Iran’s exiled Crown Prince urged President Trump to strike Tehran — warning negotiations with the regime are futile as protesters continue dying daily.
Reza Pahlavi said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is showing signs it’s on the brink of collapse and a military attack by the US could deliver the fatal blow.
“It’s a matter of time,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “We are hoping that this attack will expedite the process, and the people can be finally back in the streets and take it all the way to the ultimate regime’s downfall.”
The US has been trying to hammer out a deal with Tehran over Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but a first round of negotiations failed to produce an agreement.
A second round of nuclear talks is planned for Tuesday in Geneva.
“People are hoping that at some point the decision will be made that there’s no use, there’s no point, we’re not going to get anywhere with negotiations,” said Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran who was deposed during the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic to power.
“Therefore, that’s time for the United States to intervene and do what President Trump promised he will do, to have the people’s back.”
More than 7,000 have been killed in the bloodiest unrest since 1979, when the Islamic Republic rose power — although some estimates contend that the death toll is far worse.
Trump said regime change in Iran was “the best thing that could happen” Friday — as two administration officials confirmed the US is preparing for what could be a sustained, weeks-long military operation.
The planning underway is more complex than the the one-off US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June — and could involve targeting state and security facilities, not only nuclear infrastructure, according to officials who spoke to Reuters.
The US expects Iran to retaliate in force, leading to back-and-forth strikes in what would be a far more serious conflict than previously thought, the officials said.
Trump, speaking to US troops at a base in North Carolina Friday, said it had “been difficult to make a deal” with Iran.
“Sometimes you have to have fear. That’s the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of,” Trump said.
At the same time, the US military ordered a second carrier strike group to deploy to the Middle East, adding thousands more troops to the ones already there.
The USS Gerald R. Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — is on its way to join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group that was already moved the region last month.
With Post Wires
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