Hundreds of Iranian people packed the streets of Oxford to catch a glimpse of the Crown Prince of Iran.
The Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, was invited to speak at the Oxford Union at 5pm on Monday, February 27 and he is a well-known critic of Iran’s Islamic Republic Government.
The supporters of the Crown Prince lining St Michael’s Street told the Oxford Mail they wanted Western countries to do more to call out what they perceive as a ‘terrorist regime.’
Iranian people had come from across the UK to see Mr Pahlavi arriving and hoping to get a photo of the man they hope will one day be King.
Mr Pahlavi is the son of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and before the Iranian Revolution in 1979 he was the heir apparent to the throne of the Imperial State of Iran.
There were Iranian people present who had fled Iran for the UK and had come out to show their solidarity with the people of Iran.
Maggie Svenssob had travelled from Basildon and said: “The Crown Prince needs to know that plenty of people outside of Iran support him.
“We are critical of the corrupt government and just want to get rid of them totally.”
There was a low police presence and there was a carnival-like atmosphere, with people holding red roses out of respect for the Crown Prince.
Sadaf Keshavarz, an asylum seeker from Witney, was forced to flee Iran because of fears for her life.
She said: “When I was in Iran, I wanted freedom.
“One of my friends was killed and they almost raped my friend.
“After that I decided to go to the UK because I thought my life was in danger and the government were following me.
“I had to move to the UK to escape and I’ve been an asylum seeker here now for three months.”
Ms Keshavarz said she now felt “very safe” in the UK but hoped the situation in Iran would “get better”.
Many Iranian people held up banners which highlighted the country’s human rights abuses.
Sam Masoumi travelled up from London and said it was the least he could do to show his solidarity with the people of Iran.
He explained: “It is the least thing I could do for my people back in Iran because the Crown Prince has come from Washington and is supporting our people.
“I only drove a couple of hours to support my people who get tortured and killed in Iran for their basic human rights.”
Mr Masoumi said Western countries needed to more if the Iranian people were to overthrow the regime.
Kamran Beitarp from Sheffield said Western countries needed to toughen their sanctions on Iran.
He said: “We want to sanction the government.
“We want to bring the King back to Iran.
“We are holding roses out of respect to the Crown Prince.”
Mr Beitarp’s friend, Reza Afras, said the Iranian people were tired of living under a cruel regime.
Mr Afras said: “Showing our support for the Crown Prince is vitally important for us because we do not want the Islamic Republic Government in power.
“People don’t want it anymore in Iran. The West needs to do more to tackle the cruel regime of Iran and support the people of Iran.
“We are showing our respect to the Crown Prince, and we believe he is the true Iranian representative.”
The event passed without any trouble and the Crown Prince waved to onlookers as he entered the Oxford Union for the interview.
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