There’s a specific theatre playing out on Persian-language media screens and in exile circles these days. At the centre of it is Reza Pahlavi — the exiled "prince" of a monarchy that was overthrown more than four decades ago. Recently, he published a dramatic video giving Iran’s Supreme Leader 12 hours to surrender. He promised a fair trial if he complied.
But this spectacle is not just absurd. It’s insulting to the intelligence of the Iranian people — a people who have paid in blood and resilience to free themselves from monarchs, from foreign stooges, and puppet regimes.
And make no mistake: Reza Pahlavi is not wanted. Not by the people inside Iran. Not by the youth who have faced down both dictatorship and foreign sanctions. And certainly not by those who remember the terror of SAVAK and the hollow luxury of a king surrounded by foreign handlers.
A King for Whom?
Let’s call this what it is: a regime change operation in costume. If Iran needs a king in 2025, it’s not because Iranians want one. It’s because the United States and Israel need a new client. A familiar model: install a ruler, support him so long as he obeys, replace him when he disobeys. See Egypt. See Jordan. See Saudi Arabia. See the Shah himself.
Iran is not perfect — but it is a sovereign republic with elections. Unlike the monarchies in the Gulf, Iran has shifted leadership repeatedly over the past four decades. Conservatives, reformists, pragmatists — presidencies have changed, policies have swung, and the people have engaged. Iranians protest, debate, and push back. That’s more than can be said for half the so-called “allies” of the West in the region.
Social Change Comes from Within
On issues like the hijab, generational rights, and relations with the West, Iran has experienced real internal evolution — not because of foreign bombs or exile princes, but because of grassroots struggle. Because the people are active, aware, and courageous. To impose a monarch now — especially one living in exile and funded by foreign backers — would be to spit on the memory of every martyr of 1979 and every protester since.
BRICS and the Economic Horizon
Iran’s inclusion in the BRICS economic bloc is not just symbolic. It signals a multipolar future, one where Iran is no longer trapped in the dollarised cage of Western sanctions. A future where the Iranian economy can breathe again — and grow, trade, and build — on its terms.
What Reza Pahlavi offers is the opposite: a return to servitude. A re-tethering to the IMF, the Pentagon, and Tel Aviv.
The Scandal They Don’t Want to Talk About
But beyond the politics, there is something even more damning — a question of character.
I have seen — in which a former member of Reza Pahlavi’s household staff makes a disturbing claim: that Reza engaged in a sexual relationship with his younger brother’s girlfriend. That betrayal, the staff member alleges, contributed directly to Ali-Reza Pahlavi’s depression and eventual suicide.
In Iranian society, this kind of transgression is unforgivable. You do not sleep with your brother’s partner — especially not if you’re the older brother. Especially not if you are pretending to carry the mantle of a nation. Especially not when your brother ends up dead.
This is not a tabloid rumour. It’s not a regime plant. It’s the truth.
And if you needed a clearer sign that this man has no moral legitimacy — that he could never, ever stand on the soil of Iran and claim leadership — this is it.
Reza Pahlavi is Finished
The fantasy that Reza Pahlavi can ride in on a white horse and “rescue” Iran is not just delusional. It’s a foreign-funded mirage — one designed in Washington and Tel Aviv, but rejected wholesale on the streets of Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and beyond.
He has no organic support, ground game, or movement inside Iran. All he has is a camera, a script, and a foreign intelligence community whispering in his ear.
And all it takes to destroy that illusion is to watch the video of an Iranian patriot — firm, heartfelt, and unflinching — rejecting Reza with the same intensity he might reject an invader.
