Iran US Tension LIVE Updates: Son of Iran's last shah Reza Pahlavi asks Trump to ‘help’ Iranian people

US Iran tension LIVE updates: The exiled son of Iran's last shah called on US President Donald Trump on Saturday to help the Iranian people, a day after the American leader said a change of power would be the “best thing”, as reported by AFP.

US-based Reza Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy, added it was "time to end the Islamic republic" while speaking to reporters at the Munich Security Conference.

"It's a matter of time. We are hoping that this attack will expedite the process and the people can be finally back in the streets and take it all the way to the ultimate regime's downfall," said Pahlavi, as reported by AP.

Iran’s leadership is facing mounting pressure, including renewed threats of U.S. military action from Donald Trump, who is pushing Tehran to further limit its nuclear activities.

On Friday, Trump said that a change in Iran’s government “would be the best thing that could happen.”

Iran was also in the spotlight in Munich, where protests took place on the opening day of the annual Munich Security Conference attended by European and global security leaders.

Backers of the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran, also known as the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, rallied against Tehran’s violent suppression of nationwide demonstrations last month.

Meanwhile, Reza Pahlavi—the son of Iran’s former shah, who left the country during the 1979 revolution—has spent nearly five decades in exile but is seeking to play a role in Iran’s future.

Speaking at a news conference in Munich on Saturday, he cautioned that more lives could be lost in Iran if democratic nations simply “stand by and watch.”

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that at least 7,005 people were killed during the protests, including 214 members of the security forces.

The group, which has previously provided reliable death tolls during earlier periods of unrest in Iran, bases its figures on information gathered and verified through a network of activists inside the country.

Iranian authorities released their only official figures on Jan. 21, stating that 3,117 people had died. In the past, Iran’s ruling establishment has been accused of minimising or failing to disclose the full number of fatalities during episodes of unrest.

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