Exiled prince calls for 'final action' against Iran's rulers

Iran's exiled prince Reza Pahlavi urged all Iranians on the eve of their New Year to join forces to topple a ruling system that he said is on the verge of collapse.

“We enter the New Year at a time when the Islamic Republic is at its weakest and most ineffective," Pahlavi said in a video address to Iranians posted on X on Wednesday.

"A unique window of opportunity has emerged for major change and the liberation of Iran from religious tyranny," he added, citing the blows to Tehran's regional influence during the conflict with Israel in the year past.

"The coming year is the year of organizing for the final move."

The New Year in Iranian calendar begins on March 20th, when state media broadcast official address by Iran's president and supreme leader---who sets the agenda for the year ahead, usually with a phrase summing it up.

Pahlavi's message on the eve of the New Year is aimed to cement his position as a prominent opposition figure whose supporters see as Iran's best hope to undo the revolution that ousted his father Mohammad Reza in 1979.

"In the past year, at your call, I accepted the responsibility of leading the national revolution and the transition period," Pahlavi said in his address, calling for dissidents to put aside their differences.

Those supporting the exiled prince consider him to be peerless and above political groupings and coalitions. His critics among the opposition question this assertion and accuse Pahlavi's supporters of stifling debate by attacking those dissidents who do not follow him or criticize his father, the last Shah of Iran.

Pahlavi appeared to address this rift in his message.

"At the start of this new year, I urge all of you, my dear compatriots, to use this occasion to be kinder to one another and to stand more united against our common enemy—the Islamic Republic," he said.