Big Iranian Rally In Berlin Rattles Regime In Tehran
The huge rally of diaspora Iranians in the German capital Berlin Saturday has angered the government in Tehran which tried to belittle the opposition gathering.
The huge rally of diaspora Iranians in the German capital Berlin Saturday has angered the government in Tehran which tried to belittle the opposition gathering.
In an article on Sunday, Iran Daily, a government mouthpiece, dismissed the 100,000 number of protesters cited by independent media, claiming that the crowd was so small it could not even fill the main venue in Berlin.
This comes as videos of the gathering showed a countless number of people not only around the main square but also in the adjoining streets.
German police said over 80,000 took part in the anti-regime protest and many international TV channels called it the largest demonstration of Iranians in history.
The author of Iran daily’s piece also claimed that “terrorists and [non-Iranian] Europeans” had received money to participate in this gathering, without presenting any evidence.
According to the report, “the extensive planning and large expenses for setting up an anti-Iranian demonstration in Berlin turned into a complete failure.”
Some activists commented that since all pro-government rallies in Iran are organized by substantial expenditures to bus people in and give them food that Tehran officials assume a protest in the West also needs a lot of money.
Meanwhile, Nour News, which is close to the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said if the claims by the Persian-speaking media based abroad are true, “they barely could comprise two to four percent of the Iranians living in Europe.”
Referring to it as a “fiasco”, it argued that “most of the rally participants were homosexuals, MEK members, separatists, monarchists and anarchists.”
“It is better for the West to focus on its own political, economic and security problems rather than creating sedition in other countries, so that their people do not suffer from inflation, food scarcity and gas shortage,” added Nour News.
This comes as experts have predicted a 50 percent inflation for Iran in 2023 and tens of millions have fallen into poverty.
While it is estimated that a family of three needs $600 a month to survive, the minimum wage stands at around $200 according to Labor representatives.
Based on a recent report by Salam-e- No website about 66 million of Iran’s 84-million population are living under the poverty line.
Terrified by the big turnout in Berlin, Javan daily, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, warned Germany of consequences for allowing people to hold a massive demonstration in Berlin against the Islamic Republic.
Afkarnews, another website that tried to devalue the Berlin demonstration said that “the organizers used people of different nationalities and homeless people who even did not know where Iran is geographically located.”
Such claims come at a time when the Islamic Republic is well known for forced confessions and using mercenaries to crack down on antigovernment protests.
Anonymous activists calling themselves Tehran Youth have been calling for twice weekly demonstrations on Saturdays and Wednesdays, with mostly young people responding to the call.
The first gatherings were reported in Tehran’s universities, hotbed of youth protests in the country, in a movement largely led by the Z Generation.
But this Saturday there is a parallel large rally of Iranian in Europe taking place in Berlin, with people from distant part of the continent traveling to the German capital in what is expected to be a 50,000-strong protest.
Top Iranian political, military and religious figures have toughened their rhetoric against protesters in the past two days, with Friday Prayer Imams asking the government to show no mercy to “rioters”. This shows the shock felt by an authoritarian elite entrenched in power for 43 years that is adept in using full violence against wave of protests since 2009. A whole elite of a few thousand families representing clerics, military and political officials control 80 percent of Iran’s economy, imposing religious restrictions and presiding over deepening poverty for tens of millions of others.
After weeks of street protests, industrial and teachers’ strikes have begun, which herald more bad news for a governing system that has left no recourse for the populace to express its dissatisfaction.
For more than 10 days, strikes have been spreading in the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors in southern Iran, with signs that natural gas production providing 70 percent of domestic energy needs might have declined. Teachers have also called for a two-day strike on Saturday and Sunday.
Our live coverage below presented news and videos as we received them from Iran and also Berlin.
Our coverage last 8 hours and ended at 00:40 local time on Sunday.
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Someone shouting from an apartment complex at security forces below, "Bastards, this is the end."
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Protests in Tehran's working class district, Nazi Abad. The voice says "Tehran is ours. Who said it belongs to them."
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Security forces firing at protesters in the southwestern city of Dezful.
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A police kiosk set on fire in Orumiyeh (Urmia), northwest Iran with a Molotov cocktail.
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Special unit police forces dispersing people in Esfahan, not allowing any person to stop in the street.
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Residents of Tehran's Ekbatan district protest, chanting, "Women, Life, Liberty".
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Women protesting in Tehran by removing their headscarves and waving it to security forces.
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Protest early evening in Mazanderan province, northern Iran where people burned a police banner and set fire to a morality police kiosk.
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A teachers' union in Iran has published the names of 30 children killed during protests that started on September 16. Eleven children shot by security forces were from Zahedan, southeastern Iran, seven from Kurdish regions and three were Afghans living in Iran. The United Nations and human rights organizations had urged Tehran to stop assaults on children. Security forces have been raiding schools and beating and arresting students who showed any sign of dissent.
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Parts of Tehran turned into scenes resembling a war zone Saturday night. Tear gas blanket a street as security forces tried to disperse protesters.
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Another video from Dezful in southwestern Iran Saturday evening shows protesters marching and then gunshots ring out.
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Late evening and night time is the popular time for protests in Iran because darkness helps the protesters. This video is from Tehran Pars district east of the capital.
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Protest in the central city of Arak, where gunshots are heard and people start running.
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Protests in Mashhad earlier on Saturday. Due to internet disruption by the government, people are unable to easily access social media.
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Text reports say protests were underway late afternoon in the western city of Saqqez, with access to Internet blocked by the government and people not able to upload videos. Saqqez is the birthplace of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was killed at the hands of the 'hijab police in mid-September. Her death triggered the current protests.
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Protesters set up barricades on the roads in Mehabad, a mainly Kurdish town.
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Gunshots are heard in Dezful, in the oil-rich Khuzestan province.
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A new wave of protests as darkness fell in Iran on Saturday. The video below shows Shariati street in Tehran.
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First video of a protest after evening darkness in Tehran on Saturday.
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A woman climbed a pole at a busy intersection in Tehran removing her headscarf and chanting against Iran's ruler Ali Khamenei.
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A noisy protest in Tehran's downtown Lalehzar Avenue, with demonstrators chanting "death to the dictator".
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Retail businesses on strike near Karaj, 20 miles west of Tehran on Saturday.
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The full picture of a huge crowd of Iranians gathered for a rally in Berlin, Germany on Saturday afternoon can be seen in this video at around 15:00 local time.
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Reports from Tabriz, capital of West Azerbaijan province say fierce protests are taking place on Saturday afternoon, with "a war like" atmosphere. No details available yet about clashes with security forces, at 17:30 local time.
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In one part of Tehran protesters chant "Death to the dictator" early Saturday afternoon.
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The video below shows police attacking a protester in Mashhad, as plainclothesmen join the assault, while other protesters try to help their comrade.
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According to preliminary reports, tens of thousands of Iranians have gathered in Berlin, Germany, Saturday afternoon for a large protest demanding an end to authoritarian rule and respect for human rights in Iran. The photo below is from Reuters.
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This interesting video from the western city of Sanandaj shows the heavy presence of special forces, some carrying AK-47 assault rifles instead of the usual shotguns carried and used during protests. The video was taken Saturday morning apparently before any protests. Sanandak, a largely Kurdish city has been a hotbed of protests for more than a month.
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Student protest in Razi University of Kermanshah, western Iran.
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Students at Tehran's Technical University march and chant on campus Saturday morning.
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Students at the faculty of Art and Architecture in the University of Yazd chanting "Freedom, freedom" Saturday morning.
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Student protests Saturday morning in the University of Tehran.
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Student gathered on the campus of the University of Tabriz to protest. Just two ago there were large demonstrations in the northwestern city.
Another large protest by students of Tabriz Medical University Saturday morning.
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Protests around midday in Mashhad a religious center and second largest city in Iran.
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The massive Freedom Rally for Iran started in Berlin, Germany, in what is being described as the biggest gathering of Iranian protesters across the world. People from all corners of the continent traveled to Berlin with buses, trains and planes.
The police said on Wednesday they had registered 80,000 participants for the demonstration near the main government buildings in the center of the city, and a German TV channel called the numbers “surprising”.
Police say the demonstration was organized by “Woman Life Freedom Kollektiv”, with the stated goal of standing up against oppression and discrimination in Iran.
The famous Iranian-Canadian activist Hamed Esmaeilion, who lost his daughter and wife in the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January 2020 by the Revolutionary Guard, has also supported the demonstration.
Protesters carried the pictures of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was killed in the custody of Iran’s ‘morality police’, as well as those who lost their lives in the nationwide protest movement since mid-September. They also unfurled a large Iranian pre-revolution national flag, which has become a symbol of rejecting the Islamic Republic.
They were also Ukrainian flags in the demonstration, apparently as a sign of mutual support. Reports said some Ukrainians also took part.
The families of the victims of the Ukrainian plane held each other’s hands as a sign of unity calling for justice.
Protesters emphasized unity among Iranians both inside the country and in the diaspora while chanting the slogan “Today Only Unity, Unity!”
Demonstrators also chanted slogans like “Clerics Must Get Lost!”, “Death to Khamenei”, and “Death to the Islamic Republic!”.
Up to 100,000 postal cards are expected to be signed by those attending the Berlin rally and sent to the office of European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urging the EU to reconsider its ties with Islamic Republic.
Addressing the rally Berlin, Esmaeilion said, “We have a dream which will be realized with the fall of Khamenei's empire of fear and crime. In this dream, wind will blow through women's hair, and no one will attack schoolgirls.”
He also urged Western governments “to stop negotiating with a criminal government called the Islamic Republic and expel their ambassadors.”
“Confiscate the wealth they looted from the people of Iran,” he asked the West.
Addressing the Western countries, the Iranian activist went on to say, “No one is asking you to go to war or sanction people. Stop negotiations with the regime and sanction and expel those lobbying for the Islamic Republic.”
Calling on the West to recognize the revolution staged by Iranian youth, he said the Islamic Republic is not the same as Iran.
“Respect the most progressive revolution in the Middle East and stand on the right side of history,” noted Esmaeilion.
