Amid the most violent crackdown Iran has seen in years, with mass protests spreading across dozens of cities and the regime insisting it has restored “control,” Reza Pahlavi has issued a declaration that reads less like a message of solidarity and more like a call to finish the job.In a long Persian-language statement addressed to “my brave compatriots,” the son of Iran’s last Shah laid out how he believes the uprising should now move from protest to regime collapse.Here are five things that stand out.
1. He is openly claiming political legitimacy from the protests
Pahlavi does not present himself merely as a supporter of the street movement. He explicitly says that the scale of the demonstrations has given him the authority to act. “With the legitimacy and acceptance I have received from you,” he says, “I declare another phase of the national uprising to overthrow the Islamic Republic and reclaim our beloved Iran.”That is a clear attempt to translate mass anger into a personal political mandate.
2. He is calling for a new phase of confrontation
The declaration moves beyond marches and slogans. Pahlavi urges protesters to “seize and hold the central streets of cities” and says that institutions responsible for regime propaganda and cutting communications “are considered legitimate targets.” The language suggests he now sees disruption of the state’s machinery as just as important as public demonstrations.
3. He is pressing the security forces to choose sides
A central part of the statement is aimed directly at those who keep the state running. “Government employees, and members of the armed forces and police, have the opportunity to join the people and become allies of the nation,” he says, “or choose to side with the killers of the people and buy for themselves the eternal shame and curse of the nation.”This is a classic revolutionary appeal designed to encourage defections and deepen fear inside the regime.
4. He is trying to take the fight global
Pahlavi does not limit his call to Iran. He says that “all Iranian embassies and consulates belong to the people of Iran” and that it is time for them to be “adorned with the national flag of Iran instead of the shameful flag of the Islamic Republic.” It is a bid to turn diplomatic missions abroad into symbols of regime change and to show that the government has lost the nation’s allegiance.
5. He is projecting inevitability and urgency
Throughout the statement, Pahlavi insists that the regime is weaker than it looks. “The regime is facing a serious shortage of repression forces,” he says, arguing that the increase in gunfire is “not a sign of power, but of fear of collapse and faster downfall.” He warns supporters not to give the leadership time to recover. “We will not give them the chance. We will not go back.”He ends with a message designed to keep momentum alive. “The freedom of Iran is near,” he declares. “We are not alone. Global assistance will soon arrive.”Taken together, the declaration marks Reza Pahlavi’s most assertive move yet. He is no longer simply offering encouragement from exile. He is presenting himself as a political centre of gravity for an uprising he believes is on the brink of bringing down the Islamic Republic.
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