Some 10,000 protesters in Berlin demand freedom in Iran

Some 10,000 people gathered in central Berlin on Saturday to call for democracy in Iran and show solidarity with protesters there, according to a police count.

The rally, held under the banner “Freedom for Iran,” was organized by the Exiled Iranian Society in Berlin and other groups, with some 340 international organizations and political figures supporting the protest.

Call-outs for the demo were shared on social media, through flyers, and several newspapers ran large advertisements.

Police said the protest was peaceful, with about 380 officers deployed.

Organizers said relatives of people killed or arrested during the recent protests in Iran were among those attending.

Many participants waved Iranian flags. Some held photos of Maryam Rajavi, president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NWRI), which is banned in Iran. Some people wore yellow vests saying “Free Iran.”

Rajavi addressed the crowd in person.

She called for immediate intervention by the UN Security Council to stop the executions of protesters and political prisoners. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei must be tried before an international court for the thousands of demonstrators who have died, she said.

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo joined the event via live video link.

Opposition to return of shah’s familyThe latest protests in Iran were initially triggered by a currency crisis in late December before expanding into broader demonstrations against the hardline political system.

Authorities responded with a violent crackdown. Iranian human rights groups say more than 3,400 people have died, though the exact toll is difficult to verify amid an information blackout.

The Berlin rally also expressed opposition to a possible return of the shah’s family to power.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the monarch overthrown in 1979, has backed the mass protests and is widely seen as the best-known and most influential Iranian opposition figure in exile.