Is the U.S. preparing to install another Shah to run Iran as a U.S. puppet?

13 January 2026 AIMN Editorial, By Walt Zlotow , West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL, https://theaimn.net/is-the-u-s-preparing-to-install-another-shah-to-run-iran-as-a-u-s-puppet/

Nationwide anti-government protests are wracking Iran with over 500 killed and 10,000 detained. The U.S. political establishment is ecstatic about the possibility of regime change of the hated Iranian Islamic government which in 1979 toppled the American puppet Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (the Shah of Iran) the U.S. installed in 1953.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi pounced on this statement by former US Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo that implied both the US and Israel are involved in fomenting the protest:

“The Iranian regime is in trouble. Bringing in mercenaries is its last best hope. Riots in dozens of cities. 47 years of this regime; POTUS 47. Coincidence? Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them.”

Araghchi responded:

“According to the US Government, Iran is ‘delusional’ for assessing that Israel and the US are fueling violent riots in our country. There is only one problem: President Trump’s own former CIA Director has openly and unashamedly highlighted what Mossad and its American enablers are really up to.”

Araghchi is well aware of historical precedence for US regime change in Iran. Seventy-three years ago the US joined Britain’s Operation TP-Ajax, the US-British coup that deposed Iran’s legitimate ruler Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh. The Brits conceived the coup in 1952 and presented it to ‘Give ‘Em Hell’ Harry Truman, who literally told the Brits to go to hell.

A year later newbie Prez Ike greenlighted TP-AJAX to allow Britain to grab back its Iranian oil monopoly nationalized by elected Prime Minister Mosaddegh. For Ike, it was a chance to make his bones as a stanch anti-communist, due to Mosaddegh’s unwillingness to crush Iranian communist influence. Leading this first official CIA coup against a foreign leader who wouldn’t do our bidding was TR’s grandson Kermit Roosevelt Jr., following a family tradition of senseless and bellicose militarism.

Our handpicked successor was Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, son of the first Pahlavi monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi. His reluctance and indecision almost wrecked Uncle Sam’s best laid plans, but our CIA Iranian operatives, masquerading as commies, shed enough blood to turn the tide against Mosaddegh. The Shah ruled Iran for another 26 years, with his CIA trained secret police killing thousands who dared speak out against his tyrannical rule.

And guess who has jumped into the current chaos in Iran… Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted Shah whom the US installed after deposing Mosaddegh in 1953. Pahlavi praised the protests as “magnificent” and urged Iranian to plan more targeted actions “to seize and hold city centers.” He’s likely salivating at a chance to reclaim his father’s rule in Iran to once again do America’s bidding. Back then it was to protect British, US oil interests and counter communist influence in Iran. If installed today Pahlavi would complete both Israel and America’s decade’s long goal of weakening, destabilizing Iran to cement Israel’s Middle East hegemony.

Maybe the US has nothing to do with current unrest that may topple the Iranian regime. But based on US regime change history with Iran and numerous other countries, it would not surprise if the US was all in aiding it.