Latest news with #IranRevolution
Daily Mail
an hour 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.
Daily Mail
3 hours 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.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
MARK ALMOND: The lesson from history to everyone hoping to topple Iran's mullahs: Be careful what you wish for!
For the first time since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which swept the mullahs to power, the collapse of Iran 's tyrannical regime is a realistic prospect. Israel 's dazzling mix of air strikes, sabotage and assassination by agents on the ground has already dealt a succession of heavy blows to the Islamic Republic and its geriatric leadership.
Asharq Al-Awsat
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Between the President's Arrival and His Departure
Last week, global and regional media outlets focused on President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh, Doha, and Abu Dhabi. Some of the piles of analysis we saw were objective and fact-based; others were fanciful and prejudiced. Some theories have now been shown to be misguided. One is the theory that the United States has pivoted to China and South Asia, abandoning the Middle East. Trump's first state visit proved the exact opposite: under the new administration, the United States sees the Middle East, particularly the Gulf capitals, as central to its interests. In fact, Middle Eastern issues have also become a focal point for Europe. Most of the Middle East's problems, though not all of them, have emerged around the past half-century, following the pursuit of 'exporting the revolution' by the revolutionary government in Iran that had come to power in the early 1980s. 'Exporting the revolution' has taken various forms. Initially, it was an attempt to incite Arab communities around Iran to overthrow their regimes. However, the conditions in pre-revolution Iran were different from those of Arab countries. The Iranian revolution began to look for allies, and it found them in two places: first, among certain segments of society that shared its revolutionary sectarian ideology, and second, in the Palestinian cause. Iran could not go very far with the first group because the economic and social conditions in their countries were not conducive to toppling their regimes. Moreover, not all members of these sects were loyal to Iran, as the many services provided by Arab states had not been provided to most Iranian communities, neither before nor after the revolution. Iran once again sought to find allies through the Palestinian cause, given the enormous sentimental weight that Palestine carries among Arabs. It initially experimented with Fatah, eventually falling out with the movement and finding what it had been looking for in Hamas, which Iran probably instructed to carry out the attack of October 7, 2023, according to a Financial Times report published on June 13. Hamas launched the operation assuming that Iran's axis would be ready to provide support. Under the broad banner of 'liberating Palestine,' Iran also succeeded in recruiting a significant segment of the Lebanese population to join Hezbollah. Having long claimed that Iran had had the power to erase Israel within hours, if not less, through its immense propaganda networks, the Iranian axis presented all the actions taken by these factions, which hurt other communities in their own countries, as sacrifices for Palestine. After October 7, 2023, this ground unpinning this assumption broke: Gaza became uninhabitable, Hezbollah was diminished, and Syria ultimately left the axis. To make matters worse, the two direct clashes between Israel and Iran exposed the limitations of Iran's military capabilities, both in terms of equipment and firepower. For the first time, Iran's own security took a hit. There was a strong wave of opposition to Iran's growing influence. Iran had expended considerable effort and money to spread instability in the Middle East, particularly in the Arab region, creating resentment in a number of Arab states. In the lead-up to Trump's visit, the drums of war had been growing louder. Meanwhile, Iranian officials engaged in shuttle diplomacy to Gulf capitals. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman also delivered a message to the Iranian leadership: 'We in this region do not want a war between any two parties.' Wars are destructive and do not serve any regional power's interest. De-escalation was the goal, and the Kingdom succeeded. During Trump's visit, he was told that war would be unacceptable. Along with his own desire for peace, these warnings were pushed to backtrack. The US armada that had been mobilized to the region withdrew. One key question remained: Did Iran get the message? Had Iran understood that its neighbors are growing weary of its interference in their domestic affairs, and that it would be better for everyone, including Iran, if it abandoned that irrational slogan of 'exporting the revolution.' The Iranian people have every right to live as they wish, but so do others. The model that the Iranian revolution established does not appeal to its neighbors, who have begun to build a different model of their own, and they have already made strides. The question is: Has scaling back the threat of war shown Iran that the path it has taken over the past five decades is a dead end and that a durable peace - one that enables economic, social, and political development and meets the aspirations of our societies - would be better for both Iranians and their neighbors? Or will it prefer returning to the past once again? The Iranian leadership has the right to present the results it has achieved so far in whatever way it finds satisfactory. What truly matters is not how the results are sold domestically, but whether there is a shift in Iran's compass. Will it turn away from its regional ambitions and focus on achieving domestic objectives that fuel development and improve the well-being of Iranians? The coming days and weeks will show us the direction Iran has chosen to take. The ultimate indicator will be whether Iran reaches an agreement with the United States regarding its nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and its regional interventions. Will there be a change on these three fronts, or will things remain the same? Indeed, even if war is avoided, a severe blockade could be imposed, and it would have even more bitter implications for the Iranian people. Solving this dilemma is the bridge between Trump's visit to the region and his departure. Everyone is awaiting the answer in this region that has already suffered, far more than it deserves to, from populist sloganeering that has exhausted its people and paralyzed its development. To conclude, every society that has been infected by the Iranian 'virus' has unfortunately experienced state failure, currency collapse, and the spread of poverty.
