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this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2026
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Good for them that they want to overthrow their oppressors but depressing they want to replace them with new oppressors in the form of a Shah.
Bruh no iranians want to have the Shah back
The crown prince advocates for a democratically elected government to replace the current regime.
All these people saying "they want to reinstitute the shah" are basically just making a strawman
No he doesn't. He's a self declared shah in exile, and he said people should choose between a "constitutional monarchy" and a republic.
Good father was a brutal dictator who disappeared opposition and gave away 80% of Iran's oil to the US and UK, if you think the US/Israel backed "shah in exile" is really going to establish a democratic government, I have so much bullshit to sell you.
The people will "choose" a monarchy and he'll be more oppressive than his father, while the western media will show footage of his supporters crying with happiness as proof he's not a dictator.
👀
So, a democratically-held referendum?
Also, in case you don't know what a constitutional monarchy is, it typically has a parliament and a set of rules which limit the powers of the monarch. Basically all the extant monarchies in Europe are constitutional monarchies. It's in contrast with an "absolute monarchy," which is what you seem to be afraid of.
How do you know that? What makes you so sure? And if it's what the people choose, then what right do you have to tell them otherwise?
He's not his father, and his political views are sharply different. Let's take a look:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Pahlavi
Are you dense? A self declared monarch says people should choose between a monarchy and a republic, and you take that to mean he really backs a democratic process?
As a citizen of a constitutional monarchy in the middle east, whose secret service disappears people for disrespecting the monarch, get a perspective.
We've seen this movie too many times. Our entire region has been destroyed by puppet monarchs of the UK and US.
You just referenced him. Trump said he ended the most wars and deserves a peace prize, he also says he's fighting corruption and making America great again.
Do you believe Israel and the US are pushing for him so hard because he has anything but their interests in mind?
Read some books on colonialism, this is textbook.
There are currently no true parliamentary monarchies in the Middle East. At best, some are semi-constitutional.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_monarchies
Regardless, he openly states that he prefers a secular republic. It comes down to whether the referendum is held in a truly democratic manner; after that, it's up to the people of Iran to choose.
But anyway, unless you're fine with the status quo and are arguing in support of the Ayatollah, try reading the room. Cause it seems like these are the only options...
Stop reading Wikipedia and read books.
When the options are a brutal dictator who cannot give your children a good future because of sanctions or a brutal dictator that let's you wear skirts but sells your children's future to the US, you absolutely shouldn't choose the puppet.
Unfortunately, and this is not an insult this is a fact of all populations of the world, the people are about as well read as you, and they don't know what's coming to them. They've been consuming Israel's propaganda campaign (like you) and they are marching to their own destruction.
Take a lesson from Syria, look at what's happened to it, the once great civilization reduced to a memory with an ISIS commander as president playing basketball with US military.
Israel didn't do this for the love of democracy in Iran: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2025-10-03/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-israeli-influence-operation-in-iran-pushing-to-reinstate-the-shah-monarchy/00000199-9f12-df33-a5dd-9f770d7a0000
Just because wikipedia was the most expedient source to cite on a Lemmy post, doesn't mean I don't read books. Stop making assumptions about me.
Hmm, brutal theocratic dictator or democratic referendum with possible constitutional monarchy. Tough choice. Oh but the US at least nominally expresses support for the possible referendum (in reality it's more like opposition to the theocratic regime), so following the logic that anything anti-west is good, you choose the theocracy?
That's not that surprising to be honest. Look, I hate trump and I hate agreeing with him even more, but a broken clock is right twice a day, and I've been in the background quietly cheering for Iranian self-determination since at least the New Iran movement in 2022. This isn't about US foreign policy, this is about the Iranian people deserving better than the mullah.
You're right, Syria was once great, and now for the time being it's in Shambles. But you're forgetting a key part of the picture, which is that Assad's regime already had it in shambles. He needed to go. And although HTS has yet to deliver on the promise of a referendum, and they've had questionable relations so far with minority groups such as Druze and Kurds, calling them ISIS is misinformed. They broke with ISIS over ideological differences and disavowed any affiliation, it's okay if they want to rehab their image to gain legitimacy and international recognition.
Also, I don't consume Israel's propaganda. Fuck off with that. Not everyone who is against the Ayatollah is pro-Israel, and just because Israel is conducting opportunistic agitation doesn't mean the whole protest movement is an Israeli proxy.
I'm making assumptions because your words contradict history, if you've read any non colonial books you'd know better. Both good books (e.g. Orientalism by Edward Said) to see how this movie plays out, and bad books (e.g. Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace by Avi Shlaim) to see how the progranda you're spewing about the Shah gets disseminated and how it never reflects realty.
That's not on the table. That's the rhetoric used to establish a US puppet monarch. See any of the"constitutional monarchies" you listed earlier.
A US/Israel funded and backed monarch isn't better.
Jesus Christ this hurts to read.
You do, you just don't recognize it.
Wow, that's what you got out of it? The biased Israeli news I linked isn't even that generous, you have to bend that far backwards to stay your ground?
It's okay to be wrong, it's okay to recognize that you're backing and defending a power hungry dictator, it's okay to recognize you're repeating talking points literally spread by Israel and generated by AI.
I want self-determination for Iranians, and it doesn't come through a US intervention installed puppet.
From what I've seen, it's Iranians in the streets but I'll fully admit I'm far away and I've seen little.
If it's what the people of Iran want, then it's no one else's business to decide.
People on lemmy are like "Boo, foreign intervention. No, don't choose that way! Let me tell you what's what."
Fair enough though it's difficult to determine what the people of Iran want being from a different country and culture half way around the world. Hope they figure it out and make it work.
I'd say from the huge numbers of people out protesting in the streets against the regime and winding up in body bags by the thousands because the regime is massacring them, that they probably want the downfall of the mullah.
And the reason it's "difficult to determine" is because the regime cut off their internet access to isolate them from outside observers and increase the fog of war. People saying "it's difficult to determine what they want" is precisely what the ayatollah intended to happen.
As for what they want to replace it with, that's what a referendum is for. So I don't get this "don't give them a referendum, they'll just choose wrong" mentality...
Well yes, but also because I speak a different language and I'm from a different culture and I have a limited amount of bandwidth to devote to foreigners while my own country is such a dumpster fire.
Because tens of thousands of people protesting and thousands of them getting murdered by the government is so culturally relative. It's hard to say what that's about, because of you know the language barrier.
Anyway, my point stands that if people from outside Iran can't determine what the people of Iran want, then they shouldn't be complaining about Iranians possibly having a democratic referendum so that they can decide collectively what sort of government to replace the current regime with...