Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, issued his most direct call yet for regime change early Tuesday, declaring the Islamic Republic “on the verge of collapse” and urging Iranians to launch a “nationwide uprising” as the country faces military strikes from Israel and ongoing internal unrest.
In a post on X on Monday, Pahlavi claimed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has “gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation,” comparing him to “a frightened rat.” The 64-year-old opposition figure, who has lived in exile since 1979, called on Iranians from “Bandar Abbas to Bandar Anzali, from Shiraz to Isfahan, from Tabriz to Zahedan” to rise up against the clerical government.
“All it takes now is a nationwide uprising to put an end to this nightmare once and for all,” Pahlavi wrote, adding his hope to be “with you soon.”
The unprecedented direct appeal for immediate regime change comes as Iran faces mounting pressures on multiple fronts. Israel has been conducting strikes against Iranian targets since Friday, killing 224 Iranians according to Iranian health officials, while Iran has retaliated with missile barrages that have killed at least 10 Israelis and damaged residential areas in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Iran has witnessed scattered protests in recent days, including hostile demonstrations against President Masoud Pezeshkian during his June 11 visit to Ilam province, where youth held handwritten placards expressing opposition. On the same day, special guard units violently suppressed environmental protesters in Kerman province who were demonstrating against a chromium mine’s impact on their community.
Farmers in Shiraz protested water mismanagement on June 10, while authorities in Gilan province demolished kiosks belonging to over 200 families, destroying their livelihoods despite prior agreements to provide business licenses.
Iran continues to face ongoing repression of dissent stemming from the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that erupted after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. A UN fact-finding mission reported in March 2025 that Iranian authorities have intensified surveillance and systematic repression of protesters, families of victims, and human rights defenders. At least 10 men have been executed in connection with the protests, with 11 men and 3 women remaining at risk of execution.
Pahlavi has positioned himself as a unifying figure for Iran’s opposition movement since the 2022 protests. In his Tuesday post, he directly addressed Iranian security forces, claiming many have been “sending me messages” and urging them not to “stand against the Iranian people for the sake of a regime whose fall has begun.”
The crown prince promised that Iran “will not descend into civil war or instability,” claiming to have “a plan for Iran’s future” and preparation “for the first hundred days after the fall, for the transitional period, and for the establishment of a national and democratic government.”
Earlier this year, Pahlavi advocated for what he calls a “third path” for US policy toward Iran — beyond diplomacy and military strikes — focusing on providing “maximum support” for Iranian dissidents who he says are prepared to overthrow the regime from within.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released video statements targeting ordinary Iranians, declaring that “Israel’s fight is not against the Iranian people” but against “the murderous Islamic regime that oppresses and impoverishes you,” as Israel seeks to exploit what it sees as the Islamic Republic’s weaknesses to potentially spark the regime’s overthrow.
Iran faces the challenge of sustaining a prolonged conflict while managing potential domestic unrest, with analysts noting that the government will be looking for an “off-ramp” to end a conflict that could escalate into a regional war and cause significant damage to Iran’s already struggling economy.
Pahlavi, who left Iran at age 17 in 1978 for military flight school in the United States, has not returned to his homeland since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew his father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iranian officials regularly dismiss him as a foreign-backed exile with no legitimate claim to represent the Iranian people.
Iranian authorities have historically characterized opposition activities as foreign-sponsored “riots” and part of what Supreme Leader Khamenei has called a “hybrid war” against Iran.
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