Reactions of Reza Pahlavi and Maryam Rajavi to Protests in Mashhad

Following the protests on Thursday, December 28, in the cities of Mashhad, Nishapur, Kashmar, and Shahroud under the slogan "No to Inflation," some opposition figures to the Islamic Republic, including Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince of Iran, and Maryam Rajavi, a senior leader of the People's Mujahedin Organization, reacted. Reza Pahlavi wrote in a message on his Telegram page: "Dear compatriots, your rightful cry reflects your awareness and knowledge of your rights in protesting against the oppression and injustice prevailing in the country. This is the way, and there is no other way but to make the criminal cult bow before your will." On Thursday, hundreds of participants in the protests in front of the Mashhad municipality building and several other cities shouted slogans such as "Death to the Dictator," "Death to Rouhani," "Rest in Peace Reza Shah," and "What a mistake I made by revolting." According to reports, 52 protesters were arrested in Mashhad. The son of the last Shah of Iran had previously labeled the Islamic Republic as a "criminal cult" in his statement on the occasion of the 2017 elections, urging the Iranian people to "reject this criminal cult with belief in themselves, their generation, and their homeland." Reza Pahlavi had also stated in an interview with the Associated Press that he believes the Islamic Republic is "inherently unreformable" and sees the path to "fundamental change" in Iran as a "peaceful revolution" that could begin with a "nationwide strike of labor unions." The former crown prince also mentioned in a conversation with Radio Farda that he does not care about monarchy, prioritizing democracy, human rights, and secularism, and calling for a government where Muslims and atheists can coexist without conflict. Previously, Reza Pahlavi had written a letter to Donald Trump, the President of the United States, urging him to separate the Iranian people from the Islamic Republic regarding immigration restrictions. In response to the protests in Mashhad, Maryam Rajavi stated: "Today’s heroic uprising reflects the public demand for the overthrow of the clerics." She called for the Iranian people to "rise up" in support of the Mashhad protests, asserting that these protests "once again showed that the overthrow of the clerical regime and the establishment of democracy and popular sovereignty is a national and widespread demand." Maryam Rajavi, a senior leader of the People's Mujahedin Organization, further stated: "While the vast majority of the Iranian people suffer from poverty, inflation, and unemployment, a significant portion of the country’s wealth and income is spent on military and security apparatuses, warmongering, and regional interventions, or embezzled by the regime’s leaders and funneled into the bank accounts of the regime's offspring. Therefore, as long as this regime is in power, the economic and living conditions of the people will worsen, and the only way to escape economic and social problems is the overthrow of the clerical regime." The Islamic Republic government considers the National Council of Resistance and the People's Mujahedin Organization as terrorist organizations. A large number of members of the People's Mujahedin Organization lived in a military base called Camp Ashraf in Iraq. However, these forces were transferred to Camp Liberty near Baghdad and ultimately to Albania following a deadline set by Iraqi officials and an agreement with the United States. Recently, three U.S. senators visited the location of some members of the People's Mujahedin Organization in Tirana, the capital of Albania, and met with Maryam Rajavi, a senior leader of this organization.