He Called for the Streets, Others Paid in Blood

Seeing Reza Pahlavi’s new post on X brought back memories of the days when Iran’s internet was cut and news of the crackdown reached us only in fragments.

When the uprising began in late December, and after nearly two weeks of protests, Pahlavi moved to show that he still carried weight inside Iran. That came after his New Year holiday period and after Trump publicly signaled that he had doubts about the former crown prince and later stated that meeting him would not be appropriate. With the help of sympathetic media outlets, he urged people to take to the streets.

By early January, Iranian officials were already issuing public warnings in the language of repression, as the state prepared to crush the protests. That was precisely the period before the violence reached its peak.

Pahlavi had repeatedly claimed that more than 50,000 members of the security and military apparatus had joined his campaign or were part of a broader wave of defections. That raises an obvious question: if that were true, did none of them know that the IRGC and the wider machinery of repression were preparing for a bloodbath?

We learned that thousands were massacred on January 8 and 9. I heard that some people even informed editors, but those invested in protecting Pahlavi’s narrative stayed silent, so the image of the crown prince would not be damaged.

What I have come to understand is this: they did not go on the air to warn people.

I do not recall television channels warning people during the internet blackout to stay away from the streets where the IRGC was killing protesters. Some now argue that posting online was enough, but there was no internet for people to read what was happening. They call it a blackout for a reason.

On January 10, Iran International English reported that he urged protesters to continue for two more nights, seize city centers, and press energy and transportation workers into a nationwide strike. Yet even there, there was no clear warning to ordinary people that they could face live fire, mass arrests, killings, or a near-total communications blackout.

And now he tweets:

“100 days ago, on January 8th and 9th, millions of Iranians took to the streets knowing the price they might pay. More than 40,000 heroes paid that price for Iran’s dignity, liberty, and freedom.”