The son of Iran's late shah said Friday he was confident that mass protests would topple the Islamic republic and urged international action, as US President Donald Trump holds off on intervening in the unrest.

Reza Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the Washington area, has presented himself as leader of the opposition as the cleric-run state ruthlessly represses mass protests.

"The Islamic republic will fall -- not if, but when," Pahlavi told a news conference in Washington.

A bipartisan US Congress delegation began a visit to Copenhagen on Friday to voice support for Denmark and Greenland after US President Donald Trump threatened to take over the Arctic island, an autonomous Danish territory.

The two-day visit comes alongside a European show of support in the form of a military reconnaissance mission to Greenland.

The 11 congressmen and women were to hold talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Five pro-Palestinian activists pleaded not guilty on Friday to breaking into a British military air base and damaging two planes in protest against Britain's support for Israel.

The five are accused of breaking into the Brize Norton Royal Air Force base in central England in June and spraying red paint over two Voyager aircraft used for re-fuelling and transport.

Campaign group Palestine Action, which has since been banned by the government, said it was behind the incident.

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Greece plans to extend its territorial waters further, including potentially in the Aegean Sea, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Friday, despite Turkey's long-standing threat of war should Athens take such a step.

The NATO allies, but historic rivals, have eased tensions in recent years but remain at odds over where their continental shelves begin and end in the Aegean - an area believed to hold significant energy potential and with implications for overflights and airspace.

A French prosecutor Friday sought a one-year jail term for an Iranian woman accused of promoting "terrorism" online in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens.

Judgment in the case is expected on February 26.

Mahdieh Esfandiari, a 39-year-old Iranian, was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting and inciting "terrorism" on social media.

The arrest was over comments she is said to have made including some on Palestinian militant group Hamas attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, according to French authorities.

BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Munich Security Conference, one of the world's top security forums, said on Friday it was withdrawing an invitation to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi after the Tehran government's crackdown on protests across Iran this week.

"Several weeks ago, invitations were extended to individual government representatives from Iran. In light of current events, the Munich Security Conference will not be maintaining these invitations," it said in an emailed statement.

By Francois Murphy

VIENNA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Regional fears of a U.S. attack on Iran have eased after President Donald Trump said Tehran had assured him that protesters would not be executed, but he is keeping "all of his options on the table", the White House said.

The last major strikes on Iran were carried out by Israel and the United States in June, mainly targeting key nuclear facilities.

WHICH NUCLEAR SITES WERE HIT?

BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will raise topics including the political transition in Syria and the return of migrants to their homeland in talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Berlin next Tuesday, a government spokesperson said on Friday.

"We have an interest in deepening relations and, if you like, making a fresh start with the new Syrian government," the spokesperson said. "We have many important issues to address ... One example is the return of Syrians to their home country."

South Africa's defence minister has ordered an inquiry into reports of Iran's participation in navy exercises, apparently against the instructions of the president, the ministry said Friday.

The probe comes after the United States sharply criticised the past week's drills, which brought vessels from China, Iran, Russia and the United Arab Emirates to waters off Cape Town.

DUBAI, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's 90-year-old King Salman was undergoing medical tests in a hospital in Riyadh, the state news agency said on Friday.

King of the world's biggest oil exporter and a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, he had received medical care for lung inflammation in 2024.

He last chaired a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to state news agency SPA.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam;Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Cawthorne)