Iranian monarchists held a protest outside the Cambridge Union earlier today (11/02), after a talk from the nation’s Crown Prince in Exile was cancelled last week.

The group gathered outside the back of the building, and called on the Union to support the monarchist cause as “the will of the Iranian people”. Protesters later gathered around the building’s back door with pro-monarchy flags and banners of the Crown Prince’s face.

Activists took aim at the Iranian Regime during the protest, calling for the toppling of “Islamic rule” in the nation, along with the end of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon.

The action is part of a series of planned monarchist protests across Europe, with the protesters advertising planned marches outside the Dutch Parliament and United Nations in the coming days.

The protest came after the Union cancelled a talk with Iran’s Crown Prince in Exile Reza Pahlavi, due to “limited capacity and resources” for the student-led charity to effectively “maintain the safety of the Prince”.

Pahlavi is supported as the “King” of Iran by the monarchist movement, and is an active critic of the current Iranian regime.

Pahlavi’s father was the last Shah (King) of Iran, before his rule was toppled in 1979 and replaced by the current Islamist regime. The current leader of Iran is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has been labelled a “dictator” by opposition forces and accused of “crimes against humanity” by the UN over his role in supressing protests.

The current government has been termed an “Islamist theocracy” by the US government and ranks 153rd out of 167 on The Economist Democracy Index, which labelled the regime “authoritarian”.

Monarchist movements in Iran argue for the restoration of a constitutional monarchy with Pahlavi at its head. Some of these groups participated in anti-government protests in 2022, which the Crown Prince voiced his support for.

However, Pahlavi has not explicitly stated his own support for a return to monarchy, instead advocating for a referendum on future forms of government.