Women shed hijabs, chant for the shah: Is this the end of Iran’s 47-year ‘hell’?

Over the weekend, violent anti-government protests exploded across Iran, even reaching into Tehran and other large cities. While unrest was sparked weeks ago due to the economic crisis, protests have since swelled into calls to overthrow the regime. Chants like “Death to Khamenei” reverberated through the streets; clashes with security forces left many injured or dead; fire consumed regime buildings; Iranian flags were destroyed and replaced with the pre-1979 Lion and Sun flag; women marched through the streets without their hijabs while smoking cigarettes.

“It felt to me like [Iran] might fall,” says Glenn Beck.

“I completely agree with you,” says Glenn’s head writer and researcher, Jason Buttrill. “I was like, we might see the regime go down tonight.”

The large-scale anti-government movements that took place in 2009 and 2022/2023 are “nothing, compared” to the ones currently ripping through the nation, he says, recalling a video of an elderly woman with blood gushing from her mouth defiantly marching through the streets with her fist held high.

“I cannot believe Time magazine or whoever else wasn’t there to take that photo, because it’s the photo of the year,” he says of the fiery matriarch.

Glenn prays that this widespread movement that has already reached over 170 cities might reignite the golden years of Iran when the country looked more like Paris in its prime. Before Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was driven into exile and his monarchy replaced by an Islamic Republic, Iran “was very enlightened,” says Glenn. “It was very smart, very well educated, very free. … It was a very Western country.”

This “hell” that the Iranian people have been living in since 1979 could come to an end if the current protests continue to gain momentum. The former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has emerged as a prominent symbolic figure in the uprising, urging Iranians to join the movement, seize city centers, hoist the pre-1979 Lion and Sun flag, and push for strikes.

Protesters in many cities have even been chanting slogans like “Long live the Shah.”

“He was their battle cry,” says Jason.

Glenn is encouraged but certainly not ready to celebrate yet. While some signs indicate that the protest movement is going well, others spell doom — the biggest one being the deliberately implemented nationwide internet blackout orchestrated by the Iranian government to hide the scale of violence and human rights violations, disrupt protest organization and momentum, and prevent the rest of the world from witnessing the events.

“That’s really frightening,” says Glenn.

For now, it’s uncertain whether we are about to see “a free Iran” or genocide-level violence that pressures the U.S. to intervene.

“Spend a lot of time praying for peace and praying for the people of Iran,” Glenn says. “The Persian people are amazing, and if they could get that culture back and they could be free, the source of good that Iran would be in the world would be remarkable.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.

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