Overview
- In new interviews, the exiled crown prince urged President Trump to act "sooner rather than later" and issued a direct appeal for intervention.
- Pahlavi said he has been in contact with the Trump administration and used pointed language calling for the removal of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
- Trump said Iranian leaders had called to negotiate and warned the U.S. would hit the regime "very, very hard," with the White House keeping options including airstrikes on the table.
- The Human Rights Activists News Agency reports more than 500 people killed and over 10,000 arrested as the protests entered their third week.
- The unrest began after a sharp currency collapse on December 28, and Pahlavi portrays himself as a potential transitional figure, citing protest chants invoking his family.