Rallies Around the World Show Support for Iranian Opposition

LONDON, July 25 -- Thousands of people poured into the streets of cities around the world Saturday in a show of solidarity with Iranians protesting the results of their country's presidential election last month.

Billed as a "global day of action," rallies led by a coalition of human rights groups were held in more than 100 cities, organizers said.

In Washington, Iranians marched from K Street to the Mall wearing green and holding signs calling for democracy. "I want to see a secular, free, democratic Iran where there's no fear of going out and protesting," said Behrad Behbahani, 24, a Bethesda resident. "I want to go back and be part of the rebuilding of our nation."

Ameneh Madjlessi, a French teacher who left Iran five years ago and now lives in Rockville, said the recent events in Iran had changed the way the world sees her country. "All my students here, whenever I told them the people are different from the Iranian government, they wouldn't believe me," she said. "Now they do, and 10 of them are here today."

Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams addressed the crowd, which organizers estimated at 5,000 people, and Iranian pop singer Dariush sang for them.

In London, about 1,000 protesters clapped, sang and chanted "No more bloodshed!" outside the Iranian Embassy. Many carried single red roses or signs saying "Where is my vote?"

Mojgan Akbari, 42, an Iranian dentist who has lived in London for the past decade, said she brought her 10-year-old son because "I wanted him to know what was happening back home."

"I've shown him clips on the Internet, but I wanted him to see this support," she said. "I'm here because people wanted freedom, and they were killed for it."

The protesters demanded the release of people detained for demonstrating against the disputed June 12 election, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected in a landslide.

"It's very foolish to think that any of this will change the mind of the president," said Drewery Dyke, an Iran expert at Amnesty International, which helped support Saturday's protests. "But for Iranians who say, 'We have a showdown with destiny,' this is a way for us to say, 'We're listening.' "

In Amsterdam, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi told a crowd of several hundred that many of the detained Iranians are being forced to confess on state-controlled television. "What they broadcast is a lie," she said, speaking through an interpreter.

In Italy, about 300 people gathered in the small northeastern city of Bagnacavallo, where volunteers took turns reading pages from the "Arabian Nights" for more than 10 hours in the central square.

"I feel the Iran situation is quite similar to Italy: wonderful, great people with very poor leaders," event organizer Andrea Leggieri, 44, said in a phone interview.

Bahrampour reported from Washington.