Thousands of people joined a protest against the Iranian authorities in central Berlin on Saturday after the first round of presidential elections.
Police put the number on Bebelplatz and Unter den Linden in the city centre at around 6,000 by mid-afternoon, with protestors continuing to join the demonstration. The organizers had registered a protest for up to 8,000 participants, with members of the German parliament also expected to attend.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an opposition movement set up in 1981 and banned within the country, had called for the protest on Friday, when the first round of the elections was held, to protest against the country's theocratic government.
The council said the protest is directed against the Iranian clerical regime. Attendees came in hundreds of buses from all over Germany. Many were waving the pre-revolutionary Iranian state flag with a golden lion in the centre.
Some 61 million Iranians are eligible to cast their ballots in the elections, with the second round set for Friday July 5.
International observers do not see Iran's elections as free and fair, as the country's Guardian Council vets candidates and excludes those seen as unsuitable. Fundamental criticism of the country's theocratic system is not permitted.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran arose from the People's Mujahedin of Iran and has the aim of overthrowing the Iranian ruling system. It is seen as controversial, both within Iran and outside, and is largely rejected by other opposition groups.
