Latest news with #uprising
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Exiled crown prince: Islamic Republic ‘collapsing' in Iran
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran and son of the last Persian Shah, urged Iranians on Tuesday to prepare for the impending fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic as the country struggles to fight off attacks from Israel. 'The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing,' Pahlavi wrote on the social platform X. '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,' he added. The military conflict between Iran and Israel stretched into its fifth day Tuesday, with little signs of slowing as Israel hammers its Middle East rival over Tehran's nuclear pursuits. President Trump departed the Group of Seven summit of world leaders in Canada late Monday — a day earlier than expected to return to Washington to monitor the ongoing conflict. He met with top security officials in Situation Room on Tuesday to assess the developments. He has not ruled out the possibility of U.S. military involvement. The Pahlavi dynasty ruled Iran from 1925 to 1979, when it was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, penning his social media posts in English and Farsi, directed the message to his 'fellow countrymen' and encouraged an uprising. 'Now is the time to rise; the time to reclaim Iran,' he wrote. 'Let us all come forward … and bring about the end of this regime.' Pahlavi advised that there is a plan to establish a democratic government in Iran within 100 days of the collapse of the Islamic Republic. He also urged 'military, law enforcement, security forces and state employees' to join the effort to topple the government under Khamenei. 'Do not stand against the Iranian people for the sake of a regime whose fall has begun and is inevitable,' Pahlavi wrote. 'Do not sacrifice yourselves 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, and take part in building the future of Iran,' he added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Sun
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Watch hacked Iranian state TV call for REVOLUTION after Israeli hospital is blitzed and Trump ‘approves US attack plan'
WATCH the moment Iranian TV urges uprising against its own regime after Israel hacked the state broadcaster. The hijack comes as President Trump hovers over the decision to join Israel and blast targets in Iran, which he has approved in principle, according to reports. 5 5 5 5 Images of women chopping their hair and protesting were briefly beamed to screens by pro-Israeli hackers, who have also knocked out banking services and destroyed Iranian crytpo. The footage repeats famous rebellion motto: 'Women, life, freedom", that Netanyahu recited as he encouraged civilians to overthrow the creaking government. The PM said this week: "In the end, [Iranians] have to rise up themselves, but we are creating the conditions." A major Israeli hospital and an Iranian nuclear reactor were both blitzed during a sixth night of heavy missile exchange. Soroka Hospital in Beersheba was severely damaged when it was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile, and Israel reported over 100 casualties across the country. The IDF confirmed it attacked an "inactive" plutonium nuclear reactor in Arak to "prevent it from being restored and used for nuclear weapons". After days of speculation, Trump has approved plans to attack Iran but is holding off in case Tehran agrees to abandon its nuclear programme, reports the Wall Street Journal. If given the go-ahead, the plans would see the US join Israel in pounding Iran's nuke sites - which Tehran has warned would spark "all out war". 5 The UK is yet to declare whether it would stand with the US if it committed, as Attorney General Lord Hermer questions the legality of Israel's action, according to Sky, and Starmer held a Cobra meeting. Trump has become much more vocal on the conflict, though still refuses to confirm his plans: "I may do it, I may not do it," he said on Wednesday about striking Iran. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minster, Kazem Gharibabadi, hit back: 'If the US wants to actively intervene in support of Israel, Iran will have no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson and defend itself." Iran's Fordow nuclear development area is likely to be the prime target of any imminent US airstrikes. Israel doesn't have the weapons to strike the core of the mountain fortress site, but the US has a fearsome 15-ton mega bomb, known as a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb, which could bust it open. Trump acknowledged the US is the only nation capable of blitzing the key nuke site, but added: "That doesn't mean I'm going to do it - at all." He has also been manoeuvring US Air Force assets into battle-ready positions as the military stands ready to enact orders. Iran's infrastructure has taken a serious pounding, with internet and banking services intermittently knocked out. In a sign that panic is spreading, the regime has been reaching for ways halt Israel's surgical offensive through international conventions. Iran today requested an emergency meeting of the UN's Security Council and reported Israel to the nuclear watchdog for supposed violations of international law. The Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has also arranged to meet with his European counterparts in Geneva tomorrow, according to state media. And President Trump revealed that Iran has been knocking at the door to rekindle negotiations with the US towards a nuclear deal - an option which he has not yet totally ruled out. Stay up to date with the latest on Israel vs Iran with The Sun's live blog below...
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Iranian Crown Prince urges citizens to reclaim country from Khamenei
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 (pictured), 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 (pictured), 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 (pictured), 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.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Exiled Iranian prince calls for REVOLUTION to oust Ayatollah holed up in secret bunker with regime on brink of collapse
THE exiled Iranian crown prince has urged citizens to stage a national uprising to oust the Ayatollah as the regime sits on the brink of collapse. Ali Khamenei, 86, and his family are believed to have bolted to a fortified underground hiding place in a suburb of capital Tehran. 8 8 8 8 Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is the eldest son of the former Shah of Iran - the last leader before the dynasty was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He urged Iranians in a video posted to X on Tuesday: "[The] Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing." Pahlavi called Khamenei a "frightened rat" who "has gone into hiding underground" and "lost control of the situation". He added: "What has begun is irreversible." Pahlavi - who fled Iran as a teen and has been living just outside of Washington DC since 2001 - believes that Iran's "future is bright" despite the spiralling conflict. He also shared how his "heart is with all the defenceless citizens who have been harmed and have fallen victim to Khamenei's warmongering and delusions". Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 585 people across Iran and wounded 1,326 others, a human rights group has said. Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has a history of minimising casualties. Pahlavi added: "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." He then called for a "nationwide uprising" to "put an end to this nightmare once and for all". Continuing his plea for a revolution, Pahlavi stressed that "now is the time to rise; the time to reclaim Iran," urging Iranian citizens to "all come forward and bring about the end of this regime". He assured that if an uprising were to occur, Iranians shouldn't fear "the day after the fall" of Khamenei's rule" and promised the nation wouldn't "descend into civil war or instability". The exiled crown prince said: "We have a plan for Iran's future and its flourishing. "We are prepared for the first hundred days after the fall, for the transitional period, and for the reestablishment of a national and democratic government – by the Iranian people and for the Iranian people." Addressing Iranian security and state officials, Pahlavi urged them not to "stand against the Iranian people," adding that the regime's "fall has begun and is inevitable". He said: "Do not sacrifice yourselves for a decaying regime. "By standing with the people, you can save your lives." 8 8 8 8 Pahlavi concluded: "A free and flourishing Iran lies ahead of us. "May we be together soon." Pahlavi has relentlessly spoken out about Iran's regime and pressed for change, urging President Donald Trump to put "maximum pressure" on the regime. Iran fired several missile barrages into Tel Aviv in the early hours of Wednesday. They are now reportedly preparing to launch missiles and other military equipment on US bases in the Middle East should Trump join Israel's war, say American officials who have reviewed intelligence reports. In response, Israel fired back with their own tactical strikes and left much of Tehran up in smoke. Iran initially had roughly 2,000 missiles capable of hitting Israel, but a significant number were destroyed after Israel launched its surprise attack early Friday, Israeli intelligence officials said In the past six days of the spiralling conflict, Iran has retaliated against Israeli airstrikes by launching some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. Terrified Tehran citizens have been fleeing in the thousands since Friday, with Trump later urging everyone to immediately evacuate the city. Trump has already ramped up his threats towards the Iranian regime as he claimed on Wednesday the US and Israel know exactly where Iran 's Supreme Leader is hiding. The US president called him an "easy target" but said he won't order any assassination plot "for now". Israel threatened Khamenei hours earlier saying he will face the same grisly fate as Iraq's Saddam Hussein who was hanged by his own people if he doesn't start to negotiate soon. Khamenei went to ground after swathes of military top brass and nuclear scientists were wiped out in simultaneous surgical strikes at the start of Israel's Operation Rising Lion on Friday. Who was the Shah? By Annabel Bate, Foreign News Reporter THE last Shah of Iran was Mohammad Reza Pahlav i. He ruled from 1941 to 1979, having succeeded his dad Reza Shah. Mohammad Reza had a pro-Western foreign policy and encouraged economic development in the nation. What led to his downfall initially however was 1963 The White Revolution - a series of social, political and economic reforms that Mohammad Reza initiated. This looked to both modernise and westernise Iran. But the reforms were perceived as controversial and led to some resistance from various religious and political factions. On February 11, 1979, Iran's army declared its neutrality, paving the way for the fall of US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza. He died in exile in Egypt in 1980.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
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.
