Follow-Up on the Mass Iranian Protests against the Islamic Republic

The mass protests by Iranians have continued for two weeks and have spread to all Iran’s provinces, including by major ethnic minorities, such as Kurds and Azeris. The protestors have attacked paramilitary and Islamic Republic targets. The tyrannical theocratic regime has responded by arresting thousands and with violence, as usual, with dozens to hundreds dead and thousands injured. The Islamic Republic has shut down the Internet and initiated electrical blackouts at the time called for protestors to take to the streets by exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah (King) of Iran, who was deposed in 1979 in the Iranian Revolution that brought the mullahs to power in the Islamic Republic. The Iranian people continue to call for the end of the theocratic dictatorship and for Pahlavi’s return, and are brandishing Iranian lion and sun flags, which were the flags of imperial Iran before the Revolution, and images of the House of Pahlavi. Pahlavi has been living in exile in America, while engaging with the Iranian exile community and the broader Iranian diaspora. The protests are reaching the size of those of 2022 or 2019, if they have not already, but with the Iranian regime weakened by its loss in the war with Israel last year, in which the United States joining in the targeting of Iranian nuclear sites, and especially by the collapse of Iran’s currency, which is what sparked the protests initially. There was some expression of opposition to the Crown Prince among protestors who are leftists and some members of ethnic groups who oppose the Islamic Republic, but favor separatism. But there was also some support among the latter groups for restoring the monarchy. There were also protests across the Iranian diaspora in Europe, Canada and America at the time called for by Pahlavi. As in Iran, the people are calling for the return of the monarchy under Pahlavi as Shah. The National Union for Democracy in Iran, a group of Iranian exiles in America, have drafted the Iran Prosperity Program, a detailed plan formed with governance and finance experts for a transition of Iran from a theocratic dictatorship to a constitutional monarchy with Pahlavi as Shah and an elective representative parliament, that would be secular, respect human rights for all Iranian religious and ethnic minorities, be prosperous, stop fomenting Islamic revolution and sponsoring terrorism, and be at peace with its neighbors, Israel and the West. As I have posted, Iran foments Islamic revolution throughout the Islamic world, particularly among Shi’ites, is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and is an ally of the Russian Federation, to which it supplies material for the Russian aggression against Ukraine, while developing a nuclear and ballistic missile program. A free Iran would thus be of great benefit to the security and peace of the region and world. There have been growing calls of support for the Iranian people from the international community, including Ukraine, the European Union and some of its member States, and the United States, which has warned the Islamic Republic not to kill protestors again. As we Americans celebrate the 25th anniversary of our own Revolution, we should stand with the Iranian people in their current counter-revolution.