New Call from Prince Reza Pahlavi: Streets Against Bullets, People Against a Merciless Government

A new call from Prince Reza Pahlavi was issued as the Islamic Republic responded to protests with hunting rifle bullets and massacres.

Following the expansion of street protests in various Iranian cities and coinciding with the execution of the previous call, Prince Reza Pahlavi announced yesterday evening, Friday, January 9, corresponding to December 19, through a video message that the protests have entered a new phase; a phase that goes beyond symbolic presence and emphasizes a nationwide strike, the seizure of city centers, and the paralysis of the Islamic Republic’s repression apparatus.

This call was issued at a time when the Islamic Republic once again demonstrated that it has no red lines in confronting its people. Field reports through “Starlink,” published images, and eyewitness testimonies indicate that security forces and plainclothes agents directly fired hunting rifle bullets and firearms at protesters; gunfire that has resulted in the death and injury of numerous defenseless citizens.

While protesters were present on the streets empty-handed, carrying flags and national symbols, the government’s response was bullets, buckshot, and massacre. The use of hunting rifle bullets that had previously caused blindness, serious injuries, and deaths of protesters in past years was repeated once again; an action demonstrating that brutal repression is not an exception but rather a consistent policy of the Islamic Republic.

Prince Reza Pahlavi makes clear in his message that the goal of protests is no longer merely street presence, but rather preparedness to seize and hold city centers; a path that the government is attempting to suppress in blood before its full formation, using naked violence.

Prince Reza Pahlavi’s call to workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, particularly transportation, oil, gas, and energy, to begin a nationwide strike, demonstrates focus on the government’s main weakness: “a worn-out economy dependent on human labor.”

The government’s reaction to this call has been an intensification of street repression; an action demonstrating that the link between strike and street is the true nightmare of the power structure, and the Islamic Republic resorts to deadly violence to prevent it.

In an important section of his message, Prince Reza Pahlavi addresses young people, the Iranian Imperial Guard, and armed and security forces who have joined the National Cooperation Platform, saying: “Further disrupt and hamper the repression apparatus. This call is raised at a time when shooting at people has completely undermined the moral and legal legitimacy of any repression order.

From an international human rights perspective, firing hunting rifles and firearms at unarmed protesters is a clear violation of the right to life and a crime against civilians. According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic is also a signatory, the use of deadly force is only permitted under conditions of immediate and unavoidable threat; a condition that absolutely does not exist in peaceful street protests. The continuation of this behavior not only establishes the individual criminal responsibility of those firing the shots but also establishes the direct political and legal responsibility of the ruling authority at the international level.

Prince Pahlavi said in his message last night to the people of Iran:

“Dear Compatriots!

You, with your courage and steadfastness, have earned the admiration of the world. Your renewed and glorious presence in the streets across Iran on Friday evening was a devastating response to the threats of the Islamic Republic’s treacherous and criminal leader. I am certain that he saw these images from his hideout and trembled with fear.

Now, with your decisive response to the first call, I am confident that we, by expanding street presence while simultaneously cutting the financial arteries, will completely bring the Islamic Republic and its worn-out and fragile repression apparatus to its knees.

To this end, I call upon workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, particularly transportation, oil, gas, and energy, to begin the nationwide strike.

I also ask all of you to come to the streets today and tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, the 20th and 21st of December, this time starting from 6 p.m., with flags, images, and national symbols, and take public spaces as your own. Our goal is no longer merely to come to the streets; our goal is to be prepared to seize and hold city centers. To achieve this goal, move toward the more central parts of the cities through different routes as much as possible and unite the separated crowds with one another. At the same time, prepare from now on to stay in the streets and make the necessary preparations.

To the young people, the Iranian Imperial Guard, and all armed and security forces who have joined the National Cooperation Platform, I say: further disrupt and hamper the repression apparatus so that on the appointed day you can completely shut it down.

I am also preparing for my return to my homeland so that on the day of the revolution’s victory, I will be beside you, the great people of Iran. I believe that day is very near.

Long live Iran”