Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi has called on protesters in Iran to continue taking to the streets for two more nights on Saturday and Sunday
He urged demonstrators to seize city centres and asked energy and transport workers to start nationwide strikes.
Protesters have now taken to the streets for the 13th day in widespread demonstrations against the Khamenei regime and the rising cost of living.
A nationwide internet shutdown was imposed in the country on Friday, according to the internet monitor NetBlocks.
In a message addressed to the protesters via X, Pahlavi praised the “courage and resilience” after tens of thousands of people heeded his call for protests on Thursday and Friday.
هممیهنان عزیزم،
— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) January 10, 2026
شما با شجاعت و ایستادگی خود، تحسین جهانیان را برانگیختهاید. حضور دگرباره و پرشکوهتان در خیابانهای سراسر ایران در شامگاه جمعه، پاسخی دندانشکن به تهدیدهای رهبر خائن و جنایتکار جمهوری اسلامی بود. یقین دارم که او این تصاویر را از مخفیگاهش دیده و از وحشت لرزیده… pic.twitter.com/MaQDiwkXRL
He said that the next phase of the protests should focus on both sustained street presence and economic pressure, arguing that doing so would cut off the Islamic Republic's financial lifelines, cutting off their ability to continue crackdowns on the protesters.
“Now, with your decisive response to the first call, 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,” He said.
He asked protesters to take to the streets on Saturday and Sunday evenings starting at 6 pm while carrying national flags, symbols, and images to reclaim public spaces.
He stressed that the nature of the protests must shift beyond symbolic demonstrations and said that protesters should prepare to seize and hold central areas of major cities.
To do this, he encourages demonstrators to move towards the city from multiple routes and links separate crowds together and arrange basic supplies to prepare for prolonged stays in the streets
He said that the goal was to disable the Islamic Republic’s “repression machine at a decisive moment.”
Pahlavi also said that he was preparing to return to Iran to stand alongside the Iranian people
