
Son of late shah urges Iranians to break with Islamic republic
Reza Pahlavi blamed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for having "dragged Iran into a war" with Israel and described the government in Tehran as "weak and divided."
"It could fall. As I have told my compatriots: Iran is yours and yours to reclaim. I am with you. Stay strong and we will win," he said in a statement.
"I have told the military, police, and security forces: break from the regime. Honor the oath of any honorable serviceman. Join the people."
"To the international community: do not throw yet another lifeline to this dying, terrorist regime," he said.
Pahlavi was crown prince in Iran's pro-Western monarchy, which collapsed in 1979 in a mass revolution that quickly brought to power the clerical establishment that declared an Islamic republic.
Pahlavi, who lives in exile near Washington, says he is not necessarily looking for the restoration of the monarchy and wants to use his name to support the movement for secular democracy.
Israel sees the Islamic republic as an existential threat but was allied with Iran under the late shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Reza Pahlavi has also enjoyed warm relations with Israel, which he toured two years ago.
Iranian diaspora pro-monarchists, waving the old imperial flag, have figured prominently in protests in support of Israel since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
Pahlavi has repeatedly described the Islamic republic as frail, including after mass protests broke out in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by morality police who enforce modest dress on women.

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LeMonde
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Iranian regime shaken by violence of Israeli attack
After shock came retaliation. Iran eventually responded to the major military operation Israel carried out on its territory, starting on Friday, June 13. The Islamic Republic launched more than 150 ballistic missiles at Israel on Friday night. Three people were killed and dozens more wounded, according to initial reports from Israeli media. Tehran now officially considers itself "at war" with "the Zionist regime," the term the Iranian regime uses to refer to Israel. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's ideological army, claimed in a statement to have targeted dozens of installations, military bases and air bases in Israel in the operation, which it dubbed "True Promise 3." Shortly before the first volley was launched, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei promised in a video message broadcast on Iranian television that the armed forces would "make the Zionist regime miserable." He stated that "with this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself," and called on the Iranian people to trust him. On Friday, Israel carried out unprecedented bombings against military and nuclear sites inside Iran. According to Iranian media, these attacks killed at least 78 people, including the chief of staff of the armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri; the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami; and the aerospace commander in charge of Iran's ballistic arsenal, Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Around 320 Iranians were reportedly wounded in the strikes.


France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Israel-Iran conflict: what we know
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that "Tehran will burn" if Iran fires more missiles at Israel. In a televised address Friday night, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel "to ruin". International calls for restraint are multiplying, as fears grow the Middle East could be on the threshold of a broader conflict. Here is what we know: Targeting air defences On Saturday, Israel's military said it was striking dozens of missile launchers in Iran after announcing it had targeted air defences with a wave of strikes in the Tehran area. The Israeli air force "continues striking dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers in Iran", the military said in a statement. It said that overnight the air force "struck dozens of targets, including surface-to-air missile infrastructure, as part of the effort to damage the Iranian regime's aerial defence capabilities in the area of Tehran". Iran's response Israel said dozens of missiles -- some intercepted -- had been fired in the latest salvos from Iran, with AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showing blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris. Israeli rescuers said two people were killed and 19 wounded on Saturday by rocket fire on a residential area in the coastal plain. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel. Nuclear talks? The fiercest exchange of fire between arch foes Iran and Israel came amid ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington seeking to reach a deal on Iran's nuclear programme. Before the Israeli strikes, they were set to hold a sixth round of negotiations in Oman on Sunday, but Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said: "It is still unclear what decision we will make for Sunday." Tehran has consistently denied seeking to develop a nuclear weapon but had been enriching uranium to 60 percent -- far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely obsolete 2015 agreement with major powers. However, Iran's 60-percent enrichment level is still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead. More Iranian generals killed Iranian state media reported on Saturday that General Gholamreza Mehrabi, deputy head of intelligence of the armed forces general staff, and General Mehdi Rabbani, deputy head of operations, "were martyred". On Friday, top brass killed included the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, and armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, with replacements swiftly named by supreme leader Ali Khamenei. The Revolutionary Guards said its aerospace commander Amirali Hajizadeh was also killed. He was in charge of Iran's ballistic missile arsenal. Iranian media said on Saturday that three more nuclear scientists were killed, bringing the total to nine -- a toll that Israel also reported. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel. Nuclear sites hit Israel's attacks started in the early hours of Friday, a day of rest and prayer in Iran, and continued through the day, at various sites. A key target was a vast underground uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, which Israel hit several times, according to Iranian state television. Israel said another strike later Friday on Iran's uranium conversion plant in Isfahan damaged infrastructure for reconverting enriched uranium. But Iran said the damage was limited, both in Isfahan and at another uranium enrichment facility at Fordo. burs-jsa/kir © 2025 AFP

LeMonde
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- LeMonde
Israel's war in Iran: The choice of war and its risks
As it has come under a massive campaign of Israeli bombardments since Friday, June 13, the Tehran regime can fully grasp the extent of its isolation. This regime, which has made itself widely detestable, is above all paying the price for its choice to enrich uranium to levels that are only compatible with a military program, despite its denials. It is Israel's determination to put a definitive end to this program that has earned it the explicit or tacit support of many Western countries. For Tehran, the Israeli offensive has come at the worst possible time. Previous strikes and reprisals in 2024 exposed the limitations of its arsenal. The " axis of resistance," which had formed its main defensive shield, was significantly weakened after the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah was decimated in the autumn. This, in turn, triggered the fall of Bashar al-Assad, who, during the devastating Syrian civil war, had become dependent on the Iranian regime. After years of repression of its people, strangled by international sanctions linked to its nuclear program, the regime in Iran can hardly count on a patriotic reflex of unity. Another path, a diplomatic one, was pursued in the past, with the conclusion, in 2015, of a deal supported by a broad international coalition patiently put together by Washington. Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for regional reintegration and the lifting of sanctions. That deal, criticized by warmongers, could have changed the course of events, had it not been buried by Donald Trump during his first term. The US president hastily tried to reach a new compromise with Tehran upon returning to the White House, hoping to avoid being drawn into another regional conflict. Because the Israeli gamble brings with it many uncertainties beyond the current escalation. The first is over the war's objectives: In calling on the Iranian people to rise up, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be tying the destruction of the nuclear program to regime change, in a region where similar interventions have ended in disaster. The effectiveness of Israeli bombings also remains to be proven, not least because they could push the Iranian regime, should it withstand this humiliation, to resume its program clandestinely, cutting ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has so far been able to measure its progress. The path of force and disregard for law raises another question: What does Israel intend to do with its new status as the region's military superpower? The desire to reshape the Middle East according to its own interests only is already sparking the deepest concerns. First of all in Gaza, where ongoing bombings without any political horizon feed chaos. Then in Lebanon and Syria, where Israel's relentless strikes have undermined the fragile process of reviving institutions in Beirut and the perilous transition underway in Damascus. It is essential to resist the intoxication of power and to recognize the responsibilities it entails. Otherwise, Israel will lose a unique opportunity to break the cycle of wars that has held the Middle East captive until now.