Reza Pahlavi Eyes Return To Power: How US Is Engineering Protests In Iran To Fuel Crown Prince’s Comeback

Reza Pahlavi: Iranian Crown Prince in exile Reza Pahlavi who is the eldest son of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah. He has appeal for the ‘New Iran’ in his New Year message posted on Thursday (1st January 2026). In the social media post Crown Prince Pahlavi claimed that the Ayatollah’s regime is about to end, he said that “46 years of terror and chaos by the regime” and backed the protests erupting throughout the country. He urged the international community to back the people of Iran, claiming that the current regime under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “most fragile, weak, deeply divided, and unable to suppress the courage of a rising nation.” He termed it as “tide of history” that is changing, he further claims that Iranians fighting for freedom will surely win. 

What’s going in Iran 

The Iran is experiencing widespread protest in Iran. The official has claimed that a government was attacked in the southern city of Fasa. As per the justice ministry’s Mizan news agency, the protestors damaged parts of the provincial governor’s office on Wednesday i.e. 31st December 2025 and a member of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has been assassinated on 1st January 2026. 

The protest has been spreading across the country since last week. Hamed Ostovar, head of Fasa’s Judiciary, has given a statement that “a portion of the governor’s office door and its glass were destroyed in an attack by a number of people”, further said that four suspects were the intervention of police. He also claimed that three police officers were injured. 

Why Iran is protesting  

The Iranian are protesting on street against the economic collapse, the citizens are also demanding political regime change and personal freedom. The protest started after the Iranian currency hit the rock bottom, approximately 1.45 million Iranian rial to 1 USD in December 2025 and the inflation in the country hit all time high with food prices surging by 72 per cent and medical goods by 50 per cent. The authoritarian regime has also proposed a 62 per cent tax increase in the 2026 budget.  

The protest began on Sunday when the bazaari i.e. merchant class, closed their shops and went to the street. The protest expended Ahvazm Hamadan, Qeshm, and Mashhad. Some videos also show protestors chanting slogan in support of Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who is in exile since the fall of Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. 

The US connection and Pahlavi factor 

The ongoing protest is primarily a domestic reaction to Iran’s economic collapse. Many Iranian and International geopolitical commentator believes that a long-standing sanctions from US have contributed to economic distress, especially restriction on banking and oil exports, reduced access to global financial systems and currency depreciation and import bottlenecks. 
 
The relationship between Tehran and Washington has been extremely tense since the fall of Pahlavi’s. The exiled crown prince and US administration still enjoys a healthy and friendly relations which signals toward his comeback to the power in Iran. 

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