Iran's exiled crown prince wants Iranians to seize the momentum of mass protests, and one analyst believes it could prove a tipping point.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — People in Iran’s capital shouted from their homes and rallied in the street Thursday night after a call by the country’s exiled crown prince for a mass demonstration, witnesses said, a new escalation in the protests that have spread nationwide across the Islamic Republic.

A nationwide internet blackout was reported in Iran on Thursday as protesters in Tehran shouted from their homes and rallied in the street after a call by the country's exiled crown prince for mass demonstrations against the regime.

Rallies on major roads in the capital and in Iran's second city were peaceful and not dispersed by security forces.

Over the past 50 years, Iran has been shaken by a series of protests. They began with the demonstrations that led to the founding of the Islamic Republic and continue to now, as protests sparked by the collapse of the Iranian rial have seen unrest.

Iran faces massive nationwide protests as the exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, claims the regime is "crumbling." At least 36 reportedly killed, thousands detained.

As Iranians challenge the Islamic Republic, a shared history and future with Israel is reemerging from decades of enforced hostility.

Pahlavi added that he has a plan for a "stable transition" in a scenario where the Islamic Republic regime would be toppled, where the country's citizens would take to the streets in millions. Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi thanked US President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon in a post on X/Twitter for his "strong leadership and support" of the ongoing anti-Islamic Republic protests occurring across Iran.