Iran on Brink of Collapse

Iran’s prosecutor-general Mohammad Movahedi Azad warned on Saturday that all protesters would face the death penalty, as he vowed to charge “rioters and terrorists” as “enemies of god”.

Top Ayatollah crony and Tehran’s chief prosecutor Ali Salehi has also vowed to use the death penalty on some if they commit acts of vandalism.

He pledged: “I’ve made this statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved.

“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts.”

Threatening to punish those who killed protesters, the US president said: “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said the mullahs may be planning a “massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout”.

She suggested that the decision to kill all access to the outside world was “not a technical failure” but instead “a tactic”.

Sir Keir Starmer made a joint statement alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The trio said: “The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal.”

With his power hanging in the balance, the Supreme Leader fumed on Friday in a televised address: “The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of several hundred thousand honourable people and it will not back down in the face of those who deny this.”

Khamenei also accused the US president of riling up “vandals” and “saboteurs”.

“He’s looking to go some place,” the US President said on Thursday.

Offering Washington‘s backing to the protesters, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Saturday: “The United States supports the brave people of Iran.”

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah of Iran and a prominent figure in the anti-Islamic Republic movement, has called for two more days of protest and a nationwide strike.

Looking to pile more pressure onto the quaking Ayatollah, Pahlavi called on Iranians to “come to the streets” at 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.

He saluted the “magnificent” protests erupting across the nation demanding an end to hardline rule and vowed to return to his homeland.

Protesters chanted his name as he offered to become the figurehead of the unfolding revolution.

Pahlavi, 65 — son of the late Shah of Iran who was ousted in 1979 — posted: “Our goal is no longer merely to come into the streets; the goal is to prepare to seize city centres and hold them.

The prince, in exile in Washington DC, urged Iranian workers in key industries, including oil and gas, to strike to bring down the weakened regime.

“I too am preparing to return to the homeland so that at the time of our national revolution’s victory, I can be beside you, the great nation of Iran. I believe that day is very near.”