Troubled Iranian regime nears collapse as protesters call for Prince Pahlavi’s return
The revolutionary protests in Iran has entered its third week with protesters calling for an end to the theocratic regime led by Ayatollah Khamanei and the return of the exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi.
The protests which initially centered around economic grievances have now evolved into a call for regime change.
The US President Donald Trump has expressed support for the protests. In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump wrote: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
Speaking to reporters on Sunday aboard Air Force One, Trump said: “There seem to be some people killed that aren’t supposed to be killed. These are violent, if you call them leaders…But we’re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options.”
Part of the reason for the dwindling Iranian economy which has evolved into the ongoing protests rests on heavy international sanctions and “snapback” sanctions resulting from the continuous pursuit of its nuclear program.
Reports say that the sanctions have also crippled Iran’s middle class, leaving the country with limited opportunities for economic growth, and the Iranian leadership in a vulnerable state.
Israel’s attacks also weakened Iran’s regional armed proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. The 12-day war between both countries resulted in a catastrophic loss of human and military infrastructures for Iran.
Strikes by the United States dealt significant damage to the country’s nuclear program worth billions of dollars, while also losing billions of investments when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December 2024.
The ongoing protests have led to the arrest and death of thousands of Iranians according to Human Rights organizations, with the Iranian government imposing widespread internet and telephone blackouts in order to conceal the government’s human rights violations against its citizens.
Elon Musk had however activated Starlink in Iran to afford Iranians access to the internet and create visibility for the situation on ground.
Trump had earlier promised that if the Iranian government continue to kill protesters, the US would hit Iran hard where it least expected. Reports say that over two thousand protesters have so far been killed.
The morgues in Iran according to reports are overflowing with dead bodies, people are being shot in the head, the Iranian revolutionary forces are assassinating people on the streets of Tehran. The hospitals are said to be overwhelmed.
With the leadership appearing vulnerable to external pressure, the opposition, which has fervently called for regime change, is exerting more pressure on the regime.
The leader of the Iranian opposition and exiled son of the last Shah of Iran, Prince Reza Pahlavi, has said should the theocratic regime fall, he would be more than ready to lead Iran through a transitional government that would restore democracy and liberalism to the socio-political life of the former Persian empire.
Reza Pahlavi is one of the mainstream figures of the Iranian opposition. He was officially named crown prince of Iran at the time of his father’s coronation in 1967. As a cadet of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, he moved to the United States to train at Reese Air Force Base in 1978 as a pilot.
His father was overthrown the following year and the monarchy abolished in the wake of the Ruhollah Khomeini-led Iranian revolution.
Following the death of his father in exile in the city of Cairo Egypt in 1980, Pahlavi declared himself Shah of Iran, taking on the title Reza Shah II and participating from abroad in political activities which opposed the new government of Iran.
