Return of Pahlavi Dynasty Could Lead to Disintegration of Iran, Baku Commentator Warns

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 4 – Protests which have been roiling Iran since the end of December have been centered in Persian areas of the country with many minorities in Iran, including the large Azerbaijani community, more inclined to support the current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, than the coming to power of the son of the last shah, Baku observer Nurani says.

            The reason for that is simple, he says. Persian nationalism has been on the rise in recent years with anti-government demonstrators even carrying pictures of the son of the shah at their meetings and the son of the shah himself declaring that he is on their side (minval.az/news/124509039).

            But such ideas, Nurani continues, don’t “resonate in the national peripheries” whose memories of the shah’s Persian-first approach dispose them to oppose any return to that arrangement. “This is a more serious issue than it may appear,” especially with regard to Southern Azerbaijan.

            That roughly a third of the country is “more likely to support President Pezeskhkian than the still leaderless opposition, especially if a Pahlavi heir is being promoted as the potential leader of Iran. And that means this, Nurani says, “if the West tries too actively to bring the former sha’s dynasty back, it will create the risk of the disintegration of Iran.”

            That is something Western leaders should think about before they take any irreversible steps in this situation, the Baku commentator concludes.