Exiled crown prince calls for global day of action to support protests in Iran

Supporters of the Iranian opposition group People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran attend a protest in Munich (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)

Supporters of Iran ‘s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi were looking on Saturday to world leaders gathered in Munich, Germany, to ratchet up pressure for change on the Iranian government.

Reza Pahlavi called for demonstrations in Munich, Los Angeles and Toronto on what he described as a “global day of action”, urging supporters to take to streets to push for “urgent, practical steps in support of the Iranian people.”

Iranian leaders are already under intense scrutiny, facing renewed threats of US military action from President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump wants Iran to further scale back its nuclear programme. He suggested on Friday that regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen”.

Prince Reza Pahlavi speaking in Munich (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Iran was also the focus of protests in Munich on Friday, the opening day of an annual security conference in the city gathering European leaders and global security figures.

Supporters of the Iranian opposition group, People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, demonstrated against Iran’s deadly crackdown on nationwide protests last month.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s deposed shah who abandoned his throne and fled the country in 1979, has been in exile for nearly 50 years but is trying to position himself as a player in Iran’s future.

At a news conference in Munich on Saturday, Pahlavi warned of the likelihood of more deaths in Iran if “democracies stand by and watch”.

“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 Iranian government’s continued survival “sends a clear signal to every bully: kill enough people and you stay in power”.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says at least 7,005 people have been killed in the protest, 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 in Iran to verify deaths.

Iran’s government offered its only death toll on January 21, saying 3,117 people were killed.

Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.

The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran.