Iran's exiled Crown Prince calls on citizens to rise up and 'reclaim' the country from 'hiding rat' Supreme Leader Khamenei and vows to restore democracy as Israel pounds Tehran

The exiled Crown Prince of Iran has declared that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's Islamic Republic 'is collapsing' and has urged citizens and soldiers alike to rise up against the regime.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah to rule before Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, has long been a prominent critic of Khamenei and says he wants to replace Iran's clerical rule with a 'national and democratic government'.
Now, following days of punishing attacks from Israel that wiped out the upper echelon of Iran's military command, targeted its nuclear facilities and sent Khamenei into hiding, Pahlavi took to social media to issue a rallying cry.
'Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and lost control of the situation,' he declared. 'The regime's apparatus of repression is falling apart.
'All it takes now is a nationwide uprising to put an end to this nightmare once and for all. Now is the time to rise - the time to reclaim Iran.'
In an emotional message to Iranians at home and abroad, he added: 'Let us all come forward... and bring about the end of this regime. 'A free and flourishing Iran lies ahead of us... We have a plan for Iran's future.'
Pahlavi's call for revolution comes as the region teeters on the brink of all-out war.
Khamenei on Tuesday declared that Israeli would be shown 'no mercy'.
'In the name of the noble Haidar, the battle begins,' he wrote in Farsi, referring to Ali - whom Shia Muslims consider the first Imam and the rightful successor to the prophet Mohammed.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he wanted Khamenei's 'unconditional surrender' as American air and naval assets descended on the region, raising suspicions that the US military may soon enter the fray.
Pahlavi's father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, took power in Iran following a 1953 coup engineered by Britain and the US.
Under the Shah's secular and pro-Western rule, Iran experienced a rapid modernisation program financed by oil revenues.
Education and healthcare expanded, infrastructure boomed, and Tehran became a showcase capital for Western influence in the Middle East.
But the regime's repression, inequality, and reliance on the hated secret police, SAVAK, sowed resentment among Iran's religious and working classes.
Mass protests, general strikes, and clashes with security forces destabilised the monarchy throughout 1978 as the cancer-stricken Shah struggled to cling to power.
It was then that Pahlavi, aged just 17, left Iran for military flight school in the US, just before his father abandoned the throne for exile in January 1979.
The Islamic revolution followed as a coalition of religious clerics, leftist groups and disaffected Iranians tore down the monarchy, overran the US Embassy in Tehran and the swept away of the last vestiges of the American-backed government.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a radical Shia cleric, took charge, denouncing Pahlavi's father as a puppet of the West and positioning Islam as the path to justice and national sovereignty.
Among the revolution's foot soldiers was a young cleric named Ali Khamenei.
A loyal supporter of Khomeini's vision, he played a key role in consolidating the new regime's power, helping to purge dissent and set up the Islamic Republic's security infrastructure.
He would go on to serve as president in the 1980s before being appointed Supreme Leader after Khomeini's death in 1989.
Yet after more than four decades of Islamic rule, the Pahlavis and the age of the monarchy have retained their mystique in Iran.
Pahlavi's critics associate him with Western meddling in Iranian affairs, while his supporters see him as an antidote to Khamenei's repression.
Any American intervention in the Middle East would be 'a recipe for all-out war in the region', Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, told Al Jazeera today.
Pahlavi has long campaigned against Khamenei, reminding people that Iran under the Shah was far more socially liberal.
'If you look at the legacy that was left behind by both my father and my grandfather... it contrasts with this archaic, sort of backward, religiously rooted radical system that has been extremely repressive,' Pahlavi said.
'This regime is simply irreformable because the nature of it, its DNA, is such that it cannot,' the exiled prince said.
'People have given up with the idea of reform and they think there has to be fundamental change. Now, how this change can occur is the big question.'
Prior to the outbreak of hostilities between Jerusalem and Tehran, he had outlined in previous interviews how he felt a revolution would eventually occur in Iran, even without foreign intervention.
Asked how his envisioned revolution could play out, Pahlavi said it would need to begin with labour unions starting a nationwide strike.
He said members of the Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary organisation established to protect the clerical system, would be assured they wouldn't be 'all hung and shot.'
Israel launched its air war, its largest ever on Iran, on Friday after saying it had concluded the Islamic Republic was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon - an accusation that Iran denies.
The US has so far only taken indirect actions in the current conflict with Iran, including helping to shoot down missiles fired toward Israel.
But Trump has ordered significant air and naval assets to the region, suggesting Washington could be about to enter the conflict.
Trump was given three options by advisors about how the should largest military in history should assist Israel in demolishing Iran's nuclear program, according to The New York Times.
The first and most basic option was the US providing intelligence and jets for refuelling Israeli airplanes on bombing missions along.
The second option included American and Israeli joint strikes on Iran.
The most hawkish option provided a plan for a US-led military campaign that included B-1 and B-2 bombers, aircraft carriers and 'cruise missiles launched from submarines,' the Times reported.
Meanwhile, Ali Bahreini, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, said Iran will continue to respond strongly to Israeli strikes despite Trump's calls for surrender.
'We will not show any reluctance in defending our people, security and land - we will respond seriously and strongly, without restraint,' Bahreini declared.
Crown Prince of Iran's call to revolution
My fellow countrymen,
The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing. Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation. What has begun is irreversible.
The future is bright, and together we will pass through this sharp turn in history.
In these difficult days, my heart is with all the defenceless citizens who have been harmed and fallen victim to Khamenei's warmongering and delusions.
I have tried to prevent our homeland from being dragged into war.
The end of the Islamic Republic is the end of its 46-year war against the Iranian nation.
The regime's apparatus of repression is falling apart. All it takes now is a nationwide uprising to put an end to this nightmare once and for all. Now is the time to rise, the time to reclaim Iran.
Let us all come forward... and bring about the end of this regime.
Do not fear the day after the fall of the Islamic Republic.
Iran will not descend into civil war or instability. We have a plan for Iran's future and its flourishing.
We are prepared for the first hundred days after the fall, for a transition period, and for the establishment of a national and democratic government by the Iranian people and for the Iranian people.
To the military, law enforcement, security forces, and state employees - many of whom have been sending me messages - I say:
Do not stand against the Iranian people for the sake of a regime whose fall has begun and is inevitable. Do not sacrifice yourself for a decaying regime.
By standing with the people, you can save your lives.
Play a historic role in the transition from the Islamic Republic. Take part in building the future of Iran.
A free and flourishing Iran lies ahead of us.
May we be together soon.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Independent

16 minutes ago

• The Independent

Has Iran actually tried to kill Trump? Here's what we know

Days after it was reported that Donald Trump rejected Israel's plot to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the president publicly announced that the United States knows his location and is holding off killing him 'for now.' Israeli officials, meanwhile, have openly demanded his death. This week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei 'can no longer be allowed to exist.' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, turning to Fox News over the weekend to make the case for the United States to join a war with Iran, said Khamenei sees the president as 'public enemy number one.' Israel has sought to justify intervention using allegations of Trump's assassination threats as leverage, while the United States has faced years of blowback in the wake of Middle East wars and the 2020 killing of a top Iranian general. During his first administration in 2020, Trump ordered a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport that killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force with Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, after he had survived several assassination attempts from western, Israeli and Arab states over the past two decades. The strike, which was planned over several months, ignited fierce blowback across the region, denounced by Iran's foreign minister at the time as an act of international terrorism. By 2024, U.S. intelligence officials had collected evidence they believe shows Tehran was seeking ways to kill then-candidate Trump, according to Politico. In September, Trump claimed there were 'big threats on my life by Iran.' Neither of the two assassination attempts against then-candidate Trump in the summer of 2024 have been linked to Iran. One month earlier, a Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran was accused of seeking to carry out a murder-for-hire plot targeting U.S. government officials, according to federal prosecutors. Asif Raza Merchant was accused of joining a complex plot to carry out assassinations last year, including trying to hire hit men who were undercover officers, according to an indictment. In November, a fugitive Iranian government operative was accused of hiring a pair of New Yorkers he met in prison to carry out an assassination plot against a critic of the regime. He allegedly admitted to FBI agents that he'd also been tasked with finding a hit squad to kill then-President-elect Trump. Farhad Shakeri claimed he was asked by regime officials to 'put aside his other efforts... and focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating' Trump, according to a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court. In February, Trump, who campaigned against U.S. involvement in foreign wars, said Iran would be 'obliterated' if he was assassinated by state actors. 'That would be a terrible thing for them to do,' he told reporters. 'Not because of me. If they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I've left instructions: if they do it, they get obliterated. There won't be anything left.' Iran has denied ever targeting the president. 'A new scenario is fabricated,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X following accusations against Shakeri. 'The American people have made their decision. And Iran respects their right to elect the president of their choice. The path forward is also a choice. It begins with respect,' Araghchi wrote. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the allegations were part of a 'repulsive' plot by Israel to 'complicate matters between America and Iran.' In January, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stressed that Iran 'never attempted' to kill Trump, 'and we never will.' 'This is another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia,' Pezeshkian told NBC News. 'Iran has never attempted to, nor does it plan to assassinate anyone. At least as far as I know.' Asked whether there have been any plots against the president under Iran, he insisted there have been 'none whatsoever.' On June 15, Netanyahu asked Fox News host Bret Baier whether 'these people who chant 'death to America'' and 'tried to assassinate President Trump twice' should 'have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to your cities.' Baier then pressed Netanyahu about his claim that Iran launched two assassination attempts. 'Through proxies, yes.' he said. 'Through, through their intel, yes, they want to kill him,' he added. 'He's enemy number one.' Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has emerged as a prominent voice across right-wing media against the United States joining Israel's war, told Texas Senator Ted Cruz that the United States would be bombing Tehran if those assassination allegations were credible. 'We should attack Iran immediately if that's true,' he said. Cruz insisted that 'nobody disputes' Iran is trying to kill the president, calling it an 'objective fact' following his interview with Carlson. On Thursday, Trump said he plans to decide on whether to order U.S. warplanes to strike Iranian nuclear facilities within the next two weeks, depending on whether Tehran engages in talks over ending their nuclear weapons program. In a statement relayed through White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump said: 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.' The president's statement followed a week of escalating strikes between Israel and Iran. More than 600 Iranians and at least two dozen Iranians have been killed, according to officials.

The Guardian

29 minutes ago

• The Guardian

Israel and Iran: where is the conflict heading? – Today in Focus extra

The Guardian's senior international correspondent Julian Borger reports from Tel Aviv as the Israel-Iran conflict enters its second week and the world awaits Donald Trump's decision on whether the US will enter the war

Daily Mail​

30 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

Israel-Iran war, blow by blow: Maps and graphics reveal locations of EVERY strike so far as conflict escalates

Israel began pounding Iran on June 13, in a conflict that has the world holding its breath because of fears it could rapidly escalate and drag Britain and the US in. The IDF's blistering aerial assault – codenamed 'Operation Rising Lion' – has targeted dozens of key nuclear sites, military bases and surface-to-air missile launchers. Oil and gas infrastructure have also been hit, as well as Iran's state news broadcaster, which was struck while live on air. Among the eliminated are nuclear scientists and senior Iranian commanders, including the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – an elite wing of Tehran's military. In a televised address to the nation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was neccessary to 'roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival'. Iran was thought to be 'closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon'. Iran immediately retaliated with drone strikes, before launching several waves of ballistic missiles aimed at Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as part of its own 'Operation True Promise III'. Israel's largest oil refinery in Haifa was shut down following an attack that severely damaged the facilities. The IRGC claimed their precision-guided missiles struck the headquarters of Mossad, Israel's spy agency, as well as another military intelligence unit known as Aman, near Tel Aviv. Israel's state-of-the-art air defences, including its 'Iron Dome', have been in near-constant action. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, told Israel to prepare for 'a severe punishment'. He has previously called Israel a 'terrorist base' and a 'cancerous tumour' that must 'be removed and eradicated'. Iran has also issued bloodcurdling threats urging the US, UK and France not to rush to Israel's defence, warning that their military bases and ships will be in the firing line should they intervene. Donald Trump has demanded Tehran's 'unconditional surrender', boasting his forces could assisinate Khamenei. Posting on social media on June 17, he said the Ayatollah was an 'easy target' but remained safe 'for now'. Actual US strikes aimed at targets inside Iran remain on the table. America is assembling an armada of warships and fleets of fighter jets in the region ahead of possible military action. Britain itself has ordered military reinforcements to be sent to the Middle East as the war rages. Keir Starmer told reporters en route to the G7 summit in Canada that he would 'always make the right decisions for the UK and our allies'. Britain already has fighter jets in the region as part of an operation to counter threats in Iraq and Syria. Tehran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it has never intended to make a bomb, despite the fears of Israel and the West. However, its ever-growing stockpile of enriched uranium – needed to produce an atomic weapon – had triggered major concerns. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, said Iran's activity was a 'matter of serious concern'. On June 12, the day before Israel's sudden attack, the IAEA ruled that Iran was in breach of its safeguard obligations. Iran criticised the 'politically motivated' decision, announcing it would bolster its nuclear programme with a new enrichment facility in a 'secure location'. Officials also said centrifuges – machines that enrich uranium – would be upgraded at Fordo, one of the nation's most secretive and heavily fortified nuclear sites, buried deep beneath the mountains near the holy city of Qom.