Multiple Iranian state TV channels were hacked on Sunday amid a near-total internet shutdown to air footage of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and images of anti-government protests that have rocked Tehran in recent weeks.

Two clips of Pahlavi were shown as well as a graphic calling on Iranian security forces to side with the public, The Associated Press reported.

"Don't point your weapons at the people. Join the nation for the freedom of Iran," one graphic read, according to a translation from the outlet.

Pahlavi himself called on Iran’s military to break with the Islamic Republic and side with the people.

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"I have a special message for the military. You are the national army of Iran, not the Islamic Republic army," he said in the hacked broadcast. "You have a duty to protect your own lives. You don’t have much time left. Join the people as soon as possible."

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which tracks human rights violations in Iran, said on Sunday that nationwide protests continued into the 22nd day as President Donald Trump weighs possible U.S. military action.

The group’s aggregated figures showed 624 recorded protests, the arrest of at least 24,669 people and the confirmed deaths of 3,919 individuals.

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HRANA said 3,685 of those killed were protesters, including 25 children under the age of 18.

Nearly 9,000 deaths remain under investigation.

Iran International reported that witnesses across multiple cities told them security forces stormed hospitals, removed injured protesters, and interfered with medical care, while reports from other areas described overwhelmed morgues and a strong security presence around medical facilities.

The outlet also reported that witnesses described injured protesters being left without medical care after shootings, as ambulances failed to arrive and phone networks were unavailable.

Others said hospitals were inaccessible or refused treatment, resulting in some wounded protesters bleeding to death while taking shelter in nearby buildings.

California didn’t become the world’s fifth-largest economy by accident. Silicon Valley wasn’t built by regulators. Hollywood didn’t turn into a global storytelling powerhouse because of government planning. California was built by entrepreneurs, risk-takers, and innovators who believed in capitalism and the simple American ideology that if you work hard, take risks and build something valuable, you should be rewarded. 

That’s why California’s newly proposed billionaire tax should alarm anyone who still believes capitalism works. This proposal isn’t just another tax hike. It’s a fundamental shift away from the very system that makes Americans prosperous as a nation. 

Under the plan, California would impose a one-time tax on residents with net worths over $1 billion, targeting "wealth" rather than income. That includes unrealized gains which means stock ownership, private company equity and illiquid assets that exist on paper. Wealth isn’t always in checking accounts. Supporters call it fairness, but it’s a tax on success before success is ever realized. 

Here’s the part most politicians ignore. Billionaires don’t necessarily sit on piles of cash. Their wealth is overwhelmingly tied up in businesses, real estate stock holdings and their private companies. When the government demands a massive check based on paper valuations, the only way to pay it is to sell assets.

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And that’s where the real damage begins for the people who rely on these billionaires to provide jobs for them to become millionaires. 

If you force someone to sell public stock, the markets can absorb it. But when you force the sale of private company stock, you’re often forcing a founder to sell part of their business or all of it earlier than planned. That can mean selling to private equity, taking on leverage, cutting costs or laying off workers to generate liquidity. 

In other words, a tax aimed at "the rich" doesn’t just hit balance sheets. It hits payrolls.

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Capitalism works because it incentivizes innovation and growth. It rewards people for building companies, hiring workers and reinvesting profits. When you start taxing wealth simply for existing rather than income, profits or transactions, you flip that incentive structure upside down. The message becomes clear to entrepreneurs. If you build too much and succeed too much, the government will punish you and possibly dismantle prematurely what you built. 

We’ve already seen how this movie ends for other Californians. 

Take billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who moved Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas. Musk didn’t leave because he dislikes sunshine or beaches. He left because regulatory overreach, rising taxes and a growing hostility toward business innovation made it harder to build and scale companies. When the world’s most influential entrepreneur and job creator votes with his feet, policymakers should listen.

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He wasn’t alone. Host Joe Rogan moved his podcast empire out of Los Angeles, citing taxes, governance and quality-of-life concerns. Larry Ellison relocated Oracle’s headquarters out of California. Just look at Sergey Brin and Larry Page and their recent moves to sever ties with California. Even liberal Hollywood elites quietly establish residency in Nevada, Texas or Florida, while keeping second homes in Malibu. 

This isn’t coincidence. It’s cause and effect. 

Entrepreneurs don’t just create wealth for themselves. They create jobs, supply chains, tax revenue and philanthropy. When government policies force founders to sell companies prematurely just to pay a wealth tax, it’s workers who pay the price long before billionaires do. 

The danger doesn’t stop at California’s borders. Other blue states are watching closely. If California can tax unrealized wealth, what’s stopping New York, Illinois or Massachusetts from doing the same? Today, it’s billionaires. Tomorrow, its founders worth $100 million. Next, it’s family business owners who spent decades building companies only to be taxed on paper valuations they haven’t monetized.

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Supporters argue the tax would only affect a few hundred people. That misses the point. Policies aren’t judged by how many people they hit. They are judged by the incentives they create. 

Capitalism depends on a promise that if you take risks, build something meaningful and create value for others, you can be rewarded with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

California once understood that better than almost anywhere else in the world. This billionaire tax suggests the state is forgetting what made it a real Golden State. Since COVID-19, you’ve seen a massive shift of both individuals and businesses, showing that the Golden State may not be so golden anymore. 

The lesson is simple. Money always chases something. When success is treated like a liability, money leaves. And when capitalism is undermined, everyone pays the price and not just the billionaires. 

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