13.01.2026 22:33
U.S. media claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, secretly met with Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the deposed Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, last weekend.
The U.S. press claimed that Trump's Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, secretly met with Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah of Iran. It was stated that the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran were discussed during the meeting.
"WITKOFF SECRETLY MET WITH PEHLAVI"
As protests that quickly turned into anti-government demonstrations and violent incidents continued after starting on December 28 in Iran, the U.S. press made a new claim. Reports in the U.S. media suggested that Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's Special Representative for the Middle East, secretly met with Reza Pahlavi, the exiled eldest son of the deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, last weekend. The reports indicated that the ongoing protests in Iran were addressed during the meeting.
TRUMP HAS NOT YET SUPPORTED PEHLAVI
Pahlavi, the son of the Shah who was deposed during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, leads the opposition group in exile in the U.S. While Pahlavi is making efforts to take on the role of "transitional" leader in the event of a regime change in Iran, Trump has not yet supported Pahlavi.
On the other hand, a survey conducted in November 2025 showed that about one-third of Iranians supported Pahlavi, while another third strongly opposed him.
PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN
Protests that began on December 28, 2025, initiated by shopkeepers in the Grand Bazaar of Tehran due to the significant devaluation of the local currency against foreign currencies and economic problems, spread to many cities across the country.
While no official statement was made regarding those killed or injured in the protests, the Iran Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on January 13 that, in its report on the 16th day of the protests, a total of 664 people had lost their lives, including 133 security personnel and one prosecutor, with 9 of them being under 18 years old, and that 10,721 people had been detained.
With the increase in violent incidents and police intervention during the protests, the internet was cut off nationwide on January 9.