03 World

The son of Iran’s late shah said Friday he is confident the Islamic Republic will fall amid mass protests and called for international intervention.

“The Islamic Republic will fall — not if, but when,” Reza Pahlavi told a news conference in Washington. “I will return to Iran.”

Pahlavi has lived in exile in the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled his pro-Western father.

Many protesters have chanted Pahlavi’s name in mass protests that swept Iran, which the regime in Tehran violently suppressed. At least 2,572 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to human rights organisations, although some sources claim the toll could reach 15,000.

Pahlavi said he wants to serve as a figurehead to lead a transition to a secular democracy, despite detractors.

Pahlavi has repeatedly called for intervention by US President Donald Trump, who has not acted despite several warnings to Tehran.

“Iranian people are taking decisive actions on the ground. It is now time for the international community to join them fully,” Pahlavi said.

What does the Iranian diaspora want America to do? Do they want intervention? And what do they think is next for Iran?

As protests continue across Iran and US President Donald Trump warns of consequences if the killing continues Yalda Hakim sits down with two Iranian American women to hear the views of the Iranian diaspora.

In this extra episode of the World, she speaks to Azadeh Afsahi, a human rights activist and Moj Mahdara who set up the Iranian Diaspora Collective about their motherland, their relationship to it, and what they want to happen next.

The monarch has ramped up his unwavering support for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, with emotional comments marking the first anniversary of a historic partnership

King Charles has reiterated the United Kingdom’s commitment to Ukraine, telling the nation “we stand with you” amid the deadly ongoing Russian invasion. The monarch also spoke of his hopes for a lasting peace that safeguards its “security, sovereignty and prosperity”.

Charles’ written comments marked the first anniversary of the 100-Year Partnership between the UK and Ukraine, as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches at the end of February. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has travelled to Ukraine, according to reports, for a forum of the centenary partnership, to discuss the details of future cooperation between the two nations.

Iranian and US officials traded barbs at UN Security Council meeting on deadly protests in Iran and amid threats of attack by Washington.

The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss deadly protests in Iran amid threats by United States President Donald Trump to intervene militarily in the country.

Members of the influential 15-member UN body heard from Iran’s deputy UN representative, who warned at the meeting on Thursday that Iranians did not seek a confrontation but would respond to US aggression, and accused Washington of “direct involvement in steering unrest in Iran”.

The coordinated action by the State Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is aimed at what US officials called the “architects” of the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and the financial machinery that sustains the government’s repression.