‘Prepare to intervene’: Former Shah of Iran pleads Trump amid Khamenei's threat to protesters

Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi on January 9 issued an urgent appeal to US President Donald Trump, calling for immediate international intervention as Iran’s leadership signalled an imminent and violent crackdown on nationwide protests. 

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Pahlavi warned that Iranian authorities had imposed sweeping communications blackout to conceal what he described as an impending massacre of protesters. 

“Mr. President, this is an urgent and immediate call for your attention, support, and action,” Pahlavi wrote. “Last night you saw the millions of brave Iranians in the streets facing down live bullets. Today, they are facing not just bullets but a total communications blackout. No Internet. No landlines.” 

Pahlavi accused Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of attempting to crush the uprising under cover of the blackout. “He wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes,” he said, urging Trump to be prepared to intervene as protesters prepared to return to the streets. 

The appeal came as Iran’s leadership openly defied Trump’s pledge to support peaceful demonstrators, even as the reported death toll from the unrest climbed to at least 50. 

In footage aired on Iranian state television, Khamenei dismissed Trump’s warnings as hollow, accusing the US president of having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians,” while crowds of regime supporters chanted “Death to America!” 

State media escalated its rhetoric further, repeatedly branding protesters as “terrorists” — a label that has historically preceded violent security operations during earlier waves of unrest. 

In a sharply worded post on X, Khamenei warned that Trump would face the same fate as rulers who overreached at the height of their power. “The US President who judges arrogantly about the whole world should know that tyrants & arrogant rulers of the world, such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Mohammad Reza [Pahlavi] & other such rulers saw their downfall when they were at the peak of their hubris. He too will fall,” Khamenei wrote. 

Despite the government cutting off internet access and international telephone services, activists circulated short videos online purporting to show protesters chanting anti-regime slogans around bonfires, with debris strewn across streets in Tehran and other cities into early Friday. The blackout has made it difficult to independently verify events on the ground or determine the full scale of the demonstrations. 

The protests began on December 28 over worsening economic conditions but have since evolved into the most serious challenge to Iran’s leadership in several years. Demonstrators have openly voiced support for the former shah — once a taboo punishable by death — underscoring the depth of anger driving the movement. 

Trump's warning to Khamenei

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 50 people have been killed and more than 2,270 detained amid clashes linked to the protests. 

Washington has so far issued no formal response to Iran’s latest warnings. However, Trump has repeatedly threatened consequences if Iranian forces kill peaceful demonstrators — statements that have gained added weight following a recent US military raid that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

In an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt aired Thursday, Trump reiterated that Iran had been warned “very strongly” against violent repression. “If they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” he said. 

Trump declined to say whether he would meet with Reza Pahlavi, calling such a move premature. “I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges,” he said. 

Speaking separately on Fox News, Trump suggested that Khamenei himself may be considering fleeing the country. “He’s looking to go someplace,” Trump said. “It’s getting very bad.”

Who is Reza Pahlavi? 

Reza Pahlavi was born on October 31, 1960, in Tehran and is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s last shah, and Empress Farah Pahlavi (Farah Diba). He was officially named crown prince in 1967 during his father’s coronation and was educated at a private school inside the royal palace reserved for members of the imperial family. 

The Iranian monarchy was abolished in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution, forcing the royal family into exile. After his father’s death in exile in 1980, Reza Pahlavi declared himself the rightful heir to the throne, styling himself as Reza Shah II.