JERUSALEM, Israel – After more than two weeks of nationwide protests, the future and fate of Iran hang in the balance. The streets have become killing fields, where opposition leaders claim Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has killed more people now than the terrorists in New York and Washington on 9/11. The opposition is now waiting to see how President Trump will react.
In Tehran and other cities throughout Iran, IRGC troops have been firing indiscriminately into the protest crowds. Families have been going to hospitals to identify their loved ones.
The latest confirmed figures from the U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency put verified deaths at around 500, but there are reports that bodies taken to hospitals could reach into the thousands.
In the meantime, the regime’s opponents are looking to President Trump. He told reporters a meeting with Iranian leaders is in the works, but if the government keeps killing, he may act sooner.
“Well, if they do that, we will consider things, targets they wouldn’t believe,” the president declared. “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before, and they won’t even believe it. I have options that are so strong. So I mean, if they did that, it’ll be met with a very, very powerful force.”
In Tehran, Iran’s Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed Bagher Galibaf, warned the U.S. and Israel not to attack, while in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the protesters.
“Israel is closely following what is happening in Iran,” Netanyahu noted. “The demonstrations for freedom have spread throughout the country. The people of Israel, the entire world, are in awe of the tremendous heroism of the citizens of Iran. Israel supports their struggle for freedom and strongly condemns the mass massacres of innocent civilians.”
He added, “We all hope that the Persian nation will soon be freed from the yoke of tyranny, and when that day comes, Israel and Iran will once again be faithful partners in building a future of prosperity and peace for both peoples.”
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Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi announced a new phase in the protests.
He asserted, “Beyond taking control of city centers, it is necessary to seize the Iranian institutions that spread false propaganda and cause internet shutdowns – they have become legitimate targets.”
Pahlavi also called for Iranian forces to switch allegiance to the protesters and for Iranian embassies to replace the flag of the Islamic Republic with the Lion and Sun Persian flag, something one protester did at the Iranian Embassy in London.
“This is a moment that is defining,” Pahlavi said. “Despite being completely cut off from the world, Internet shut down, and for a regime that is massacring its own people, this is an opportunity to liberate that nation. Remember the same thugs that hate America also hate their own people.”
Pahlavi continued, “I hope only that the Iranian people this time will be victorious,” he continued. “And they will be, because I know that Iranians are prepared to die for this cause, and so am I.”
Lana Silk of Transform Iran told CBN News her group is preparing for what may come next.
“My focus as a ministry, we’re ready to step in when we need to,” she said. “We’re expecting an open Iran imminently. So, that means aid, it means infrastructure, it means Bibles, it means pastors. And we need to make sure that we’re ready to move in when the doors open.”
For now, the people of Iran seem ready to continue their battle against a nearly 50-year dictatorship. One Iranian sign read, “We are no longer afraid. We are fighting.”
