Lion-emblazoned flags of pre-revolution Iran were waved in cities across the world on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets a week after the start of the Middle East war.
Protests were reported across Europe, Africa and the Americas, with some rallies opposing Iran’s Islamic regime, others condemning the war, and some expressing support for Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first strikes launched by the United States and Israel at the start of the conflict.
In Paris, two separate demonstrations took place — one backing US-based opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, to lead a political transition, and another opposing that proposal. “I support Pahlavi who is calling for a revolution,” Masoud Ghanaatian, a 35-year-old student, told Agence France-Presse at a protest in southern Paris, where participants carried pictures of Pahlavi and waved US, Israeli and pre-revolution Iranian flags.
“He’s a democrat. He can oversee a transition and promises to organise elections,” he said. Hundreds of pro-Pahlavi supporters also gathered in Stockholm, displaying photographs of him and his late father. But elsewhere in the Swedish capital, protesters wearing yellow vests reading “Free Iran” held stickers stating “No Shah, no Mullah.”
In Amsterdam, demonstrators marched along one of the city’s canals carrying Israeli, American and pre-revolution Iranian flags while urging the Dutch government to invite Pahlavi and close the Iranian embassy. In Israel, anti-war activists clashed with police during a protest against the conflict at Habima Square in Tel Aviv.
Earlier in the day in United Kingdom, anti-war protesters gathered outside RAF Fairford in southwest England, holding signs reading “Hands off Iran,” “Peace,” and “Yanks go home.”
Global demonstrations
Protests against the war were also reported in Cyprus.
Outside the US consulate in Mexico City, demonstrators carried a placard depicting US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with blood-soaked palms over the word “Assassins,” while kicking piñatas bearing their images.
In the United States, protesters waved Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian flags in downtown Detroit, carrying signs reading “Iran is not our enemy” and “No war on Iran.” In Washington, D.C., demonstrators gathered at the National Mall holding US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some painting the colours of the Iranian flag on their faces.
In Boston, Iranian Americans rallied at Copley Square to call for the fall of the Islamic Republic.
In South Africa — which has taken Israel to the International Court of Justice over allegations of genocide during the Gaza war — dozens gathered outside the US consulate in Johannesburg holding pictures of Khamenei and signs criticising Israel.
Protesters also marched in central Tunis in Tunisia carrying images of Khamenei and condemning the war. Meanwhile, in Cape Town, pro-democracy Iranian activists and supporters of Israel waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans at the V&A Waterfront shopping complex, while counter-protesters held signs denouncing Israel and supporting Palestinians.
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