Theresienwiese, which hosts the huge annual Oktoberfest folk gathering, located less than 3km from the security conference venue.

Last week, an estimated 10,000 people rallied in Berlin in response to a call from the MEK, an exiled Iranian opposition group considered a “terrorist” group by Tehran. AFP