Reza Pahlavi says he is prepared to return, urges nationwide strikes

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, on the weekend renewed a call for intensified anti-government action and said he was “preparing to return” when conditions permit, urging protesters to escalate street actions and workers to launch nationwide strikes. His statements, issued on Jan. 10 and into Jan. 11, come amid what rights groups and officials have described as the largest wave of unrest in years.

Pahlavi praised the scale of recent mobilization, invoking protesters’ “courage and resilience” and saying that “millions” had heeded earlier calls. He urged demonstrators to keep up nightly occupations of city centers for “two more nights,” to move toward urban cores from multiple routes, to link crowds on main streets and to gather supplies for prolonged public presence. He told supporters to “claim public spaces as your own.” He also called explicitly for strikes by workers in transportation and energy sectors, including oil and gas, urging a cutoff of financial lifelines to pressure the regime.

The renewed directive included appeals to members of the security forces and armed units who have signaled sympathy for opposition platforms, asking them to slow and disrupt what he described as the state’s repression machine so it can be disabled at a decisive moment. Pahlavi framed his ready-to-return line as symbolic and aspirational, saying he was preparing to return “so that at the time of our national revolution’s victory, I can be beside you, the great nation of Iran,” and adding he believed that day was “very near.”

The protests began in late December 2025, with background reporting tracing the initial spark to a merchants’ strike in Tehran around Dec. 28. Demonstrations have spread across political, ethnic and religious lines, and choreographed actions have extended into the Iranian diaspora. Crowds at home and abroad have chanted support for Pahlavi and slogans including “Javid shah” and claims that “the shah will return.” Rights groups cited in coverage report at least 48 people killed and well over 2,000 detained during the unrest. The U.N. human rights chief said he was “deeply disturbed” by reports of killings and internet shutdowns, while European Union officials accused Tehran of using blackouts to conceal violence.

Beyond the immediate political stakes, Pahlavi’s call for strikes in energy and transportation amplifies economic risk. Iran’s oil and gas sectors are a central source of state revenue and foreign exchange, and coordinated walkouts could disrupt production and exports, tighten supplies regionally and aggravate already fragile public finances. For domestic markets the prospect of prolonged strikes and gatherings raises risks of supply bottlenecks, transport paralysis and accelerated capital flight, which would likely put pressure on the rial and increase inflationary pressures.

International responses, including public warnings from U.S. officials, have bolstered protesters’ morale in Pahlavi’s view; he credited one such warning with giving demonstrators “greater strength and hope.” How the security forces respond to calls for defections and how tightly the government restricts communications will shape whether unrest escalates into a sustained political rupture or is suppressed with force. For investors and regional policymakers, the events underscore a long-running fault line: persistent domestic grievances coupled with economic vulnerability create repeated flashpoints that complicate stabilization, reconstruction and any future opening of Iran’s economy.