Cut financial lifelines to bring Khamenei regime to its knees: Exiled Crown Prince’s fresh call to Iranian protesters

Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi on Saturday (Jan 10) called on protesters to intensify their demonstration against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime by "seizing the centre of cities and holding them" and "cutting off financial lifelines" to "bring the Islamic Republic and its worn-out and fragile repression apparatus to its knees".

"I ask all of you today and tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday (January 10 and 11), this time, from 6 p.m., to come to the streets with flags, images, and national symbols and claim public spaces as your own. Our goal is no longer merely to come to the streets; the goal is to prepare for seizing the centres of cities and holding them," Reza Pahlavi said in a post on X.

The protests, which began as small demonstrations in markets of Iran's capital city, Tehran, against the rising concerns over the cost of living and raging economic crisis, now entered their thirteenth consecutive day despite a massive security crackdown and complete internet blackout.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown during the 1979 revolution to establish an Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ali Khomenai as Supreme Leader.

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The exiled crown prince who enraged as prominent opposition voices among Iranians living abroad called on the workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, especially oil, gas and energy, to begin nationwide strikes. "I am certain that by making our street presence more targeted, and at the same time, by cutting off the financial lifelines, we will completely bring the Islamic Republic and its worn-out and fragile repression apparatus to its knees".

The protests have now spread to 512 locations across 180 cities in 31 provinces in Iran, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

As tensions remained high, large crowds took to the streets in major Iranian cities on including Tehran, after Pahlavi called for stepped-up protests. The fresh unrest prompted the clerical leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to cut internet and telephone services.

On Friday, Pahlavi also urged United States President Donald Trump to intervene in ongoing protests in Iran, saying, “Ali Khamenei, fearing the end of his criminal regime at the hands of the people and with the help of your powerful promise to support the protesters, has threatened the people on the streets with a brutal crackdown. And he wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes.”

Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei responded sharply, stressing that external pressure would not work. He said that Iran “will not back down” in the face of both internal unrest and external threats, asserting that the country will stand firm against attempts to influence or control its internal affairs.