More than 1 million people rallied in cities across Europe, North America and Australia on Saturday in a sweeping show of solidarity with the people of Iran, after exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi called for mass demonstrations.
The largest gatherings were held in Munich, Toronto and Los Angeles, where in each hundreds of thousands turned out. The three cities had been singled out by Pahlavi in remarks ahead of the solidarity rallies, and together accounted for about 1 million demonstrators in total, according to organizers' estimates.
In Munich, where the annual Munich Security Conference is also taking place, local police estimated that about 250,000 people filled the Theresienwiese grounds. Demonstrators waved the pre-revolutionary Iranian lion and sun flags and chanted slogans backing what they described as a national uprising in Iran.
Addressing the crowd in Munich, Pahlavi called the current moment "our final battle," urging supporters to intensify pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Large-scale rallies were also reported in Toronto and Los Angeles, each drawing about 350,000 participants, according to police in the two cities.
In Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian diaspora community, speakers and cultural figures joined the event, portraying the mass turnout as a message to Western governments to step up pressure on Tehran.
