Live: Son of ousted shah says 'prepared to return to Iran' at first opportunity

[BaronChocula]

Source: France 24

The US-based son of Iran's ousted shah Reza Pahlavi said Sunday he is prepared to return to the country and lead a transition to a democratic government. As new protests took place in Iran overnight from Saturday to Sunday, a new report from the NGO Iran Human Rights puts the death toll at least 192.

Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260111-live-iran-death-toll-rises-as-protesters-defy-crackdown

[pfitz59]

1. Nope. Not going to happen.

No more Shahs. No more SAVAK. No more Ayatollahs. Let the people vote.

[Igel]

5. Won't happen overnight.

Same problem as in Venezuela. And Russia. And Belorus'. And PRC.

When you imprison, exile, or kill all the opposition, kicking out the top tier and saying, "Elections in 21 days, candidacy petitions due in 7!" is lunacy. Moreover, just because the top tier is gone doesn't mean that loyal foot soldiers and mid-tier folkx wouldn't love to restore the old order in which they believed or which gave them their jobs, and do that by creating such chaos that people want order, any order, more than liberty. Look at Russia under Yeltsin. It's a commonplace to say that Putin restored things, but all the trendlines were good--unemployment, inflation, corruption, violence--for a couple of years prior to the 20000 election. Problem is, the improvement was less felt than the on-going disruption. (We see the same effect when looking at urban violence--violent crime may go way down, but the news doesn't pro-rate even large decreases when there's still more than enough violence to fill the newscast. Or unemployment. Or inflation.)

"Give me liberty or give me death" is the slogan of the brave few. The vast majority are usually of the "Give me freedom, but never at the expense of my life, the life of somebody I know, my income, my property, my pets ... maybe my favorite tv show!" persuasion.

And even if there is a democratic transition--whatever the hell that means--it's easy (so the allusions) goes to boil a frog. Even the dystopia that Venezuela was reaching in end-stage-Chavez and which blossomed like a corpse flower under Maduro was slow and incremental and at each stage some protested and were shut up until finally the blanket of oppression was so thorough that 7-8 million leaving was okay because to stay would lead to a lot of death and unpleasantness.

[iemanja]

2. That sounds helpful.

Though I'm sure Trump would love it.

[Sneederbunk]

3. Deja vu all over again.

[Scrivener7]

4. The shah was no bargain. Better than the Khomeini, but no bargain.

[rollin74]

6. Pahlavi seems to be the most likely leader to step in

when the current regime is finally forced from power

He seems to have significant support amongst the protesters and would be preferable to the brutal theocracy they have suffered under for decades.

Ultimately it will be up to the Iranian people to determine their future. Hopefully they will have the opportunity to do so in the near future

[SamuelTheThird]

11. What's the source for his having significant support?

Not saying it's untrue, just wondering how this is quantified

[newdeal2]

13. I have serious doubts

He is the choice of some Iranians living here, probably Donald, and Israel.

In fact, he may be a terrible choice - I have a bad feeling of lots of corruption and brute force.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. It's been 48 years

Where does this sense of entitlement come from?

[Deep State Witch]

8. The Plan Is

Supposedly, for Reza Shah to step in as an interim leader until elections are held. He was educated in the US, and has lived here ever since the overthrow. One would think that he had a plan in place for his eventual return.

They can make him Shah again, as long as he guarantees freedom of religion, women's rights, and no more SAVAK and secret detention facilities.

[moniss]

9. So the son of the American puppet who was

a brutally repressive dictator wants the US and Israel to move him in to power. Remember the phrase "we will be greeted as liberators"?
Remember how that went?

[Martin68]

10. Frankly, I think it is a terrible idea to replace the Islamic state with a kingdom. That certainly isn't the

only option.

[Buzz cook]

12. Fuck that.

How anout returning the millions in stolen money you've been living on. And then shutting the fuck up.

[EX500rider]

14. I have noticed many of the protestors waving the old regimes flag: