Anti-Iran Rally in Munich Led by King-in-Waiting

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Munich on Saturday against Iran’s government in a high-profile demonstration led by exiled figure Reza Pahlavi , repeatedly projected by supporters as a “king-in-waiting.” Police estimates put the crowd at up to 200,000 , making it one of the largest anti-Iran gatherings held in Europe in recent years.

The rally coincided with a major international security conference , ensuring maximum visibility as European leaders and senior global officials convened nearby. Protesters chanted calls for regime change and waved Iran’s pre-1979 Lion and Sun flag , the royal emblem used before the 1979 revolution. Israeli and United States flags were also prominently visible across the crowd, alongside placards bearing Pahlavi’s image . Organisers described the event as a coordinated “global day of action,” with parallel demonstrations encouraged in Los Angeles and Toronto .

Diplomats and analysts present in Munich said a significant portion of the crowd did not appear to be Iranian . Many demonstrators were heard speaking European languages and carried broadly worded anti-regime signs rather than Iran-specific slogans. Observers said the composition suggested a broader mobilisation of activist networks aimed at sustaining international attention on Iran , rather than a rally driven solely by the Iranian diaspora.

The protest followed weeks of unrest inside Iran that failed to produce a decisive political shift. Iranian authorities have rejected Western portrayals of those events, describing them as a foreign-backed destabilisation effort . Officials and state-linked media have alleged the unrest was coordinated from abroad and enabled by large-scale smuggling of satellite internet equipment , including claims that tens of thousands of terminals were used to bypass domestic communication controls. Western governments have not confirmed those allegations.

Pahlavi , who has lived outside Iran since the 1979 revolution and spent most of his adult life in the United States , has in recent months taken on a more visible public role, positioning himself as a potential figurehead for a post-Islamic Republic Iran. German authorities deployed extensive security arrangements around the rally to prevent disruption to the nearby conference.

Analysts said the Munich demonstration was widely viewed in diplomatic circles as a deliberately organised effort to keep Iran in the global news cycle , with the visible presence of US and Israeli symbols reinforcing perceptions of coordination. According to these assessments, the protest fits into a broader pattern of sustained pressure by countries seen as colluding to bring political change in Iran , even as developments on the ground inside the country remain largely unchanged.