In Tehran, Iranians are reportedly chanting enthusiastically about the anticipated fall of the “Islamic Republic” regime and the potential return of the Crown Prince, heir to the ancient throne of Persia.
While it is unclear exactly the extent of the damage Israel has inflicted on Iran and whether or not the current genocidal regime will fall because of it, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi confirmed that Iranian soldiers and officials have reached out to him, and he urged the Iranian people to rise up, announcing he already has a plan for renewing Iran should he come to power again.
Clips are circulating online of Iranians chanting a slogan that has been translated: “This is the final battle — Pahlavi will return!” In recent years, many tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest the Islamic regime, with thousands of them arrested, raped, tortured, or killed. The protesters (especially the women) who survived are no doubt hoping for the current regime to collapse. Iranian dissidents have been among the strongest supporters of Israel in the current conflict.
Iran tonight: People are chanting "This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return". Cars are honking with excitement. It's hard to get videos out right now, but the vibe is shifting.
— Nioh Berg (@NiohBerg ) Jun 16, 2025
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The Islamic Republic has come to its end and is collapsing. What has begun is irreversible. The future is bright, and together we will turn the page of history. Now is the time to stand up; the time to reclaim Iran. May I be with you soon. pic.twitter.com/qrbnDmf8SX
— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) June 17, 2025
In his message, Pahlavi condemned the violence, cowardice, and destructiveness of Ayatollah Khamenei and co., and confidently predicted that the collapse of the regime there is irreversible. “We are prepared for the first hundred days after the fall, for the transitional period, and for the establishment of a national and democratic government — by the Iranian people and for the Iranian people,” he vowed. Pahlavi is an advocate for a Westernized, secularized government in Iran.
The return of Pahlavi could benefit Jews as well, and not only because the current dictatorial and collapsing regime is dedicated to wiping out Israel. A popular X account called “The Persian Jewess” reminisced about the days of the monarchy, “Since the rise of Islam in Iran, Iranian Jews were oppressed, shoved in ghettos, raped, tortured, murdered forced to convert, and treated like second-class citizens. Then in 1925 the Pahlavis came to power and instituted reforms that recognized Iranian Jews as equal citizens for the first time in millennia. For 54 glorious years, we flourished.”
She added, “When Khomeini came to power, we were forced to flee, our hearts mourning all that Iran once was and could have been under the Pahlavis. And in the 46 years since, we have not forgotten the family who broke us free from our chains, and ended our oppression.”
While we often view the past through rose colored glasses, it is true that the royal family that was ousted thanks to Jimmy Carter and the current Iranian dictator regime had displayed an unprecedented amount of tolerance for Muslim rulers. According to Encyclopedia Iranica:
Under Reza Shah, the equal rights that were granted to members of the religious minorities by the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-09 were enforced. The ensuing social changes enabled Jews to rise in status and become more assimilated within the broader society… The Reza Shah era witnessed the repeal of all of the discriminatory laws applying to Jews. Jews were accorded the right to serve in the military and to enroll in state schools (in the late 1920s, Reza Shah subjected the Jewish schools to the general education system, to have governmental license and an Iranian name… Jews started to leave the Jewish quarter (maḥalla) and reside wherever they wished. They had the right to hold government jobs and keep shops in the bazaars. They took advantage of the opportunity and opened shops in commercial areas outside of the Jewish quarters.
Unfortunately, many Iranian Muslims still had a negative view of Jews in accord with their religion’s antisemitic sacred texts, but Iranian Jews were doing better in terms of securing their rights than they had since Islam gained a stranglehold on Iran. And Westernized Iranians, including Muslims, were increasingly open-minded.
That was the key — the shah, though hardly a saint or a democratic ideal, was open to Western influences and Western ideas. He still held views which Americans would find antithetical, but he was more willing to reform his nation than most Muslim leaders in history have been. That is why he was better than the terror-sponsoring, tyrannical, fanatically anti-American and anti-Israeli Islamic regime in control now — and why his son’s return could be a major victory.
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