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. “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 favour of Pahlavi.

 

The US-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 unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists inside Iran to verify deaths. US, Iran to hold new round of nuclear talks: Iran and the United States will hold a second round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme next week, the Swiss Foreign Ministry has said. Oman, which welcomed the first round of indirect talks on February 6, will host the talks in Geneva, the Swiss ministry said on Saturday, without specifying which days. After the first discussions, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran that failure to reach an agreement with his administration would be “very traumatic”. Similar talks last year broke down in June as Israel launched what became a 12-day war on Iran that included the US bombing Iranian nuclear sites. Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to agree to constrain its nuclear programme. Iran has said it would respond with an attack of its own. Trump also has threatened Iran over its deadly crackdown on recent nationwide protests there. Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional conflict.

 

Trump said Friday the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to the Mideast to join other military assets the US has built up in the region. He also said a change in power in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen”. The indirect talks on February 6 were between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The top military commander in the Middle East was also present for the first time.