Reza Pahlavi says Iran is undergoing a revolution

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For decades only diehard royalists took Reza Pahlavi seriously. Iran’s regime, its opponents and Western diplomats dismissed the son of the last shah as the “Clown Prince".

He seemed more interested in his suntan than recovering his sun-and-lion flag. When protests erupted on December 28th he was said to be on a beach holiday. For 47 years he has championed his claim to the throne, mixing with the powerful in Washington, dc (he lives nearby).

An Iranian exile there describes Mr Pahlavi and his team as “rookies". Donald Trump considers him “a nice man" but has brushed aside his requests to meet. And yet after nearly half a century of waiting, Mr Pahlavi believes his moment has arrived.

“This regime is on the verge of collapse. And what it’s doing right now is a last-gasp effort to intimidate," he told The Economist in Washington on January 14th. Cries of “Javid Shah" (“Long live the king!") were widespread at the protests that have consumed Iran—at least before the regime mowed down the protesters.

When their numbers began to flag, Mr Pahlavi called for a return to the streets and turned a provincial rally of jobless angry men into a mass mobilisation that swept Tehran and Iran’s other cities. Raised on the Shahnameh, Iran’s epic poem of kings and heroes, Iranians like mythical saviours. In 1979 Ruhollah Khomeini, an untested cleric, played that role; followers said they saw his face in the moon.

And few alternatives remain. The regime has locked up any would-be challengers in Iran. It has filled its prisons with dissidents and their lawyers; political parties are prohibited; even environmental groups are banned.