Will Iran revolt against Ayatollah Khamenei, Islamic rule? Will Israel, US succeed in overthrowing him?

Is the real intention behind the Israel-Iran War a regime change in Tehran? Do Israel and the US want to overthrow the Islamic regime that has been quite unpopular since the Mahasa Amini controversy that rocked the Islamic Republic in September 2023? These questions have been doing the rounds in Iran after Reza Pahlavi, a descendant of the Shah of Iran, delivered an address to the nation Tuesday. Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution under the leadership of Ayatollah Rohallah Khomeini swept the Shiite nation.

Who is Reza Pahlavi?

Still considered the Crown Prince of Iran in exile by some people, Reza Pahlavi lambasted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime and advocated the establishment of constitutional democracy. He said, "The Islamic Republic has come to its end and is collapsing. The future is bright, and together we will turn the page of history." Urging the people of Iran to revolt against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his Islam-based theocratic rule, he said, "All it takes now is a nationwide uprising to put an end to this nightmare once and for all." What may be called an appeal to overthrow the government, he declared, "Now is the time to rise; the time to reclaim Iran. Let us all come forward - from Bandar Abbas to Bandar Anzali, from Shiraz to Isfahan, from Tabriz to Zahedan, from Mashhad to Ahvaz, and from Shahr-e-Kord to Kermanshah - and bring about the end of this regime."

Will masses revolt?

However, the moot question is: why the scion of the deposed ruler suddenly come out with all guns blazing after more than a decade of Islamic rule? His fervent appeal for a regime change has come days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his game plan in the most unambiguous term. Netanyahu admitted that one of the objectives of his government's military offensive against Iran was to ensure a regime change. He called it an end to a "dictatorship" and a "radical Islamist regime". It is not surprising that US President Donald Trump has also earlier called for an end to Ayatollah Khamenei's rule. 

Is it possible? Are the people of Iran so fed up with the Islamic rule and alleged suppression that they would revolt against the regime? Analysts believe that Pahlavi has plenty of admirers in the Iranian diaspora, who support a return to the monarchy. However, it is uncertain how popular that idea might be inside the country. Experts also point out that most Iranians are not old enough to remember life before the Islamic Revolution. They have been brought up in a system they have accepted it as a fait accompli. On the other hand,    many Iranians look back with nostalgia on that pre-revolutionary era, many others also recall its inequalities and oppression. Observers believe Iran is not yet ready for another revolution.