Reports have emerged of Tehran residents vocally expressing dissent against the country’s clerical leadership, a day following significant opposition rallies held by Iranians living abroad. Demonstrators reportedly shouted slogans from their balconies and windows in a show of defiance.

Iran, under the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, faced a wave of protests that intensified in January. Human rights organizations claim that during this period, security forces carried out a harsh crackdown, resulting in thousands of deaths.

Although street demonstrations have dwindled under the pressure of this crackdown, last week saw a shift in tactics. Residents in Tehran and other cities began to voice their opposition from the safety of their homes, chanting against the government from within large apartment complexes.

On Sunday night, the eastern Tehran district of Ekbatan witnessed another round of anti-government chants. According to the Shahrak Ekbatan social media account, which reports on local events, residents shouted phrases such as “death to Khamenei,” “death to the Islamic republic,” and “long live the shah.”

Reza Pahlavi, the ousted shah’s son, had encouraged such domestic demonstrations to coincide with international protests over the weekend.

Mass protests

The worldwide protests kicked off in New Zealand, where Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour addressed the crowds. He mentioned that discussions at the highest levels of government are underway to potentially follow Australia’s lead in designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

In November, the Australian government listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran as a “state sponsor of terrorism”.

The move came three months after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation accused the group of orchestrating two separate arson attacks against Australia’s Jewish community.

At a rally in Sydney, protesters gathered to express support for Pahlavi and remember victims of the crackdown.

“They’re butchering our people, murdering people, killing them in the street,” one protester told SBS News.

Another protester in Sydney told SBS News there were risks to demonstrating outside of Iran.

“If they want to return back to visit their families they will be in danger,” he said.

Protests also took place in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

Speaking to SBS News at the rally in Melbourne, Maryam Moazami said going about with normal life and routine has been especially difficult.

“I’ve been crying, you know, for so many days. I even didn’t want to wash my face. It’s not that we hate them, but it’s just that what they are doing to us is just so brutal,” she said.

“I can compare it to the Holocaust that has happened in Europe during the World War Two. So you can, you know, somehow compare and understand the level of brutality that we are facing in Iran right now.”

Around 250,000 people gathered at a rally in the southern German city of Munich, police said. In an unusual move, the demonstration was personally addressed by Pahlavi.

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.

However, one protester in Munich said the Iranian people “do not want a dictatorship, neither the shah, nor the monarchy, nor the religious dictatorship that currently exists. We are here to demand a democratic and secular republic for the Iranian people.”

Other major 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.

The new actions come two days ahead of talks on Tuesday in Geneva between the US and Iran focused on the Iranian nuclear program, 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.

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