Son of last shah urges international intervention in Iran

The government crackdown in Iran is being called the deadliest in modern history. Kyle Matthews of the Institute for Global Security looks at what comes next

The exiled son of Iran’s last shah renewed calls for international intervention to support the Iranian people on Friday, as the opposition figure urged Iranians at home and abroad to continue demonstrations against the Islamic republic.

US-based Reza Pahlavi, who has not returned to his country since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy, said Iran needed an “equalising factor” to oust the clerical authorities, while speaking at the Munich Security Conference.

“I think a lot of Iranians inside and outside hope that an intervention that will neutralise the regime’s instrument of repression will finally give us an opportunity for a final solution,” he said.

“We are asking for a humanitarian intervention to prevent more innocent lives being killed in the process.”

US President Donald Trump had threatened military intervention to support a wave of street protests that peaked in January and were met by a violent crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.

Trump positioned a US aircraft carrier group in the Middle East and said on Friday he would soon send another, but has shifted his pressure on Iranian authorities to focus on making a deal on its nuclear programme.

Pahlavi said Trump “needs to convince the whole world” that he has given a “diplomatic effort the maximum chance”, but that he thinks “President Trump realises that the Iranian people have been very clear in their ask for support, they actually believed in his promise of help is near”.

“There’s a lot at stake in terms of maintaining face vis-a-vis that expectation,” he added during the conversation with CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour at the conference, a rare chance for him to speak at an international event.

He called for “intervention” that will “eliminate the most important stumbling block between them (the Iranian people) and liberation, which is the regime’s mechanism of repression and its killing machine”, as well as further economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure.

Fresh protests

These echoed demands listed in a call for protests on Saturday in Munich, Toronto and Los Angeles to “compel the international community to take urgent, practical steps in support of the Iranian people”.

On Thursday, Pahlavi also urged Iranians inside the country to join in by chanting slogans from their homes and rooftops at 8 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Videos verified by AFP showed people in Iran this week chanting anti-government slogans despite the ongoing crackdown, as the clerical leadership celebrated the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

According to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, 7,005 people, mostly protesters, were killed in the crackdown, though rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher.

Pahlavi had encouraged Iranians to join the wave of protests, which Iranian authorities have said were hijacked by “terrorists” fuelled by their sworn enemies the United States and Israel.

Many protest chants had called for the monarchy’s return, and Pahlavi, 65, has said he is ready to lead a democratic transition in the country.

The Iranian opposition remains divided and Pahlavi has faced criticism for his support for Israel, making a highly publicised visit in 2023 that fractured an attempt to unify opposition camps. He has also never distanced himself from his father’s autocratic rule.