On Thursday 8 January, in a midsize Iranian town, Dr Ahmadi’s* phone began to buzz. His colleagues in local emergency wards were getting worried.

All week, people had taken to the streets and had been met by police with batons and pellet guns. With treatment, their injuries should not have been too serious. But emergency room staff believed many wounded young people were avoiding hospitals, terrified that registering as trauma patients would lead to their identification and arrest.

Quietly, Ahmadi [who remains anonymous due to fear of reprisals, but whose identity, credentials and presence within Iran during the unrest have been verified by the Guardian] and his wife began treating patients at a location outside Iran’s government hospital system. Alerted by a local whisper network, wounded young people flocked to them. Mostly, they brought superficial injuries – laceration wounds needing stitches and antibiotics. As Thursday evening wore on, more and more arrived to be patched up.

Why Iranians support Reza Pahlavi

New York, NY USA - May 5, 2016: Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi attends 4th annual champions of Jewish values international awards gala at Marriott Marquis Times Square.

This month’s mass protests in Iran demonstrated the growing homegrown appeal for the return of the country’s long-exiled crown prince.

“Javid shah” (Long live the king), “Reza, Reza Pahlavi, this is the national slogan,” and “This is the last battle, Pahlavi will return.” These are just a few of the chants heard on the streets of Iranian cities during this month’s massive protests, 47 years after Iran’s tragic 1979 revolution forced the Pahlavi monarchy into exile.

A Western observer looking at Iran’s recent round of labor strikes and protests might be surprised by the growing frequency with which demonstrators chant the name of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. For an audience with liberal or historical skepticism toward hereditary rule, the situation in Iran could be perplexing: Why are Iranians calling for a prince instead of republican alternatives?

Some might assume chants for Reza Pahlavi represent reactionary nostalgia or a regression to further authoritarian tendencies at a time of pressing socio-economic upheaval and ongoing protests against the Islamic Republic. Yet these chants are emerging from a broad sector of Iran’s society, including laborers, oil workers, teachers, truckers, and students who have already experienced an authoritarian regime and paid its full price.

These groups are not demanding another authoritarian, but a transition rooted in competence and order. Their chanting of Pahlavi reflects their exhaustion with authoritarian incompetence. Even Iran’s traditionally conservative and pro-clerical Bazaar chants for Pahlavi’s return, signaling a broad consensus for the role of the crown prince.

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قلعه‌نویی در باتلاق

Ali Ansari, accused of financing Revolutionary Guards, owns Mallorca golf club and Frankfurt hotels via offshore companies

An Iranian tycoon under sanctions in the UK for allegedly financing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has funnelled hundreds of millions of euros into a sprawling property portfolio across mainland Europe.

Ali Ansari, whose family founded failed Iranian lender Ayandeh Bank, amassed luxury properties ranging from a golf resort in Mallorca to an Austrian ski hotel, according to corporate filings reviewed by the FT.

The UK sanctioned him after Ayandeh’s collapse in October for funding “hostile activity” by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards force, branding Ansari a “corrupt Iranian banker and businessman” and freezing a London property portfolio worth more than £150 million.

The FT has now identified a complex web of offshore companies, spanning from Luxembourg and St Kitts and Nevis to Austria, Germany and Spain, through which Ansari amassed a vast, previously unreported collection of properties in mainland Europe.

⚽️🚨 حکم بازداشت و مصادره اموال مهدی قایدی، شهاب زاهدی، فغانی و فرهاد مجیدی به دلیل تشویش اذهان عمومی صادر شد و درصورت ورود به ایران بازداشت میشن!

🚨👤 میدل ایست : همه اموال علی دایی به ارزش 50 میلیون دلار به علت حمایت او از مردم مصادره شده است!!

پ.ن: جمهوری اسلامی لحظه به لحظه…

— AliVafaei(علی وفایی)🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇩🇪 (@dashalivafaei) January 25, 2026

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اتحادیه جهانی کشتی، تمام کشتی‌گیران ایران را از مسابقات کرواسی کنار گذاشت

Iran confiscates assets of football stars

The Iranian judiciary has ordered the confiscation of all assets worth approximately $50 million belonging to football legend Ali Daei.

Axar.az reports, citing Middle East 24.

It was also reported that the assets of Sardar Azmoun, a Turkmen footballer for the Iranian national team, have been confiscated.

According to the report, this is part of a large-scale raid aimed at punishing those involved in the recent unrest.

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