Tehran, Jan 13 (.) Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, in his support to protesters claimed that thousands of members of Iran’s military and police forces have refused to report for duty in order to avoid partaking in the regime’s bloody repression.
In a message posted on X on Saturday, Pahlavi said the scale of public resistance was beginning to create fractures within the state apparatus itself, weakening it from within.
“Because of your steadfastness and resistance, thousands of military and police personnel have not shown up for work so they would not have to take part in the repression,” he wrote.
Accusing the Iranian security authorities of attempting to crush what he said was legitimate movement through fear, Pahlavi pointing to the mass killings, sweeping detentions, and near total communications blackout noted, “The regime is trying to create fear and terror among you,” reflecting its increasing anxiety over the gradual erosion of its powers.
Issuing a direct appeal to Iran’s technology and communications specialists, he urged officials to undermine the state’s grip over the flow of information, by disrupting government systems in order to restore public access to the internet and outside communications.
“Target the regime’s information infrastructure so that our compatriots’ connection with the world can be restored again,” he said.
Echoing similar remarks, his mother and the country’s exiled Queen, Farah Pahlavi, expressed confidence that the current protests will succeed, and the protesters would soon taste freedom.
“Soon you will celebrate freedom together in Iran and light will overcome darkness,” she wrote.
The exiled Queen also lauded the courage and perseverance of the demonstrators and offered condolences to families of those killed, saying footage emerging from Iran had caused her profound anguish. “Every child of this nation whose blood is shed revives for me the unbearable grief of losing my own children,” she said, adding prayers for the wounded to recover.
Addressing Iran’s armed forces, she urged Atesh (regular military) soldiers and officers not to link their future to leaders responsible for bloodshed. No political calculation or promise of survival, she said, could justify killing fellow citizens.
Signs of unease have also begun to surface within Iran’s political establishment, as several lawmakers warned publicly that public anger could intensify unless the government takes meaningful steps to address economic hardship and governance failures.
Mohammadreza Sabaghian, a member of parliament from Bafq, cautioned against dismissing popular grievances. “We should not forget that people have grievances that must be addressed by the government and parliament,” he said, warning that failure to do so would see unrest return “with a much steeper slope”.
Other lawmakers struck a similar tone, with Tehran-based MP Hossein Samsami blaming the years of economic mismanagement, said this had sparked the massive public outburst, and cited the currency depreciation and sharp price fluctuations as key factors behind the public resentment.
Another lawmaker, Mohammad Amir, criticised mismanagement in the energy sector, accusing senior oil officials of treating state companies as personal assets rather than public institutions.
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