Chants of “Pahlavi will return” are echoing in Iran amid the nationwide protests against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Exiled Iranian crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has emerged as the most recognisable face of the protest. But can the Shah’s son move from being just a nostalgic symbol to a real force?
The eldest son of the Iranian Shah and now crown prince, Reza, was just 17 in 1978 when he left for the United States to train as a fighter jet pilot. Back home, the mood was turning against his father’s rule. A year later, the monarchy collapsed. The king and queen fled the country, and crown prince Reza never returned to Iran. More than four decades on, as nationwide anti-Ayatollah Ali Khamenei protests raged throughout Iran, the streets rang with slogans like “This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return”, “Javid Shah”, meaning “Long live the Shah, along with “Mullahs must leave Iran”.It was Khamenei’s predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Iran Revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the crown prince’s father.
Now, with monarchist sentiment resurfacing in Iran, growing anger against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule, repeated warnings from US President Donald Trump, and renewed calls for regime change, the question is if Crown Prince Reza, who has lived in the US for over four decades, will make a comeback? It was only after Reza called for mass demonstrations that the Khamenei regime imposed a nationwide internet blackouton Thursday, amid a fresh wave of protests in the heart of Tehran after sunset.
Reza has openly backed the protests and urged Iranian security forces to stand with the people, and not what he called Khamenei’s oppressive regime. But support from exile is one thing and his return would be another. Can he return? Is there real political space for him in Iran? Does monarchism have any genuine purchase among ordinary Iranians, or are these chants limited to small, nostalgic sections? And even if the crown prince is acceptable, would Iranians of the 21st-century choose a crown over a republic? Or would democracy be preferred over the monarchy that survives in Iran mostly as memory?
KHAMENEI HAS A PLAN IN PLACE TO ESCAPE TO RUSSIA
Anti-Ayatollah Khamenei protests have gripped Iran for 13 days now. Protests, stemming from dire economic conditions, have been reported in at least 222 locations in Iran, including the capital and the Shia clerical bastion of Qom. People in Asgharabad even called out Khamenei’s support for terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon, while they suffered.
Protestors on Thursday set cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses on fire. The theocratic regime, which is spooked by the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, in order to suppress the nationwide protests, has imposed an internet blackout and has unleashed brutal force on protesting Iranians. British newspaper The Times even claimed Khamenei had plans to flee to Moscow. French media reported that several senior officials of Iran were in talks with Paris for visas for their family members. If these reports are to be believed, the days of the theocratic regime could be numbered.
So far, 45 people have been killed by Khamenei’s forces, while more than 2,260 have been arrested, reported Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.
CROWN PRINCE REZA PAHLAVI EMERGES AS PROMINENT FACE
Protests that began on December 28, 2025, have evolved from economic anger to explicit calls for regime change. Slogans such as “This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return” and “Javid Shah” have been heard in multiple cities, including Tehran, Isfahan and Marvdasht. In Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, which is a critical economic nerve centre, merchants have joined the protests, chanting against the Islamic Republic and backing Pahlavi’s return.
On January 6, Reza Pahlavi issued his first direct call for coordinated protests, urging Iranians to chant slogans at exactly 8 PM on January 8 and 9, from streets and rooftops alike. In video messages, he praised the protesters’ resilience, claiming large crowds had forced security forces to retreat or defect.
In a televised interview later, Pahlavi declared that he was ready to return to Iran when circumstances permit, saying he had trained all his life to serve the nation and could lead the final push against the Islamic Republic. Whether Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is a symbol or a solution to the unfolding crisis in Iran is to be seen and evaluated.
DOES CROWN PRINCE REZA PAHLAVI ENJOY SUPPORT IN IRAN?
Iranian-origin Canadian politician Goldie Ghamari on X said, “I can’t think of a single living politician or head of state with the same level of support as Iran’s King Reza Pahlavi. President Trump has around 60% support, and King [Crown Prince] Reza Pahlavi has over 85%”.
While Pahlavi enjoys strong backing among the Iranian diaspora and visible support in some protests inside Iran, the true depth of his domestic support remains unclear. Experts caution that chants do not necessarily translate into a nationwide political mandate.
Speaking to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), political analyst and human rights activist Shahin Modarres pointed out that the supporters of the Shah are a fraction of the society.
“People who still live within the realm of nostalgia for the monarchy of his father are influenced by the belief that he was not a dictator and that Iran was not an authoritarian system before the revolution. Hence, they think that the return of the monarchy could change things. Reza has a certain amount of popularity. His followers and monarchists claim that his popularity lies somewhere between 80-85%, which is ridiculous and cannot be accepted,” Modarres told DW.
The truth, he said, is based on statistical studies by the German NGO, GAMAAN Institute, he said. “Reza Pahlavi has approximately 35% of Iranian society behind him. This is a very high number,” added Modarres.
But there is a problem with this 35%. “How has he not been able to topple the Islamic Republic with such a high level of support over the last 46 years?” Modarres asked.
“As the former crown prince, he is easily the most recognisable opposition figure for Iranians… Whether because of nostalgia toward the pre-Revolutionary era, or sincere support, many Iranians are chanting Reza Pahlavi’s name…,” Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the Washington DC-based American Enterprise Institute, wrote in his piece in the Middle East Forum.
“Most Iranians would prefer what Pahlavi stands for, rather than a Venezuela-like transition that would empower a Khamenei collaborator,” added Michael Rubin.
RISKS, LIMITS, ROAD AHEAD FOR REZA PAHLAVI. IS TRUMP ON HIS SIDE?
So, even if only as part of a transitional arrangement after the Khamenei regime is potentially toppled, the real question is how Reza Pahlavi could actually return. It goes without saying that as long as the Khamenei regime remains in place, he can never set foot in Iran. He would be arrested immediately.
But even if Reza Pahlavi does manage to return to Iran after the fall of the regime, would the loyalists of the Khamenei system spare him?
“Removing Khamenei alone would not dismantle the system. Rather, it would leave intact the very apparatus that sustains repression. The problem is structural velayat-e faqih [Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist] and the coercive levers that enforce it — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Sazman-e Basij-e Mostaz’afin [paramilitary volunteer militia]. Unless those pillars are dismantled and replaced by an Iranian-led transition to a secular, representative government, the outcome risks being regime continuity under a new face,” US-based security expert Roger Macmillan wrote on X on Thursday.
Adding to this is the stance of US President Donald Trump. While he has publicly voiced support for the Iranian people and repeatedly warned the Khamenei regime, his statements also suggest that Washington is not prepared to back any successor to Khamenei’s Iran, if it collapses.
Trump has described Reza Pahlavi as “a nice man”, a phrase he has used for many others as well. However, he has also said that meeting Pahlavi would be “not appropriate”. This underscored the reluctance of the US to openly endorse Reza Pahlavi.
“I think that we should let everybody go out there and see who emerges,” Trump was quoted as saying on The Hugh Hewitt Show podcast by Qatar’s Al Jazeera. “I’m not sure necessarily that it would be an appropriate thing to do.”
For now, Pahlavi appears to be positioning himself as a unifying figure. Is he the ruler-in-waiting? We can’t say that. He has rejected foreign military intervention, insisting change must come from within Iran. Whether that stance, combined with sustained protests in Iran and internal defections in Khamenei’s ranks, can translate into real political transformation remains uncertain. Also, there is a US angle which can’t be overlooked in geopolitics, especially these days under Donald Trump.
