Protests erupt in Iran's capital after exiled prince's call; internet cuts out soon after

His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past - particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June.Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isnt clear whether thats support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously.

People in Iran's capital shouted from their homes and rallied in the street Thursday night after a call by the country's exiled crown prince for a mass demonstration, witnesses said, a new escalation in the protests that have spread nationwide across the Islamic Republic.

Internet access and telephone lines in Iran cut out immediately after the protests began.

The protest represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fuelling the protests that began over Iran's ailing economy.

Thursday saw a continuation of the demonstrations that popped up in cities and rural towns across Iran on Wednesday. More markets and bazaars shut down in support of the protesters. So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 39 people while more than 2,260 others have been detained, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran's civilian government and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. So far, authorities haven't shut down the internet or fully flooded the streets with security forces like they did to put down the 2022 Mahsa Amini demonstrations. But any intensification may seem them act.

Meanwhile, the protests themselves have remained broadly leaderless, though a call for protests by Iran's exiled crown prince will test whether or not demonstrators are being swayed by messages from abroad.

"The lack of a viable alternative has undermined past protests in Iran," wrote Nate Swanson of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, who studies Iran.

"There may be a thousand Iranian dissident activists who, given a chance, could emerge as respected statesmen, as labour leader Lech Walesa did in Poland at the end of the Cold War. But so far, the Iranian security apparatus has arrested, persecuted and exiled all of the country's potential transformational leaders." Thursday's demonstration rallies at home and in street ================================= Pahlavi had called for demonstrations at 8 pm local (1630 GMT) on Thursday and Friday. When the clock struck, neighbourhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to the Islamic Republic!" Others praised the shah, shouting: "This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!" Thousands could be seen on the streets.

"Great nation of Iran, the eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets and, as a united front, shout your demands," Pahlavi said in a statement. "I warn the Islamic Republic, its leader and the (Revolutionary Guard) that the world and (President Donald Trump) are closely watching you. Suppression of the people will not go unanswered." Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past - particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June.

Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn't clear whether that's support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify those taking part.

Iranian officials have offered no acknowledgment of the scale of the overall protests, which raged across many locations Thursday even before the 8 p.m. demonstration. However, there has been reporting regarding security officials being hurt or killed.

The judiciary's Mizan news agency report a police colonel suffered fatal stab wounds in a town outside of Tehran, while the semiofficial Fars news agency said gunmen killed two security force members and wounded 30 others in a shooting in the city of Lordegan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.

A deputy governor in Iran's Khorasan Razavi province told Iranian state television that an attack at a police station killed five people Wednesday night in Chenaran, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) northeast of Tehran.

Iran weighs Trump threat ================ It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran "violently kills peaceful protesters," America "will come to their rescue." Trump's comments drew a new rebuke from Iran's Foreign Ministry.

"Recalling the long history of criminal interventions by successive US administrations in Iran's internal affairs, the Foreign Ministry considers claims of concern for the great Iranian nation to be hypocritical, aimed at deceiving public opinion and covering up the numerous crimes committed against Iranians," it said.

But those comments haven't stopped the US State Department on the social platform X from highlighting online footage purporting to show demonstrators putting up stickers naming roads after Trump or throwing away government-subsidized rice.

"When prices are set so high that neither consumers can afford to buy nor farmers can afford to sell, everyone loses," the State Department said in one message. "It makes no difference if this rice is thrown away." Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains imprisoned by authorities after her arrest in December.

"Since December 28, 2025, the people of Iran have taken to the streets, just as they did in 2009, 2019," her son Ali Rahmani said. "Each time, the same demands came up: an end to the Islamic Republic, an end to this patriarchal, dictatorial and religious regime, the end of the clerics, the end of the mullahs' regime." Exiled prince calls for protests =================== The demonstrations so far broadly appear to be leaderless, like other rounds of protests in Iran in recent years. However, Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, has urged the public in Iran to shout from their windows and roofs on Thursday and Friday nights at 8 pm.

"Wherever you are, whether in the streets or even from your own homes, I call on you to begin chanting exactly at this time," Pahlavi said in an online video that's also been promoted by Iranian satellite news channels abroad. "Based on your response, I will announce the next calls to action." Whether people take part will be a sign of possible support for Pahlavi, whose support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn't clear whether that's support for Pahlavi or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify those taking part.

Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains imprisoned by authorities after her arrest in December.

"Since December 28, 2025, the people of Iran have taken to the streets, just as they did in 2009, 2019," her son Ali Rahmani said. "Each time, the same demands came up: an end to the Islamic Republic, an end to this patriarchal, dictatorial and religious regime, the end of the clerics, the end of the mullahs' regime." Biggest protests since Mahsa Amini's death ========================== Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after a 12-day war with Israel in June, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to USD 1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran's theocracy.

Prior to Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the rial was broadly stable, trading at around 70 to USD 1. At the time of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, USD 1 traded for 32,000 rials. Shops in markets across the country have shut down as part of the protests.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)