Iran’s Crown Prince Calls for Protests
Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi made his first direct call for protests via a video message, encouraging citizens to demonstrate on January 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. He praised the ongoing protests despite government crackdowns and urged security forces to side with the people instead of the regime. Concurrently, Iranian Kurdish opposition parties called for a general strike to support the protests, with reports of significant participation in Kurdish-majority areas. Human rights groups have reported at least 36 fatalities amid the protests, which have spread to 92 cities.
