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reza pahlavi
Son of Last Iranian Shah Asks Trump to Back Military Coup as Protests Rage
"What is clear is that President Trump does not now have Congress' authorization for the use of military force in Iran," said one expert.
Jan 12, 2026
The son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who brutally ruled Iran for decades with backing from the United States and other Western powers, has urged US President Donald Trump to intervene militarily and support the overthrow of the Iranian government amid an escalating protest movement that has faced violent repression.
"The people of Iran have responded and reacted positively to a promise of intervention," Reza Pahlavi, who has lived in exile since the 1979 revolution and ouster of his father, said in a Fox News appearance on Sunday when asked if he wants US forces to "take out" Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.
"We need to cut the snake’s head off for good so it can no longer be a threat to Iranian interests, to American interests, to regional interests," said Pahlavi, who has been accused of opportunistically coopting the protest movement, which began late last month over the collapse of the nation's currency. "The only solution is to make sure this regime goes down for good and the Iranian people can liberate themselves.”
Hours after Pahlavi's comments, Trump told reporters that the US military is looking at "some very strong options" to intervene in Iran, a country whose nuclear facilities the Trump administration bombed last year.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Trump, fresh off his unlawful and deadly attack on Venezuela, is set to receive a briefing on Iran from top administration officials on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, the meeting "will be a discussion about the next steps, which could include boosting anti-government sources online, deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on the regime, and military strikes."
"One option under discussion is the possibility of the US sending terminals of Starlink, a satellite-based internet service owned by Elon Musk, into Iran for the first time during the Trump administration, officials said, which could help protesters skirt a recent internet shutdown in the country," the Journal reported. "Trump said he would speak with Musk about sending Starlink satellite-internet terminals into Iran."
"Reports that the United States and Israel may be considering military strikes in Iran are deeply concerning."
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Monday that Iranian leaders are willing to negotiate with the US.
"We are not looking for war, but we are prepared for war—even more prepared than the previous war," said Araghchi. "We are also ready for negotiations, but negotiations that are fair, with equal rights and mutual respect."
Expert observers expressed horror at the Iranian government's treatment of demonstrators while also warning against military intervention by outside powers, including the United States.
Matt Duss, executive vice president of the US-based Center for International Policy, said in a statement Monday that "indications that widespread demonstrations by brave Iranians are being met with a brutal, deadly crackdown by the Iranian government are horrific."
"This violence should be unequivocally condemned," said Duss. "It is important for other countries and multilateral bodies to vocally stand for the right of Iranians to protest. It is also critical that no country attempts to intervene inside Iran in a manner that could further endanger or undermine the protestors."
"Reports that the United States and Israel may be considering military strikes in Iran are deeply concerning," Duss continued. "It is difficult to know what the impact of such attacks would be on the plight of the Iranian protestors, and even less clear what the follow-on consequences would be for the Iranian people and security in the region. Israeli and US strikes against Iranian government targets last year were broadly opposed by Iran’s people and diaspora across almost the entire political spectrum."
"What is clear is that President Trump does not now have Congress' authorization for the use of military force in Iran," he added. "Any US strikes would be illegal under both US and international law. The administration should instead focus its efforts on working multilaterally to press Iran’s government to end the killing and other abuse of its own citizens."
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