HAMBURG/DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) – In several German cities, thousands of demonstrators protested against the Islamic regime in Iran and demanded change. The demonstrations in Hamburg and Düsseldorf were among the largest events. Various groups had called for the actions.
Participants often expressed their support for the son of the Shah, who was overthrown in 1979, Reza Pahlavi, who was living in exile in America. He recently presented himself as a leading figure in the opposition.
It is estimated that several thousand people gathered in Hamburg under the motto “No to the Islamic Republic of Iran”. In Düsseldorf, the police counted at least 2,500 participants. There were several solidarity rallies in Cologne, each attended by a few hundred people. Demonstrations also took place in Berlin, Frankfurt and Bielefeld.
A dramatic economic crisis and very high inflation triggered protests in Iran at the end of December demanding the end of the Islamic Republic. The security apparatus reacted with brutal severity. Iranian human rights activists reported at least 3,400 deaths. Numbers can hardly be checked because of the information blackout./brd/DP/zb