Iranian Rally In Berlin Brings Out A Crowd Of 80,000
Tens of thousands of Iranians again took to the streets in the German capital Berlin to support their fellow-countrymen struggling against government brutality.
Tens of thousands of Iranians again took to the streets in the German capital Berlin to support their fellow-countrymen struggling against government brutality.
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.
Rioters take part in the protests because they are well-fed," added Assembly of Experts member Mohsen Haydari, another Iranian cleric who enjoys a luxurious life without having worked for even one day in his lifetime, while the middle class has been wiped out due to 40-percent inflation in the past three years.
These are just two examples of what Iranian pro-government clerics who are paid by the Islamic Republic regime to echo Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's arrogant rhetoric against his own people, many of whom no longer want to submit to his dictatorship
But they are not alone in bragging against the protests. Some military figures also spoke about the uprising on Friday. Brigadier General Hamid Abazari, an adviser to the commander of the IRGC opined that young women and men taking part in the protests have been deceived by "the enemy," which means the United States in the Islamic Republic's political jargon.
All this, and more, have been said while, an Iranian sociologist, Mohammad Reza Javadi Yeganeh, has warned that the window of opportunity for the regime to open a dialogue with the country's angry youths is not going to remain open for long as the regime increasingly isolates itself within its hard core.
In the meantime, others such as the Tehran Province Governor Mohsen Mansouri have tried to help the regime out of its biggest crisis in 43 years by offering to allocate certain places in big cities where people can protest. Mansouri has made the remark in the disguise of a lawful and democratic proposal. However, Iranian protesters believe this is a trick to make sure that the security forces are aware of all the demonstrations beforehand and can practice various ways to crackdown based on the specifications of every location.
The current protests take place at different locations during daytime and night and gatherings are fairly mobile in a bid to evade dangerous confrontation with security forces who are willing with no reservation to shoot to kill.
In his interview with ISNA, Mansouri said that his office has considered the requests for holding protest gatherings and has responded to those requests. However, it is clear that no such permit has been issued so far even for pro-government "reformist" parties that have recently complained that the Governor's Office and the Interior Ministry have ignored all of their requests.
At the same time, some political figures appear to be fishing in troubled waters by trying to garner support for the next parliamentary election. Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a lawmaker from Arak in the Central Province, told the press that taking part in the protests is a lawful activity, adding that protesters come to his office and talk with him about the situation. He is probably referring to another country as most lawmakers, including Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are known for their opposition to the protests and their comments about cracking down on dissent.
Asafari, however, has acknowledged that people have grievances about the government's economic and foreign policies. This comes while Sociologist Yeganeh, who agrees with the lawmaker on the causes of the protests, wrote in a series of tweets on Thursday that the regime should "recognize the protests and stop behavior that irritates the people," or a gloomy future is s possibility.