After more than two weeks of what began as peaceful protests in Iran and devolved into calls by many protesters for an end to the regime, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on a visit to India, said he believes we are witnessing the “final days and weeks” of the Iranian government.

“If a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it’s effectively at the end,” he said.

It is true that Iran has deployed massive force against many protests, at least since January 10. According to various reports — some credible eyewitness accounts and some from the government — hundreds and possibly thousands of Iranians have lost their lives in this most recent outbreak of unrest.

In Washington and other Western capitals, members of Congress, parliamentarians, experts, pundits, analysts, and think tankers have variously argued for regime change in Iran, some promoting military action by the Trump administration to bring it about.

It was not, however, their only dire prescription for Iranians.

Many, if not most, of these self-appointed arbiters of wisdom also chose to promote Reza Pahlavi — son of the deposed shah and Israel’s favorite Iranian — as a potential leader to form a government that would replace the theocracy.

Presumably, Merz, who during Israel’s war against Iran in June 2025 declared approvingly that it was doing the world’s “dirty work,” would cheer such an outcome.

“With the legitimacy and popularity I have received from you, I announce another stage of the national uprising.”

Pahlavi has certainly taken on the mantle of leader for himself, making grandiose proclamations on behalf of the Iranian people.

“Now, relying on your million-strong response to the calls of the past days, and with the legitimacy and popularity I have received from you, I announce another stage of the national uprising to overthrow the Islamic Republic,” he wrote in a long tweet with an accompanying Persian-language video message.

He continues to insist that revolution is at hand and urges Iranians not to give up on their struggle — presumably, their struggle to bring him to power. He also supports — no, implores President Donald Trump to take action, including military strikes, to bring about regime change in Iran.

“This Is a War”

With the mounting death toll and images of body bags in warehouses in Tehran, CBS News asked Pahlavi on January 12 if it was responsible to demand Iranians take to the streets in the face of mortal danger. Did Pahlavi, the anchor asked, bear any responsibility for the deaths of his fellow Iranians?

“This is a war, and war has casualties,” the former crown prince responded.

A civil war is something many Iranians have dreaded ever since witnessing the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Yet what is unfolding in Iran now is not quite the civil war that Pahlavi is invoking. Iranian protesters had come out to........

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