Tehran protester shot in the head by rooftop gunfire, eyewitness says

Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida and the chairman of United Against Nuclear Iran advocacy group, called the Islamic Republic "a barbaric, repressive, and dying regime,” responding to what he called a "delusional rant" by Iran's foreign minister on the recent nationwide protests in the country.

“The regime right now is on its last leg. It's on the verge of collapse. It's going to attempt every other means to yet again survive,” Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi said in an interview with Fox News on Monday.

“That's why a definitive strike is going to completely reverse the odds in favour of the nation and defenseless people. That's what we need in terms of actual support,” he added.

Asked whether he meant American strikes, Pahlavi said: “It could be an American strike. It could be an Israeli strike. It could be whatever the Iranian people now are looking at the cavalry coming, because we can only hold the fort up to a point.”

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said lawmakers honored those killed in Iran with a moment of applause during the Parliament's first plenary session in 2026.

“The people of Iran don’t need silence. They have been kept forcefully silent for 47 years. They deserve to be free,” Metsola said in a post on X on Monday.

“The World Economic Forum cancelled my appearance in Davos on the basis of lies and political pressure from Israel and its United States-based proxies and apologists,” he said in a post on X.

“There is one fundamental truth to the recent violence in Iran: We had to defend our people against armed terrorists and ISIS-style killings openly backed by Mossad,” Araghchi added.

“This regime is dying. Essentially it’s fighting, it’s killing again, but it is also dying," said Petraeus, a retired four-star Army general who now runs the Middle East business of US private equity firm KKR.

“I think it signals enormous questions about the regime's ability to sustain the situation,” he said, arguing Tehran is under more pressure now than at almost any point since the Iran-Iraq war.

Speaking to host Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, Petraeus painted a stark picture of the clerical establishment facing simultaneous existential challenges at home and abroad.

“Iran is essentially defenseless at this point,” Petraeus said, referring to the destruction of air and ballistic missile defense systems early in a June conflict with Israel and the United States.

The veteran commander, who led the so-called "surge" of US forces aimed at defeating an insurgency at the height of the US war in Iraq, said the scale of violence used against demonstrators reflects fear rather than control by Iran's leaders.

While he acknowledged the Islamic Republic may be able to suppress unrest in the short term, he warned that flooding cities and towns with security forces may not buy authorities a lasting reprieve from popular anger.

“This regime has lost legitimacy. The problem is it hasn’t lost the capability to kill.”

His assessment comes as Iran grapples with sustained nationwide unrest that began on December 28 among electronics and cellphone merchants at Tehran’s bazaar and quickly escalated into a nationwide uprising against the Islamic Republic.

At least 12,000 people were killed in just two days, according to medics and Iranian officials speaking to Iran International.

With the Iranian currency cratering, inflation climbing and purchasing power collapsing, Petraeus said Iran no longer has the financial tools it once used to calm the streets.

“At this time, there's not much Iran can do about it. They have very little capacity."

Asked about Trump's mooted pledge to intervene militarily to defend protestors, Petraeus stopped short of assessing the efficacy of any US attack but said the move would be well received and not bolster the leadership.

“I think we could take action against the regime and it would be applauded … not be a rallying cry for them.”