In Iranian culture and history, monarchy has not merely been a political system it has represented a sacred, cultural, and national concept. Unlike the troubled republican experiences seen throughout much of the modern Middle East, monarchy in Iran has traditionally been tied to values such as wisdom, truth, justice, and divine responsibility. From the time of Zoroaster and Mithraism, to the Achaemenid and Sassanid dynasties, Iranian rulers were not viewed as dictators but as guardians of cosmic order and national harmony. In the Iranian worldview, a monarch endowed with Farr-e Ezadi (divine glory) serves not as a tool of oppression but as the upholder of ethics and civil stability.
In modern times, constitutional monarchs such as Reza Shah the Great and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi made historic strides in modernisation, national unity, and the preservation of Iranian cultural identity. Even today, many Iranians honour Cyrus the Great, Darius, the Sassanid kings, and the Pahlavis with deep respect. This enduring emotional and cultural connection with monarchy suggests that it resonates far more naturally with the Iranian soul than imported republican models ever have.
By contrast, the republican experiment in neighbouring countries has often led to failure, corruption, dictatorship, or disintegration. Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the post-Soviet republics of the Caucasus are all examples of how ‘republicanism’ in name has frequently resulted in tyranny, civil war, or economic collapse. Meanwhile, constitutional monarchies like Jordan and Morocco and even absolute monarchies such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE have demonstrated greater political stability, economic growth, and social cohesion. In these systems, the monarch serves as a unifying figure, not a partisan actor.
Globally, constitutional monarchy has proven successful in advanced democracies as well. Japan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway all function with symbolic monarchs who do not wield political power but instead serve as enduring national symbols. These systems not only coexist with democracy, but in many ways reinforce it: politicians come and go, but the crown remains a stable and unifying symbol of the nation.
For a country like Iran, with thousands of years of civilisational heritage, returning to a constitutional monarchy is not a nostalgic regression, but a reconnection with our roots, our ancestral wisdom, and a durable framework for a free and proud future. This model is fully compatible with the modern world, while remaining true to the heart and identity of the Iranian people.
But despite this deep historical and cultural foundation, monarchy in Iran has been ruthlessly suppressed for decades. The roots of this suppression lie in an unholy alliance formed in the years leading up to the 1979 revolution between Marxist leftists, political Islamists, and anti-nationalist factions, all of whom joined forces to bring down the Pahlavi monarchy.
During that period, leftist groups heavily influenced by imported ideologies like Marxism and Leninism branded Iran’s constitutional monarchy as ‘imperialist’ and undermined the national fabric through radical slogans and class warfare. At the same time, the clerical establishment, driven by a hunger for power, mobilised the masses through religious populism. Although fundamentally at odds, these two movements found common ground in their mutual hostility toward nationalism, ancient Iranian civilisation, and the institution of monarchy.
This destructive coalition ultimately led to the fall of the Pahlavi state a regime that had brought universal education, women’s emancipation, industrial development, infrastructure growth, and a foreign policy of independence. In its place, Iran was plunged into a theocratic totalitarian regime that executed intellectuals, repressed nationalists, erased historical memory, and launched a sustained war against all monarchic symbols.
Even today, over four decades later, the same ideological descendants continue their war on nationalism and monarchy this time under the banners of ‘republicanism’ or so-called ‘reformism’.
These groups, while presenting a modern face, remain fundamentally opposed to the cultural independence, historical continuity, and national unity that monarchy represents. They ridicule the term ‘monarchy’ while avoiding any honest discussion of how most Middle Eastern republics have utterly failed to produce peace or prosperity.
The real reason why monarchists are persecuted in Iran is simple: monarchy reconnects Iranians to their authentic identity, ancient civilisation, and moral ethos. And for ideological regimes, that poses a greater threat than any foreign adversary. The enemies of Iran understand that restoring constitutional monarchy would mean more than changing a political system it would mean reviving Iran’s true spirit, a spirit founded on wisdom, liberty, tolerance, and justice.
This is why monarchists do not threaten they inspire. And this is why the enemies of Iran fear them most of all.
