Report: New Anti-Government Chants in Tehran After Giant Rallies Abroad 

Protesters attend a demonstration organized by The Munich Circle, against the Iranian government under the motto "Freedom for Iran", during the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Protesters attend a demonstration organized by The Munich Circle, against the Iranian government under the motto "Freedom for Iran", during the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Report: New Anti-Government Chants in Tehran After Giant Rallies Abroad 

Protesters attend a demonstration organized by The Munich Circle, against the Iranian government under the motto "Freedom for Iran", during the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Protesters attend a demonstration organized by The Munich Circle, against the Iranian government under the motto "Freedom for Iran", during the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Some residents of Tehran on Sunday chanted slogans against the clerical leadership from balconies and windows, reports said, a day after Iranians abroad staged giant opposition rallies in Europe and North America.

The country under supreme leader Ali Khamenei was shaken by a protest movement that peaked in January and which according to rights groups was repressed by security forces in a crackdown that left thousands dead.

While the street protests have petered out in the face of the crackdown, last week residents of Tehran and other cities began shouting slogans against the leadership from the relative safety of their own homes inside vast apartment blocks.

In a new night of chants, residents of the eastern Tehran district of Ekbatan on Sunday shouted "death to Khamenei", "death to the Islamic republic" and "long live the shah", according to the Shahrak Ekbatan social media account which monitors the area.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the revolution, had urged people inside the country to stage such actions in parallel with protests abroad over the weekend.

Police in the southern German city of Munich said 250,000 people attended a rally there Saturday which in an unusual move was personally addressed by Pahlavi.

Other major pro-monarchy rallies were held in diaspora strongholds including Los Angeles and Toronto.

Pahlavi's office said on X that over a million people had attended such rallies worldwide, but it was not immediately possible to confirm the figure.

Speaking in Munich, Pahlavi hailed the rally as the biggest such in years and said he was ready to lead a transition in Iran.

Monarchist supporters were also gladdened by an extremely rare public appearance at the rally by his sole surviving full sibling, his sister the former princess Farahnaz.

Persian-language TV channel Iran International, which is based outside Iran, reported similar actions taking place in other parts of Tehran Sunday, broadcasting images of people chanting "this is the final battle, Pahlavi is coming back" and "death to the Guards" in reference to the authorities' ideological army the Revolutionary Guards.

Slogans hostile to the authorities were also chanted in other cities including Shiraz in the south and Arak in the center of the country, it added.

It was not immediately possible for AFP to verify the videos.

The new actions come two days ahead of talks on Tuesday between the US and Iran focused on the Iranian nuclear program in Geneva which are seen as crucial to determining if Washington goes ahead with military action against Tehran.

According to the latest toll issued by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, over 7,000 people were killed during the protests, the vast majority protesters shot dead by security forces. Almost 54,000 people have been arrested in a crackdown that is ongoing, it added.



Mojtaba Khamenei Says Closure of Strait of Hormuz Should be Used as 'Leverage'

(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
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Mojtaba Khamenei Says Closure of Strait of Hormuz Should be Used as 'Leverage'

(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement on the war on Thursday, saying that the leverage of closing the Strait of Hormuz should be used.

Khamenei called on people in Gulf countries to “shut down” US bases, saying promised US protection is “nothing more than a lie.”

Khamenei did not appear on camera. Israeli intelligence assessed that he was likely wounded in the war’s opening salvo, which he said also killed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece and his father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

US President Donald Trump has promised to “finish the job,” even as Iran is “virtually destroyed.” The first week of the war cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon.

“One point I must emphasize is that, in any case, we will obtain compensation from the enemy,” Khamenei said.

“If it refuses, we will take from its assets to the extent we deem appropriate, and if that is not possible, we will destroy its assets to the same extent.”

 

 

 

 


Russia Condemns Trump Comments on 'Takeover' of Cuba

US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
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Russia Condemns Trump Comments on 'Takeover' of Cuba

US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Russia condemned on Thursday what it called blackmail and threats by US President Donald Trump to initiate a "takeover" of Cuba, a traditional ally of Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would provide all possible political and diplomatic support to Cuba and called for a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Washington, Reuters reported.

Trump said on Monday that Cuba was in "deep trouble" and that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dealing with the issue, which may or may not be a "friendly takeover."


Trump Says Stopping a Nuclear Iran More Important than Oil Prices

US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Trump Says Stopping a Nuclear Iran More Important than Oil Prices

US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons was more important to him than controlling oil prices, Reuters reported.

"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World," said Trump in a post on his Truth Social platform.