Iran's exiled prince vows to return to country and claims 'brave compatriots' need 'urgent help right now'
Reza Pahlavi said he will go back to Iran and said he is "uniquely positioned to ensure a stable transition"
The exiled crown prince of Iran has vowed to return to the country and has insisted his "brave compatriots need urgent help right now."
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Speaking to reporters in Washington, Reza Pahlavi, described the Iranian regime as "lashing out like a wounded animal, desperate to cling to power."
Mr Pahlavi, son of the last shah of Iran, Mohamad-Reza Pahlavi, asked the world to do six things to help the protesters, and claimed global stability "depends on it."
His comments come after the US diverted an aircraft carrier and its strike group towards Iran, amid speculation Donald Trump is mulling over intervening in the country's deadly protests.
Read more: Iran cancels 800 executions after Trump threats, White House claims
The carrier and its strike group was seen moving west to the Indo-Pacific region, images from a satellite data company Copernicus revealed.
It is due to arrive in Iran in a week’s time, sources say, after the Pentagon confirmed it is moving the carrier strike group from the South China Sea towards the Middle East.
Mr Pahlavi said: "Today, as my compatriots call on me for leadership, I reaffirm my lifelong pledge by stepping in to lead the movement that will take back our country from the anti-Iranian hostile force that occupies it and kills its children.
"I will return to Iran. I am uniquely positioned to ensure a stable transition.
"That's not my opinion. That's the verdict delivered loudly and clearly by the people in the face of bullets."
He added that the regime is "close to collapse" and also reiterated his offer to lead a new Iranian government and that he will soon return to the country.
The exiled crown prince said: "There are moments in history where the moral imperative for action is so strong that the weight of inaction becomes unbearable.
"This is one of those moments."
Earlier this week, Iran said it had postponed 800 scheduled executions after facing threats of military action from Donald Trump should they proceed, according to the White House.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "The President and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences.
"And the President received a message, as he revealed to all of you in the whole world yesterday, that the killing and the executions will stop."
Mr Pahlavi said: "My brave compatriots need your urgent help right now."
Describing the six things the world needs to do to help, he said that the Iranian people needed to be protected by "degrading the regime's repressive capacity."
He added that "maximum economic pressure" should be added to the regime, alongside returning the internet to its full state after days of a blackout.
The press conference was also told Iranian diplomats should be expelled, all political prisoners released, and to recognise a legitimate transitional government
Summarising his six points, Mr Pahlavi said: "Global stability itself depends on the removal of this regime.
"This does not require putting boots on the ground - the Iranian people's boots are already on the ground."