TORONTO — Thousands of people marched down Yonge Street to the beat of drums and chants of “King Reza Pahlavi” at a rally in North York, as similar protests took place in major cities around the world.
Protesters held aloft and draped themselves in red, white and green flags emblazoned with a golden lion — the flag Iran used before the Islamic Republic came to power in 1979, toppling the previous monarchy.
Demonstrators called for an end to government repression in Iran as widespread protests inside the country have been met with violent crackdowns.
“It’s hard to see that our friends and families in Iran are being kept in prison for no reason, being shot in the head for (using) their democratic voice,” said Nima Najafi.
Najafi said he attended an earlier protest in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Iran that took place two weeks ago at Toronto’s Sankofa Square. He said Saturday’s protest is twice as large.
Toronto police said 150,000 people attended the Sankofa Square rally and that they were expecting 200,000 to march down Yonge Street Saturday.
Najafi and others called for the return of Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, saying he is only leader capable of helping eventually transition Iran to a democracy.
Hundreds of protesters at the march held pictures of Pahlavi, along with photos of protesters killed in Iran.
Najafi said he was initially against calls for foreign powers to intervene in Iran but now he believes it is the only path forward.
“I had a friend who got shot in the head. He died. He was a pharmacist … a high school friend,” he said. “I had another friend who is imprisoned because he was a doctor treating patients.”
Iran has been gripped by countrywide protests since late December, sparked by an ongoing economic crisis that has sent the country’s currency into freefall.
While protesters were initially focused on Iran’s economy, demonstrators pivoted to calling for an end to Iran’s Islamic Republic, with some supporting the return of the ousted monarchy to power.
Iran’s government, which has cracked down on protests and implemented an internet blackout, said more than 3,000 people have been killed since protests broke out.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran, put the death toll at over 7,000.
Arash Karimi said he was protesting on Yonge Street in solidarity with unarmed civilians who have been killed in Iran since protests broke out, calling government crackdowns a “one-sided war against the people.”
“Every Iranian knows someone, relatives or friends, (who have been) killed,” he said.
Today’s rally is one of many happening worldwide as part of what Pahlavi has labelled a Global Day of Action.
Pahlavi said Toronto, Munich and Los Angeles would be the main gathering points for Iranians living abroad to protest and call for regime change in Iran.
A protest in Munich was attended by more than 200,000 people, according to German news agency dpa.
Police warned the public to steer clear of the area around Saturday’s protest, which they said would cause extreme traffic and transit delays. Police closed roads, including portions of Yonge Street and North York Boulevard, ahead of the rally.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2026.
Kathryn Mannie, The Canadian Press
