Exiled Iranian crown prince urges Trump to help as protests against Islamic regime intensify: 'Man of peace'

Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is calling on President Donald Trump to intervene after the Islamic regime implemented a nationwide internet blackout amid intensifying anti-government protests. He said the president has proven himself to be a "man of peace and a man of your word." "Mr. President, this is an urgent and immediate call for your attention, support, and action. Last night you saw the millions of brave Iranians in the streets facing down live bullets. Today, they are facing not just bullets but a total communications blackout. No Internet. No landlines," Pahlavi wrote on X. "Ali Khamenei, fearing the end of his criminal regime at the hands of the people and, with the help of your powerful promise to support the protesters, has threatened the people on the streets with a brutal crackdown," Pahlavi added. "And he wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes." IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER SAYS PROTESTERS 'RUINING THEIR OWN STREETS' TO PLEASE TRUMP Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently took a swipe at Trump, saying that protesters in Iran were "ruining their own streets" to appease the U.S. president, according to The Associated Press . Palhavi added that he believed Trump's threat to intervene if the Iranian government used violence against protesters "kept the regime's thugs at bay" during Thursday night's protests. The prince called on the people of Iran to demonstrate on Thursday night and renewed his call for more protests on Friday night. Recently, Palhavi predicted that the regime was " very close to collapsing " amid the nationwide unrest. "Over a hundred cities and millions of people on the street chanting ‘Death to the dictator,’" Pahlavi told "Hannity" on Tuesday. "The regime is crumbling and is very close to collapsing," he added. Iran REGIME CUTS NATIONWIDE INTERNET ACCESS AS PROTESTS CLAIM 44 LIVES ACROSS MAJOR CITIES He said the movement is "unprecedented" and differs from past efforts, pointing to participation from Iran’s powerful merchant class. As of Friday, at least 36 people had been killed, including 34 protesters and two members of security and law enforcement forces, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency . Trump said in a Truth Social post on Jan. 2 that the U.S. was "locked and loaded and ready to go" defend protesters if the regime used violence against them. EXILED IRANIAN PRINCE SAYS REGIME ‘VERY CLOSE TO COLLAPSING’ AMID NATIONWIDE UNREST "If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump wrote. Trump reiterated the statement during an interview with Hugh Hewitt that aired on Thursday. He said that Iran has "been told very strongly, even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell," according to the AP. However, in the same interview, the president seemed to cast doubt on the idea that he would meet with Pahlavi. "I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president," Trump said, according to the AP. "I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges." The president also spoke with Fox News' Sean Hannity about the possibility of intervening in Iran. During his appearance on "Hannity," Trump said that the U.S. would hit the regime "very hard" if it mistreated protesters. "We’re ready to do it. If they do that, we can hit them hard," Trump told "Hannity." Video from Tehran showed business owners shutting their shops in the Grand Bazaar and facing off with security forces in riot gear. Meanwhile, video from other parts of Iran have shown large crowds with thousands taking to the streets as they decry the country's worsening economic conditions. On Thursday, the regime plunged Iran into a nationwide internet blackout as the protests intensified. Live network data from NetBlocks showed internet traffic collapsing in the troubled nation on Thursday evening, shortly after calls circulated for mass protests at 8 p.m. local time. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, the State Department and a representative for Pahlavi for comment. Fox News Digital's Madison Colombo and Emma Bussey contributed to this report.