Iran's Exiled Prince Urges Trump to Strike Regime

Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi on Friday urged President Donald Trump to follow through on his pledge to strike Iran's Islamic Republic if it killed civilians during widespread anti-government protests.

Trump has sent conflicting signals this month as Iran's violent crackdown intensified, with human rights groups estimating that thousands of protesters have been killed.

He initially warned that the U.S. could intervene militarily if Iran continued to slaughter demonstrators.

Reuters reported Wednesday that European officials believed a U.S. strike could occur within about 24 hours.

But Trump appeared to step back after saying he received information that Iran had stopped executions.

The New York Times reported that the shift came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Trump to postpone any attack.

Although Trump publicly called the reports about halted executions "good news," U.S. officials said he had not ruled out military options and that any decision would depend on Iran's next moves.

"It's never too late. Any fight for freedom doesn't have a deadline," Pahlavi said at a Washington, D.C., news conference. "We will fight until we win. That is the national will of the Iranian people. We're all going to fight until we win. The only question is, what are the elements that can expedite it? And the immediate issue remains, what would hurt the regime most?"

The answer, Pahlavi said, would be targeting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which wields vast military and economic power. He said Iran would be hurt most by "dismantling its apparatus of state terror and repression."

"A lot of it are the regime's paramilitary assets, mostly IRGC targets," said Pahlavi, the son of Iran's late shah, who was ousted during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "So, I'm calling for a surgical strike on those means. It should be quite obvious to any of you, how do you weaken [a] regime's first and foremost means of instituting terror at home or terrorism abroad? And the targets are quite obvious.

"They're not going to hit a factory or a school or a hospital. Clearly, it's obvious what the targets should be. The regime knows it, and that's exactly what those who have to decide what should be legitimate targets. I think the Iranian people say the people who hurt us the most should be the first ones to be targeted. I think it should be quite obvious what should be done."

During an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday, Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Trump "has made it clear that all options are on the table to stop the slaughter. And no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime."

Pahlavi called the Islamic government "a hostile occupying force that's hijacked our homeland," saying the struggle inside Iran "is not between reform and revolution" but "between occupation and liberation."

He dismissed reports that the protests have waned in the wake of the crackdown.

"The Iranian people have already chosen their side," Pahlavi said. "Their heads are bloodied but unbowed. Yet the cost has been heartbreaking. The people of Iran are being slaughtered in the streets and in their homes by a regime that shows no mercy. … Despite the lies you're hearing from the regime, its blood lust has not diminished. The slaughter has not stopped.

"My brave compatriots are still holding the line with their broken bodies but unbreakable will. [They] need your urgent help right now. Make no mistake, the Islamic Republic is close to collapse. Ali Khamenei and his thugs know this.

"That's why they are lashing out like a wounded animal, desperate to cling to power. The people have not retreated.

"Their determination has made one thing clear: They're not merely rejecting this regime; they are demanding a credible new path forward.

"They have called for me to lead. The bond between me and the Iranian people is not new. It's been with me since birth, and it cannot be broken. Even in exile, I have pledged my life to the service of the Iranian nation."