![\"Royalist](\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26012570615620.jpg?fit=8688%2C5792\")
After more than<\/span> two weeks of what began as peaceful protests in Iran and devolved into calls by many protesters for an end to the regime, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on a visit to India,<\/strong> said he believes we are witnessing the \u201cfinal days and weeks\u201d of\u00a0the Iranian government.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it\u2019s effectively at the end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It is true that Iran has deployed massive force against many protests, at least since January 10. According to various reports \u2014 some credible eyewitness accounts and some from the government \u2014 hundreds and possibly thousands of Iranians have lost their lives in this most recent outbreak of unrest.<\/p>\n In Washington and other Western capitals, members of Congress, parliamentarians, experts, pundits, analysts, and think tankers have variously argued for regime change in Iran, some promoting military action by the Trump administration to bring it about.<\/p>\n It was not, however, their only dire prescription for Iranians.<\/p>\n Many, if not most, of these self-appointed arbiters of wisdom also chose to promote Reza Pahlavi \u2014 son of the deposed shah<\/a> and Israel\u2019s favorite Iranian \u2014 as a potential leader to form a government that would replace the theocracy.<\/p>\n Presumably, Merz, who during Israel\u2019s war against Iran in June 2025 declared approvingly that it was doing the world\u2019s \u201cdirty work<\/a>,\u201d would cheer such an outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the legitimacy and popularity I have received from you, I announce another stage of the national uprising.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Pahlavi has certainly taken on the mantle of leader for himself, making grandiose proclamations on behalf of the Iranian people.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, relying on your million-strong response to the calls of the past days, and with the legitimacy and popularity I have received from you, I announce another stage of the national uprising to overthrow the Islamic Republic,\u201d he wrote in a long tweet<\/a> with an accompanying Persian-language video message.<\/p>\n He continues to insist that revolution is at hand and urges Iranians not to give up on their struggle \u2014 presumably, their struggle to bring him to power. He also supports \u2014 no, implores President Donald Trump to take action, including military strikes, to bring about regime change in Iran.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n With the mounting death toll and images of body bags in warehouses in Tehran, CBS News asked Pahlavi on January 12 if it was responsible to demand Iranians take to the streets in the face of mortal danger. Did Pahlavi, the anchor asked, bear any responsibility for the deaths of his fellow Iranians?<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a war, and war has casualties,\u201d the former crown prince responded.<\/p>\n A civil war is something many Iranians have dreaded ever since witnessing the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Yet what is unfolding in Iran now is not quite the civil war that Pahlavi is invoking. Iranian protesters had come out to streets peacefully \u2014 their grievances recognized as valid<\/a> by the government \u2014 not to start a \u201cwar.\u201d A civil war is something many Iranians have dreaded ever since witnessing the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Syria\u2019s <\/a>civil strife<\/a>, which both saw destructive sectarian fighting and, eventually,\u00a0the atrocities of the Islamic State.<\/p>\n In his long tweet, Pahlavi also got into thornier rhetoric of war. He suggested state-run media buildings were \u201clegitimate targets,\u201d adding, \u201cGovernment employees, and the armed and security forces, have the opportunity to join the people.\u201d<\/p>\n At least one state broadcaster building was torched by protesters, but this is a far cry from making \u201ctargets\u201d out of them. What\u2019s more, government employees who are not directly participating in hostilities are the opposite of \u201clegitimate targets\u201d in the context of war: Attacking civilian infrastructure<\/a>, even state propaganda organs, is a war crime<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even if we are watching the throes of what is to become a civil war \u2014 a similar pattern emerged in Syria, for instance, where a peaceful popular uprising morphed into a civil war after the Assad regime\u2019s brutal crackdown \u2014 there\u2019s little evidence that what\u2019s happening on the streets of cities across Iran is a war to restore the monarchy.<\/p>\n This is not to say no Iranians, however, support Pahlavi.<\/p>\n Pahlavi, who has now lived \u2014 mostly quietly \u2014 in the U.S. for 48 of his 66 years and raised an American family, would be likely be welcomed by many pro-democracy and anti-Islamic Republic types who live in the West.<\/p>\n Many of these Iranians abroad are Pahlavi\u2019s most ardent supporters. While he has denied he is seeking to restore the Peacock Throne, arguing he is simply \u201cleading the transition\u201d to a different political system, his followers in the West have been crystal clear that he is their \u201cshah,\u201d and fully expect him to rule over Iranians in a resurrected dynasty.<\/p>\n It is difficult to gauge how much support Pahlavi has inside Iran, but it is clear it is not insignificant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis Is a War\u201d<\/h2>\n
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Who Supports Pahlavi?<\/h2>\n