Around 200,000 people demonstrated against the Iranian regime on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders on Saturday.
The protests followed a call by Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi for cranked-up international pressure on Tehran.
US President Donald Trump said regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen”, as American military elements continue to gather in the region.
While world leaders met in at the Munich Security Conference, demonstrators nearby banged drums and chanted for the overthrow of the Iranian government.
The large and boisterous gathering in the German city was part of what Mr Pahlavi described as a “global day of action” to support Iranians in the wake of deadly nationwide protests.
“Change, change, regime change” chanted the crowd.
Many waved green, white and red flags with lion and sun emblems – the flag Iran used before its 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the Pahlavi dynasty.
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Others in the crowd waved placards showing Mr Pahlavi – some that called him a king.
Mr Pahlavi, 65, has urged protesters to take to the streets, helping to transform what started as grievances over the Islamic Republic’s weakened economy into a legitimate threat to the country’s theocracy.
Reza Pahlavi and his wife Yasmine appear on stage. Pic: Reuters
At a news conference in Munich, he warned of the likelihood of more deaths in Iran if “democracies stand by and watch”.
“We gather at an hour of profound peril to ask: Will the world stand with the people of Iran?” he asked.
He added that the Iranian government’s continued survival “sends a clear signal to every bully: kill enough people and you stay in power”.
