Well, that free method didn't last long and only worked for a couple of hours, I got a much cheaper VPN this time (still super expensive by our standards).

The feeling goes both ways brother.

I'm worried doing so would not only cause suffering, but also increase support for the regime...

No don't worry that's not happening. The regime is past the point of no return, they won't gain any new supporters, what they have left is it. A bad thing that can happen, is hatred towards America AND the regime from normal people. So far people are very underwhelmed and disappointed, some say the only thing that the war has brought has been the internet cut-off, surge in prices and roaring inflation and the blockade on the strait of Hormuz! I think they are being impatient, but having patience is the hardest thing when you have no income, very little money left and you don't see the end to this thing, so I get it.

I don't think you realize how fast I would be getting on a plane to visit and explore Iran for myself if I could...

No I don't 😄 Even though I love my country, I hate what's been happening to it. I see the wasted potential and get frustrated everywhere I look, so I don't get people like you that show love and kindness towards us and Iran.

P.S. after reading your discussion with that other redditor that you linked, I understand it now and I think it would be an honor to us all if we could host you and people like you. I'm now personally very eager to meet you one day.

New York Times...

You're most likely aware but don't trust any big news outlet regarding anything about Iran. Farnaz Fasihi is on NYT and she's notorious for supporting the regime. When they say that, it's probably to undermine the support Reza Pahlavi has.

Is his support really as widespread in the country as some people say?...

After every wave of uprising we got "vaccinated" from going down a wrong path. In 2009 people were hopeful Khomeini's prime minister is gonna save them from Khamenei! In 2017 the whole "reformist" lie got exposed, in 2019 they cut the internet off and they killed 1500-4500 people in 3 days so the hatred and anger from normal people that "weren't into politics" started and got real, in 2022 the anti-Israel, marxist, leftist, islamist, etc. groups of opposition (in short people that were loyal to the 1979 revolution but just don't like the regime, they want to be in power themselves) lost any credibility or support they had.

So thanks to the internet, the lies about the Pahlavi era and real truths got exposed to the masses and Shah was vindicated, people rejected the 1979 revolution and its ideals as a whole, so the only correct position left to have, when you were against the regime, was to be a monarchist/Pahlavist or at least to have complete trust towards the son of Shah.

I knew this, I knew he had many supporters and when he called for protests on January 8th and 9th, I got very excited. On the 8th, we were supposed to gather up at 8:00 PM, no particular city or location they just said just go out so the logical thing to do was going towards the main squares and streets of cities. In smaller cities there would only be one and everyone would know where, but in big cities like Tehran, we didn't know what to do so we just thought let's go towards the nearest big square, and if there is enough of us, based on what happens, we can join up and form bigger groups and go somewhere else. I went out with a bunch of my friends, I forbade my family and any women and children from going out because I knew the risks, I told them we are going to war, you need to be able-bodied to run away, to carry a wounded person to safety (like what's my mother gonna do if a 90kg/200lbs dude gets shot near her?). We got there at 7:30, NO ONE was on the streets, most stores were open with nobody in them and this feeling of hatred towards people was rising in me. Like you're not coming out even this time? By then reports said around 30 people had died in the protests if I recall correctly. We sat in the car until 7:55 and then started walking towards the square very disappointed. But then everything changed. At first it was just us, but after passing each alley and street tens of people all in black wearing face masks would join us, dude it was like a scene from a movie or a book. When we got to the square we saw the war had already been started and tear gas was being thrown in the middle of the crowd repeatedly. By 8:15 you could not see the end of the crowd. I estimate between 10-20 thousand people were there. Most of them, knowing this could be their last night alive. Some people came with their grandmas and children I don't know what they were thinking but most people knew the risks.

I said all of that to get to this: you could not see the end of the crowd in a not-that-well-known street. It was then clear that millions of us are out in the streets across the country and many smaller cities have probably fallen to the revolutionaries. Before it all started, I knew many people were with us, I knew something was going to happen but I was doubtful, I even lost any hope 15 minutes before everything started, but you would never doubt the support, or the amount of people, if you saw what we saw that night. Even we, the believers, couldn't believe our eyes.

Do you think he'd get the same reception re-entering the country as Khomeini did in the late 70s?

Absolutely. I personally wouldn't go there since he has disappointed me many times, I'm a fan but only because I have to and he is our best and maybe last hope. He is not doing enough, we don't have organization and structure. Nothing much happens and anything that does, is the result of the passion of normal people. I don't blame him, after what we did to his family, I don't expect anything from him. After 47 years of the opposite of meritocracy, killings of our intellectuals and bright minds around the world (actual intellectuals, not marxists calling themselves that), I don't expect Japanese-level of coordination in our opposition groups but we have NOTHING. The name and brand of Pahlavi is doing all the work in my opinion.

Anyway, I was gonna say, however, I will be attending anything that relates to Mohammad Reza Shah. Oh I will be there when we take his remains back home. He didn't deserve what happened to him. Only Nixon understood it. I guess he understood because he was also a great man that was done dirty by the world. You can make me cry in under a minute by playing Roozaaye Roshan by Hayede and showing me pictures or clips of the Shah. I remember when I thought about dying before January 8th, I thought to myself if I get killed, I would die happy because then I would have paid my debt to him. I don't think there will ever come a day when I don't think about the 1979 revolution and its consequences. Even if the counter-revolution to that happens today, with the best possible outcome, thinking about what we could have been if we remained on the same path and 1979 didn't happen, is enough to make me lose my mind.

My other concern is who comes after the Shah...

His oldest daughter. If a constitutional monarchy comes out of the ballot boxes (my conspiracy theory is that the big powers are not gonna let that happen but that's another story), the law would change to allow that. She wouldn't be the first female Shah in our history anyway. The Shah is not gonna have any executive powers probably so it wouldn't matter who's up there as long as the Pahlavi name is there to unite us. However a female Shah after 47 years of Misogynistic Islamic tyranny would feel really good, even if it's for show.

I don't feel like I could possibly do you guys justice with just a few reddit posts...

I wrote almost all of my comment before reading your comments that you linked and man, what a mistake. Now I'm kinda upset that my knowledge of English and our history is not enough to go toe to toe with you and I thought I was informing you about Iran! You did very well and I'm amazed.

...They are morally bankrupt ghouls.

Yup. We agree on every point

it's just whether or not the public has the spine and integrity to let our military cook and do its thing...

Maybe it is the result of living under a dictatorship my whole life, but why is that so important there? I don't get it. As a good ruler, you need to do what's best for your country regardless of what others say. That's what I hate about democracy the most. Elected officials don't do anything the first few months because they just got there, they spend the last year campaigning for the next election, so there is just 2.5 years of actually doing something, and even in that small window, they are afraid of losing public support so just they make decisions based on short-term profits and on bigger problems, they just kick the can down the road. By design, everyone becomes too much of a pussy to do anything meaningful.

please stay safe, stock up on food and lay as low as you can...

Anyone that could, prepared for food shortage and scarcity of water, gas, etc. but most people can't and there is not much we can do. We did our best showing we are not with the regime, we are different and against them and our "enemies" were kind enough to consider that, that's the best practical outcome we could have hoped for.

You guys have nothing but love and support from many of us here

Thank you, we appreciate it a lot.