{"id":397892,"date":"2026-01-09T20:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397892\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T20:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:48:09","slug":"live-updates-iran-protests-spread-as-authorities-cut-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397892\/","title":{"rendered":"Live updates: Iran protests spread as authorities cut communications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/ap25048529624163.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_1280,c_fill\/f_avif\" alt=\"Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi, son of Iate Iranian Shah Mohamad-Reza Pahlavi, attends a press conference organised in Geneva, Switzerland, on Februaru 17, 2025.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1333\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb59600093b6pagukjxyd@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Reza Pahlavi was only 16 years old when Iran\u2019s 1979 revolution toppled his father\u2019s forty-year rule. The eldest son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, he was the first in the line to inherit the oil-rich thousand-year-old empire.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000a3b6pz2gu5fup@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Now at the age of 65, nearly half a century after the unravelling of his birthright, his wait may finally be coming to an end.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000b3b6p7d02v28o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThis is the last battle. Pahlavi will return!\u201d was one of the standout chants from nationwide protests that gripped Iran on Thursday night after the exiled former crown prince exhorted his compatriots to hit the streets.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000c3b6ple0df23j@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cJavid Shah (long live the king)!\u201d cried the protesters. \u201cReza Shah, God bless your soul!\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000d3b6p607k5wdn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Thursday\u2019s protests were the culmination of days of demonstrations that first began in Tehran\u2019s Grand Bazaar against economic grievances but have quickly taken on an anti-regime focus. Pahlavi, who is based in the US, has sought to position himself as a de facto leader.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000e3b6p50h0nf8j@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Support for the deposed monarchy is taboo in Iran, a criminal offense, and a sentiment long frowned upon by a society that staged a popular uprising to overthrow the Shah\u2019s dictatorship.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/gettyimages-1960262256.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_1280,c_fill\/f_avif\" alt=\"The coronation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran and his wife Farah Pahlavi, in Tehran, Iran, on October 26 1967. Seated on the right is Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1446\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000f3b6p7vp41bps@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It is unclear what might be driving the renewed excitement for the royal family, and its titular head in exile, analysts say. Do Iranians genuinely support the restoration of the monarchy or are they just fed up with their repressive theocracy?\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000g3b6pvonm64o0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cReza Pahlavi has indubitably increased his clout and has turned himself into a frontrunner in Iranian opposition politics,\u201d said Arash Azizi, an academic and author of the book \u201cWhat Iranians Want.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000h3b6pyjr2ks9y@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cBut he also suffers from many problems. He is a divisive figure and not a unifying one.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmk6yb596000i3b6p7rkxgugv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Pahlavi has said he is willing to lead Iran in a transition in case protesters succeed in ousting the regime in these demonstrations, the fifth anti regime protests in nearly a decade. But he is sparse on the details of his plans and his critics say his inexperience may soon turn against him.\n    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reza Pahlavi was only 16 years old when Iran\u2019s 1979 revolution toppled his father\u2019s forty-year rule. The eldest&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101,100016],"class_list":{"0":"post-397892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-intl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}