As anti-government protests that spread across Iran since late last year have intensified calls to oust Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the political standing of the Pahlavi dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is growing.
According to major foreign media on the 11th (local time), chants such as "Long live the Shah (king)" and "Pahlavi is coming back" have repeatedly appeared not only at anti-government protests taking place recently inside Iran but also at rallies in countries with large Iranian immigrant populations, signaling a move to recall the Pahlavi dynasty that fell in the Islamic Revolution.
In step with this trend, Reza Pahlavi, the last crown prince of the Pahlavi dynasty, is also raising the level of his political statements. In an interview that day with Fox News' program Sunday Morning Futures, the crown prince said that mass protests have gained further momentum after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the United States could strike the Iranian government if peaceful demonstrators were killed.
He then addressed President Trump, saying, "You have already established your legacy as someone committed to peace and fighting the forces of evil," and, "Protesters know you are entirely different from Barack Obama or Joe Biden, and that you will not abandon them as in the past." The remarks are being interpreted as urging Trump's direct involvement in the Iran situation.
Earlier, the crown prince used social media to urge Iranians to join the protests, saying, "Come out into the streets, unite, and voice your demands." He also said, "Let the Islamic Republic, its leadership, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps know that the world is watching," adding, "Oppression will not be tolerated."
Reuters said, "The son of Iran's last monarch has emerged as a key figure rallying demonstrators in the largest anti-government protests in years," adding, "He has consistently called for an end to repression, just like those who ended his father's rule." The crown prince also raised his voice for change during the protests that erupted after Mahsa Amini died in custody in 2022 after being detained for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.
Reza Pahlavi is the eldest son of former King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ruled Iran from the 1940s, and has lived in exile mainly in the United States since the Islamic Revolution. After his father died in 1980, he at one point declared himself the king of Iran, but has struggled to rally political forces inside the country. That is because support for the crown prince could be seen as pushing to restore the monarchy that Iranians themselves once ousted.
However, in recent years there have been assessments that forces supporting Pahlavi are gradually growing. The New York Times (NYT), citing analysts, reported that "Pahlavi appears to have secured a certain base of support inside Iran in recent years." Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the think tank Crisis Group, told the Financial Times (FT) that "through significant investment and image revamps, the former crown prince's image and political standing have improved, and among the overseas Iranian community he has risen to the most prominent position among opposition figures."
Still, questions remain as to whether Pahlavi has enough support to replace the Khomeini system. Reuters noted that it is difficult to gauge how much popular support Pahlavi, who has not set foot in Iran for decades, currently enjoys inside the country.
The BBC also reported, "Critics say he still relies too heavily on foreign backing and question whether Iranian citizens, weary of decades of political turmoil, are ready to trust a leader in exile." CNN reported, "It is unclear whether Iranians truly support a restoration of the monarchy or are simply fed up with the repressive theocracy."