Iran Unrest: European cities are witnessing huge rallies and marches, demanding regime change in Iran amid Trump’s statement that a power shift in the Middle Eastern country is ‘the best thing that could happen’. After a call by exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi for stronger international pressure on Tehran, around 250,000 people gathered in Munich to register their objection against the Iranian government.
Protests were organised to mark what Pahlavi described as a ‘global day of action’ in support of the Iranian people who were killed after the violent government crackdown on nationwide protests. After the call for protests against the Iranian government, around 250,000 gathered in Munich, Police said in an X post. The exiled crown prince had also called for protests in Los Angeles and Toronto.
Protestors Showed Pre-Islamic Revolution Iranian Flag
Protestors in Munich, who were demanding regime change in Iran, waved the Iranian flag with the sun and lion emblem, the national flag used before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty.
“We gather at an hour of profound peril to ask: Will the world stand with the people of Iran?” Pahlavi said at a news conference.
Anti-Iran rallies Held In Toronto And Nicosia
As per Toronto Police spokesperson Laura Brabant, an estimated 350,000 people marched as part of the Global Day of Action Rally in Toronto. However protest in Nicosia was relatively very small, with 500 people protesting outside the presidential palace in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Why Iran-Regime Change Matters For US
The tensions between the United States and Iran have surged to a peak after President Donald Trump called for regime change in the Middle Eastern country and said that it would ‘best thing that could happen’. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini toppled pro-Western Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran has remained the biggest challenge or adversary for the US in the region.
Both countries have several times reached the edge of war since then over a multitude of issues, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Iran’s backing of proxies in the region, and US political interference.
A pro-US government in Iran would help America to re-establish its strategic monopoly in the region, with no threat to Israel, a country which experts consider as the US’s presence in the Middle East.