Iran’s monarchists have moved closer to Israel, which they see as a key ally in their fight to reinstate the Pahlavis.
As millions of people took to the streets to denounce Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, demanding justice and peace, support for Israel emerged from a surprising quarter: Iranian monarchists.
They are supporters of Reza Pahlavi, son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s last shah who was toppled by the Islamic Revolution of 1979. At pro-Israel rallies, they have waved the old Iranian flag and chanted praise of Israel and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Their confrontations with pro-Palestinian protesters, whom they accuse of being government proxies, reveal their stark divergence from the mainstream Iranian opinion, which has historically supported the Palestinian cause.
Yet, the current Gaza war evokes complex reactions in Iran, as many Iranians avoid being associated with the government’s unpopular foreign and domestic policies that have caused widespread discontent. Regardless, many Iranian civil society activists and dissidents try to balance criticism of their government with solidarity with Palestinians. The monarchists’ alignment with Israel, therefore, raises questions about their motives and how big a portion of the opposition they represent.
The Iranian opposition movement comprises various factions, including republicans and monarchists. However, their ideological differences have hindered their unity and led to bitter conflicts and splits among them.
In December, many Iranians celebrated the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Narges Mohammadi, a prominent women’s rights activist and political prisoner in Iran. Her twins, Kiana and Ali, and their father Taghi Rahmani, received the prize on her behalf and met with the king and queen of Sweden, who praised her courage and work.
But an online campaign against Mohammadi and her family began from several accounts ostensibly belonging to Iranian monarchists.
They cast doubt on Mohammadi’s legitimacy and credibility while insisting that Pahlavi is the only true leader of all Iranians. Their comments included, “Narges Mohammadi is not the representative of Iranians,” and “Our real representative is King Reza Pahlavi.”
This came as Mohammadi was preparing to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10.
Mohammadi’s husband responded in a series of tweets outlining the perilous process by which political prisoners in Iran communicate with the outside world – a process that, ironically, the monarchist movement also employs in Iran.
The root of this hostility lies in the deep political and ideological rifts between the Iranian monarchists and the Iran-based pro-democracy activists like Mohammadi. The monarchists, who regard Reza Pahlavi as the crown prince and the opposition leader, want the Iranian opposition movement to unite under his leadership. They also support a hardline US approach towards Iran, including increased intervention and harsh sanctions.
Mohammadi, however, has a different background and vision. She was part of Iran’s reformist movement, and supported moderate and reformist candidates like Hassan Rouhani and Mir Hossein Mousavi in past elections, along with most of the Iranian civil society and pro-democracy movement.
Fractured opposition
She also rejected sweeping sanctions that hurt Iran’s economy, telling the Washington Post in April 2022 that they “weakened Iranians economically more than they weakened the Iranian regime” and “strengthened the Iranian regime and hardline individuals and groups in the country, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This did not benefit democracy in Iran.”
These divergent views on the nature and the future of the Iranian opposition have created a chasm between the monarchists and many other opposition forces, which has been exacerbated by the online attacks against Mohammadi.
Indeed, since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Iranian monarchist movement has shown strong support for Israel online and at pro-Israel rallies in Europe and the United States. Their often-aggressive tactics have concerned many pro-Palestinian activists, with pro-Pahlavi lobbying groups in Washington, DC, such as the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI), seeking to intimidate pro-Palestinians activists who have been critical of Iranian-American supporters of Israel, labelling them “supporters of Palestinian terrorist groups”.
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ruled until 1979, had a cordial but complex relationship with Israel, trying to balance it with ties to the Arab world. He cooperated with Israel on energy, security, and regional stability, while also at times voicing support for the Palestinian cause and Islamic and non-aligned movements — though he never fully embraced them and was decisively in the US camp in the Cold War.
He tried to maximise Iran’s strategic options and leverage in the region while working to position it as the leading Gulf state.
His son, Reza Pahlavi, and his supporters, however, have been more and more overly supportive of Israel over the years, seeing it as a critical partner to their cause and ignoring the domestic and regional implications of their stance.
Their pro-Israel stance became much more pronounced and vocal after Reza Pahlavi and his wife visited Israel in April 2023, where they were warmly received and hosted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel.
During their visit, the couple toured the country with Gamliel and the self-proclaimed Iranian crown prince prayed at the Western Wall, avoiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
His wife also tried to appropriate the slogan of a popular protest movement in Iran that broke out after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the mandatory hijab law.
Yasmine Pahlavi posted a photo of a female Israeli soldier in East Jerusalem, which is under Israeli occupation, with the words “Women, Life, Freedom!” – angering supporters of the Amini protests who did not want their cause conflated with Israel’s occupation or treatment of Palestinians.
Pahlavi also brought on the visit Amir Etemadi, his official adviser, and Saeed Ghasseminejad, a staffer at the pro-Israel, right-wing Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank in Washington, DC.
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