CBS news is about as reliable as Russia Today. I wonder if we can find any corroborating reports from someone outside the Trump sphere of enshitification.
The west is really pushing for the Shah to take over, huh
There were some reports from Arak that workers started taking over factories. But no, what gets reported are some fringe monarchists.
Btw, the Iranian communist party talks of 600ish dead and 11000 arrested. Those seem more believable numbers. Protests seem to still be ongoing on a large scale, I hope they bring down the Ayatollah regime. All power to the workers!
As far as I could tell the Shah guy isn’t actually intent on becoming a monarch (he was fairly critical of his dad) but wants to help Iran transition towards democracy. How he does that, no clue.
Still, apparently that guy is the dude most Iranians trust to take over. I say most, but it’s still barely 30% iirc; Iranians are pretty disillusioned with their (potential) leaders at the moment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Pahlavi,_Crown_Prince_of_Iran
Investigations by Haaretz and TheMarker reported the existence of an Israeli-linked influence network aimed at shaping Iranian public opinion and promoting Pahlavi as a potential post–Islamic Republic leader. The reports claim the network was operated by a private entity funded by Israeli government resources, used artificial intelligence, and relied on fake online accounts, particularly Persian-language profiles. The network allegedly recruited Persian speakers who reposted content from Reza Pahlavi.[99]
Whether or not he claims so, he’s pro-US and pro-Israel so they are pushing hard to restore the monarchy. Any support you see for him is likely astroturfed
Edit: besides, trusting an autocrat who promises to “transition to democracy at some point in the future” is the stupidest thing one can do during a popular uprising
Pahlavi himself iirc never ruled and criticised his father who did, so not sure how correctly he can be characterized as an “autocrat”. He might well be genuine. But yes, it’s obvious that there’s foreign countries who’d much prefer him over the theocracy.
An (absolute) monarchy is by definition an autocracy, and a monarch an autocrat. And we don’t know whether he wants to rule as Shah or not based on his statements, because even if he did, it would be in his best interest to deny it and promise democratization. So again: trusting an autocrat at their word, especially if they are promising to bring you democracy if you just let them take the reigns first, is foolishly naïve.
