# Who Would Be King (Shah) of Iran?

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** UsefulCharts
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb-MAMKeqn4
- **Источник:** https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/40427

## Транскрипт

### Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00) []

Hi, this is Matt Baker. On this channel, I've done a lot of who would be king videos, such as of France, who would be Zar of Russia, etc. But in all of these cases, they were just fun whatifs because the chances of any of these countries actually restoring their monarchies is pretty much zero. However, these days, there is in fact some talk of one particular monarchy being restored, and that is of course Iran due to the recent uprising there. Although it is still very uncertain as to whether or not the current regime will fall or even if it does whether or not the people would want a monarchy again, Iran does in fact have a monarchy in waiting. So today I'm going to share a bit of the history of that monarchy and show you who the current members of their royal family are. But first, if you want to stay up to date with what's happening in Iran, I highly recommend that you sign up for Ground News. It's the website and app that I myself use whenever I want to see how important events are being covered in the media. You see, for every breaking story, they give you access to dozens, sometimes hundreds of different sources so that you can compare how things are being reported in different locations as well as on different sides of the political spectrum. For example, when it comes to the situation in Iran, Ground News recently gathered hundreds of articles about the emergency UN meeting in which the US warned Iran that all options are on the table. Using the app, you can see how left-leaning news outlets were more likely to focus on the human rights violations taking place, whereas right-leaning outlets were more likely to focus on the US's role in solving the problem. But perhaps more importantly, Ground News helps you decide which ones out of all of the many sources are considered to be the most factual using third-party rankings. They even tell you how each news organization is funded, which helps highlight potential biases. And they do all of this with easy to understand charts. So, as you can probably guess, I really like Ground News. So, don't wait. Subscribe now by going to ground. news/charts or by using the link in the description or pinned comment. Be sure to use my link so that you can save 40% off unlimited access to their Vantage plan. Again, that's ground. news/charts. Okay, so the first thing you need to know is that up until 1979, Iran or Persia as it was once called had some form of monarchy for over 2,500 years going all the way back to Cyrus the Great. That's a really long time. So, I won't be going back that far, at least not in this video. Instead, I'm going to start around 500 years ago with Ismile I of the Safavid dynasty. The Safavidids rose to power around the same time as the Ottomans and are notable in that they were the first Persian dynasty to rule Persia since before the Islamic conquests. So basically, after around 850 years of either Arab or Turo Mongol rule, the Persian monarchy was finally once again Persian. They as well as all subsequent monarchs thus used the title Sha which is the ancient Persian word for king or emperor. The Safavidids reached their peak during the reign of Abbas the Great who helped solidify Shia Islam as the main religion of Iran, a situation that continues to this day. In total, the Safavids reigned for around 230 years. Although near the end, most of their territory was lost to the Afghan Hots as well as to the Ottomans and Russians. But then came the slaveet turned general Nadir Shaw who conquered it all back plus a little more. He established a new dynasty, but one that did not last long after he himself was assassinated. Next came the Zans, but they were quickly replaced by the Kajars, who moved the capital to Thran and ruled for the entirety of the 19th century. Within the Khajar family tree, you might recognize these two princesses because they went viral in this century as examples of how beauty standards are constantly changing. But it was their brother, Mosafar Adin, who truly made a mark on Iranian history. Just prior to his death, he approved of the country's first ever constitution, which involved the creation of an elected parliament. However, when his son Muhammad Ali became Sha, he reversed course, ushering in a brief period known as the minor tyranny. But after just one year, proconstitutional forces were able to depose him in what's called the triumph of Thran, replacing him with his son Ahmmed, who at the time was just 11. But Ahmad was weak and allowed foreign powers like the UK and Russia to basically do whatever they wanted. Thus in 1921 there was a coup in which a military leader named Resa Khan

### Segment 2 (05:00 - 10:00) [5:00]

basically took over taking the title of prime minister but then in 1925 being declared the new Sha. By this point he had adopted the surname Palavi chosen because it was the name of a language spoken in the region in ancient times. He helped modernize the country and is the one who first encouraged diplomats to use the name Iran rather than Persia. This was important because not all Iranians are ethnically Persian. However, World War II led to his downfall because although Iran was technically neutral, it had close ties to Germany. And thus, in 1941, the Allies invaded the country, forged Reza to resign, and replaced him with his firstborn son, Muhammad Reza. Muhammad Reza reigned for 38 years, during which time he continued his father's modernization of Iran, launching his white revolution in 1963. Take note that the word white in this context has nothing to do with race, but was rather chosen to symbolize the peaceful nature of the changes. Among the changes were increased rights for women and minorities. Also, during the Palavi period, there was a greater emphasis put on Iran's ancient history rather than on its Islamic history. For example, in 1971, the country celebrated the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great, building this famous landmark to commemorate it. In 1979, there was a major revolution in which the Sha was exiled and Iran was transformed into an Islamic republic. Since then, there have been two supreme leaders, Ayatollah Kmeni. Ayatollah being a title used by certain Shia clerics and Ayatollah Kam. Take note that while the two names are quite similar, they are spelled and pronounced differently and there is no familial relationship between the two men. However, in the future, there could be a supreme leader that is related to a previous one, as one of Kam's sons and one of Kmeni's grandsons are both seen as potential successors. But if the regime falls and if the Palavi monarchy were to be reinstated, again, those are two very big ifs, the answer to who would be king, or rather Sha is actually quite simple. It would be Reza, the firstborn son of Muhammad Reza, who would become Reza II. Take note that Muhammad Reza was married three times. First of all, to Princess Faia of Egypt. That marriage produced one daughter, Shaunes, but ended in divorce as it was quite clearly just a political pairing that neither side was happy with. The Sha's second wife was Sarah, the daughter of an Iranian diplomat. She was supposedly the love of his life. But when it became clear that she was unable to bear him children, that marriage also ended in divorce. Muhammad Reza thus married for a third time to Farah, who became known as Empress Farah, when the pair were crowned Emperor and Empress during an elaborate ceremony in 1967. It is she who is the mother of Reza who was named Crown Prince during that same ceremony at age 6. But then of course the monarchy was abolished in 1979 when Reza was 17. His father died shortly after this and thus he declared himself to be the new king albeit in exile. Since that time he has mostly lived in the United States. It was there that he met and married fellow Iranian Yasmine with whom he has three daughters. Although the former constitution stipulates that only males can inherit the throne, he considers his eldest daughter Noir to be his heir. To date, she has not yet married, although her younger sister Iman has. Just last year, she married Bradley Sherman, a Jewish American tech entrepreneur. Now, sadly, two of Reza's siblings died young. Ali from suicide in 2011 and Leila from an overdose in 2001, which might also have been a suicide. Ali's only child is a daughter. So that means that if Raa were to become king under the old constitution, the one that requires heirs to be from the male line only, that would mean that the next person in line would actually be this guy over here, Dav Pali. But again, he has only daughters. So after that we'd have to look at his brothers or go all the way back to the descendants of these guys up here. Now there is another option and that is to go back to the Kajgers who reigned before the Palavis. Although I doubt there's many Iranians who actually want to do that. When Ahmmed died in exile in 1930, his only son Farun was just 8 years old. and therefore it was his brother Muhammad Hassan who had previously been crowned prince who claimed to be the rightful Shaw. After

### Segment 3 (10:00 - 10:00) [10:00]

his death, the claim then passed to Fun, but he never pursued it, having settled into a nice life in Switzerland. Since he married a Swiss commoner, his children are not considered eligible. And therefore, the next person to have a claim was Muhammad Hassan's son Hamid, who then passed it on to his son, Muhammad Hassan II, who is the current Kajger heir today. Although, take note that it is a cousin from another branch of the tree who currently serves as head of house, which is maybe a role that involves taking calls from journalists or attending funerals. I'm actually not really sure. Okay, so that was a look at some of the former monarchs of Iran as well as their descendants today. Let me know in the comments what you think Iran's future holds. And don't forget to check out Ground News. Thanks for watching.