Iran’s exiled Crown Prince warns more protesters will suffer if US, other nations don’t strike regime’s military

Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi warned Friday there will be more bloodshed against anti-government protesters if outside action isn’t immediately taken against the regime’s ruthless military force — as he urged President Trump to act now.

The dissident, 65, repeatedly said he believes Trump, who has threatened to strike Iran if the violence continued, is a “man of his word.”

“President Trump did say that if the regime was to hit the Iranian people hard, they will face serious consequences,” Pahlavi said Friday during a press conference in Washington, DC. “The Iranian people have taken him as a man of his word.”

He said that targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, would “prevent more loss of life and will weaken the regime to a point that resistance would be futile.”

“The odds are not fair to a nation that is trying to overcome a regime by means of protesting peacefully on the streets,” he said.

“So the only way you can equalize the playing field is to help them have a better chance by weakening the regime’s apparatus of oppression.”

Trump has warned Iran numerous times that if its security forces brutalized protesters, he would order an attack on the Middle Eastern country’s leaders. But so far, he’s held fire as the death toll among protesters reached the thousands.

Iran for now has returned to a tense calm after the wave of protests resulted in the violent crackdown by security forces with Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a senior hardline cleric, calling for executions for detained protesters Friday.

Khatami also accused the anti-regime protesters of being “butlers” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump soldiers.”

There have not been protests in Tehran for days, with locals saying they’re too scared to step foot outside because of armed security forces on the streets — though an internet blackout continues.

The fiery protests were initially sparked on Dec. 28 over the country’s collapsing economy that’s made it impossible for Iranians to afford basic needs.

It’s unclear whether Trump will actually go forward with his promise — with top officials in other Middle Eastern nations expressing concerns to the White House about military intervention.

But Pahlavi, whose father was tossed from power in Iran in 1979, still believes Trump will back the protesters.

“I believe the president is a man of his word,” he said, though he stressed, “regardless of whether action is taken or not, we as Iranians have no choice to carry on the fight.”

Pahlavi said on top of taking aim at the command structure of Iran’s military, other countries should block assets of clerical rulers, toss the government’s diplomats from world capitals and install Starlink satellite internet systems to combat Iran’s communication blackout.

“The Iranian people are taking decisive action on the ground,” Pahlavi added. “It is now time for the international community to join them fully.”

But he said foreign troops don’t need to enter the country to help in the fight.

“The Iranian people’s boots are already on the ground,” Pahlavi said.

“They are the ones marching, sacrificing and fighting for their freedom every single day.”

Pahlavi has painted himself as a transitional government leader if the regime is overthrown, vowing to steer the nation toward democracy and peace.

But it’s unclear how much support he has among citizens in the country, and even Trump has questioned his ability to lead.

“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump said Wednesday. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet.

“I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.”

With Post wires