'Don't abandon streets, Trump saw your bravery': Reza Pahlavi urges more protests in Iran in new message
Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi also assured Iranians that their voices were being echoed across the world by compatriots.
Iran's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, on Sunday issued a fresh message for Iranians amid massive demonstrations and crackdown against protestors in the Khamenei-led country. Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, renewed his call for protests in the country, urging people to “not abandon” the streets.
Pahlavi also assured Iranians that their voices were being echoed across the world by compatriots. The exiled Iranian leader also heaped praise on US President Donald Trump for his support to the people of Iran.
“In particular President Trump, as the leader of the free world, has closely observed your indescribable bravery and has declared that he is ready to help you. Do not abandon the streets. My heart is with you. I know that I will soon be by your side,” Pahlavi said in his new video message for Iranians, posted on his X handle.
Pahlavi also said that the widespread protests have managed to severely weaken supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “repressive apparatus”, adding that he had it on good authority that the regime was falling short of mercenaries to confront the protestors.
“…many armed and security forces have left their workplaces or disobeyed orders to suppress the people. What remains for Khamenei is a minority of violent mercenaries who, like their criminal leader, are non-Iranian and anti-Iranian, and consider you—the great nation of Iran—their enemy. Know that they will face consequences for their actions,” Pahlavi said.
The exiled leader has urged people to take to the main streets but avoid breaking up from the crowd or entering side streets, things he said could “endanger” their lives.
The fresh video comes even as internet blackout continues in Iran and the death toll amid protests and violence in the country climbed to 116, a figure reported by news agency AP.
Reza Pahlavi is the son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and Empress Farah Diba. It was after his last call to Iranians to head out to the streets and “claim spaces” that demonstrations intensified in the country on Friday.
His Sunday message comes hours after Donald Trump said that the US was “ready to help”, after he acknowledged the Iranians' demand for freedom.
Despite the Republican's latest message and his earlier warning that the US would hit the Iranian authorities “very hard", the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-led regime remains defiant and has reportedly warned of an even bigger crackdown on demonstrators.
Iran's attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, threatened people with a death penalty charge, saying all those participating in the protests would be considered an 'enemy of God'.
Iran has been under crisis since June this year when the US bombed three nuclear sites in the country. People of the country are protesting against its worsening economy and daily life. Iran's inflation reportedly rose to 42.5 per cent in December 2025, the month protests broke out in Tehran and spread to other parts of the country, including Chaharmahal, Bakhtiari, Ilam, Kermanshah, and Fars.
