Iranians Rename Tehran Street For Trump, Amid Mass Protests

The streets of Tehran have become a stage for a dramatic and risky challenge to Iran’s rulers, with protesters renaming a lane for former President Donald Trump and openly calling for help as security forces try to crush demonstrations.

Tens of thousands of Iranians are in the streets, and the unrest feels different this time — widespread, sustained, and aimed squarely at the Islamic Republic’s leadership. Young people are defying harsh tactics from security forces and finding creative ways to signal their hopes, including symbolic gestures that reference the United States. These acts are not endorsements of foreign control, but desperate bids for attention and leverage against a brutal domestic system.

Video from Tehran shows a protester painting a street sign in tribute to Donald Trump, while others hold handwritten pleas that read, “Don’t let them kill us.” The symbolism is striking: when domestic options seem exhausted, people reach for any powerful voice willing to notice and condemn the violence. For many Iranians who grew up under theocracy, this moment is about survival and the chance for a different future.

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The U.S. government has already used sanctions and diplomatic pressure to isolate the regime, but the situation on the ground is driven by Iranian citizens taking enormous personal risks. Those risks cover more than one city; protests have spread across the country and have persisted despite tear gas, beatings, and reported use of live ammunition. When protesters chant or rename a street for a foreign leader, they are signaling both gratitude and a plea: notice our plight and hold the regime accountable.

Iranian protesters intensified nationwide demonstrations over the past 24 hours, directly appealing to President Donald Trump while chanting anti-regime slogans. Footage published Wednesday showed a protester in Tehran symbolically renaming a street after Trump, while other videos captured handwritten appeals reading, “Don’t let them kill us,” Iran International reported.

Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, posted the video on X stating, “Since Trump’s comments about the Iran protests, I’ve seen numbers videos of Iranian protesters either thanking him or, in this case, renaming streets after the US president.”

The appeals came as demonstrators faced a widening security crackdown, including the deployment of armed units and tear gas near major civilian sites in Tehran.

Practical intervention in Iran would be complex and risky, so most international actors focus on sanctions, intelligence sharing, and moral support. Those measures matter, but they are slow and imperfect when people are being killed or detained on the streets. Still, visible condemnation from global leaders can give courage to protesters and increase diplomatic pressure on Tehran’s backers.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late Shah, called the unrest a historic chance to end the Islamic Republic. He warned that the present unity and determination among demonstrators could be a turning point, and many in the Iranian diaspora echo that view. For conservatives watching from the United States, this is not about celebrating regime change by fiat; it is about backing people who want freedom and an end to state-sponsored brutality.

Exiled Iranian opposition leader Reza Pahlavi said the current unrest represents a historic opportunity to end Iran’s Islamic Republic.

“In all these years, I’ve never seen an opportunity as we see today in Iran,” Pahlavi said in an interview aired Tuesday on “Hannity.”

“Iranian people are more than ever committed to bringing an end to this regime, as the world has witnessed in the last few days, the level of demonstrations is unprecedented in Iran,” he said.

The stakes are enormous. A fundamental shift in Tehran would ripple across the Middle East: state sponsorship for terrorist groups could dry up, proxies would lose a safe patron, and the geopolitical alignments that benefit Russia and China might shift. Energy markets would feel the shock as access to Iranian oil and regional pipelines were renegotiated in a post-mullah reality.

Iranian protesters know the odds. They also know what they face if the regime holds — continued repression, economic collapse, and export of radicalism. That sense of having “nothing left to lose” fuels a level of courage that is hard to contain with force alone. When ordinary people decide their future matters more than fear, events can accelerate faster than analysts expect.

This unrest should prompt careful, principled support from free nations: amplify eyewitness accounts, document abuses, and keep pressure on allies who can influence Tehran. Severe repression will not erase the underlying grievances driving millions into the streets, and ignoring that reality risks a long, bloody stalemate. For many watching, the most important actor is the Iranian people themselves, who have stepped into a dangerous opening and now face the world’s judgment.