Iran: Pahlavi calls for more protests
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 10 January 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After another night of nationwide protests, the exiled son of Iran's ousted shah has urged Iranians to go further and seize and hold city centres. We hear from Iran expert Sanam Vakil of Chatham House.
Also in the programme: we hear from Aleppo after clashes between Syrian government forces and Kurdish militia; and a trip through David Bowie's London.
(Picture: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Credit: Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.9 | Hello, I'm Celia Hatton and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service coming to you live from London. |
| 0:16.5 | We're starting the program today in Iran, where the most intense street protests we've seen in years continue to unfold in the country of 91 million people. |
| 0:27.0 | Information is difficult to obtain. The internet and phone networks remain shut down. |
| 0:32.4 | But all signs point to an intensifying crackdown against the demonstrators by the authorities. |
| 0:38.1 | These were the sounds from the streets in recent days verified by BBC Persian in the city of |
| 0:43.9 | Kamieh in the southwest of the country. |
| 0:51.8 | Where a statue of Qasem Soleimani, the hugely important military commander |
| 0:56.5 | killed six years ago by the Americans, was toppled. |
| 1:00.6 | Another video from Khaj Square in Tehran's Sadat Abat district |
| 1:04.3 | show several vehicles on fire as protesters chant. |
| 1:09.1 | This is the last battle. Palavi will return. |
| 1:17.1 | Palavi refers to Reza Palavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, who has been calling for people |
| 1:23.6 | to take to the streets. Today, he had this message for the protesters. |
| 1:30.9 | Your renewed and magnificent presence in the streets across Iran on Friday evening was a crushing |
| 1:36.7 | response to the threats of the treacherous and murderous leader of the Islamic Republic. |
| 1:42.5 | In this regard, I call on workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, |
| 1:47.9 | especially transportation, oil, gas and energy, to begin a nationwide strike. |
| 1:54.4 | I also ask all of you, today and tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, |
| 1:59.0 | this time from 6pm, |
| 2:01.6 | to come into the streets with flags, images and national symbols |
| 2:05.3 | and to claim public spaces as your own. |
... |
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