Jailed Monarchist Urges Unity Among Iranian Opposition

Jailed Iranian dissident Zohreh Sarv, who ended her hunger strike following a call from Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, has sent a message of unity for the opposition.

In a letter from the women’s ward of Evin Prison in Tehran to Prince Pahlavi, Sarv thanked him and expressed her gratitude to her fellow inmates, including Nobel Peace Laureate Narges Mohammadi, and other activists "of various political inclinations" who supported her during her ordeal.

“Once again, inmates at Evin’s women's ward showed that factional and political affiliations of individuals have no importance when it comes to helping each other and that we are all like a family supporting one another,” Sarv, an Instagramer wrote. She has been jailed twice since 2019 for “insulting the Supreme Leader”, “propaganda against the regime” and acting against national security.”

“My duty towards my friends and comrades [in prison] is has become even more important because of the all-round support they displayed,” she added. “Like pieces of a puzzle that only make sense when they are placed together, every one of us, irrespective of our [political] orientation, will contribute to the freedom of Iran. There is no power greater than unity.”

She began her hunger strike on November 23 to protest authorities' constant efforts to bring new false charges against her and their denial of her rights, including conditional release or prison furlough for medical treatment.

Former Crown Prince Pahlavi urged Sarv to end her hunger strike. “You have demonstrated your resolution and patriotism in Islamic Republic’s captivity. End your hunger strike. This struggle [against the regime] will continue until the freedom of Iran and requires you to be in good health,” he urged Sarv in a tweet on Wednesday.

Sarv reportedly took an overdose of tranquilizers after pressure from the Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence to collaborate with them against other opponents of the regime. She declared her intent to continue her hunger strike to the end after treatment at the hospital and returning to prison.

Sarv’s message comes following a major controversy on Iranian social media following the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony held earlier this month. Monarchists or constitutional monarchists criticized remarks by Mohammadi’s husband Taqi Rahmani on the sidelines of the ceremonies. He argued that Iranians do not want a sudden revolution, preferring slower change. This is the buzzword for reforms rather than an overthrow of the clerical regime, monarchists and other proponents of regime change claim. The debate got ugly at times with personal attacks and rhetorical accusations by the two sides. Some monarchists went as far as condemning the Nobel Committee for awarding Mohammadi, whom they accuse of an advocate for reforms rather than a regime change.

Unlike many of his supporters, Prince Reza Pahlavi has not condemned the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award Mohammadi.

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarding Narges Mohammadi this year’s peace prize is a recognition of the Women, Life, Freedom movement and this national struggle for freedom,” Prince Reza Pahlavi said in a tweet on October 6 following the Nobel Committee’s announcement of the Peace Prize for the Iranian activist without directly congratulating Mohammadi.

“I hope that this award will encourage a shift in Western policy toward offering tangible means of maximum support for the Iranian people and their national revolution and not serve merely as a symbolic gesture meant to deflect attention from appeasement of this criminal regime,” he added.

The crown prince’s wife, Yasmin Pahlavi, however, recently criticized Mohammadi when she was reported to have a brief phone call with Angelina Jolie from prison.

Social media users who claim to be ardent supporters of the Pahlavi monarchy have been relentlessly attacking Mohammadi and even accusing her of complicity with the regime due to her support of reformists in the past and voting in elections that they had boycotted.

Mohammadi has recently declared that she no longer believes that the Islamic Republic could ever be reformed and would never vote again.

The division between the monarchists and some others in the opposition has escalated in recent weeks with both sides exceedingly targeting each other on social media.

“It is really disappointing when you see many opponents of the regime who cannot bear the continuation of the Islamic Republic are either resorting to the same repressive methods [as the regime] or are facilitating the regime's plans to create discord,” well-known caricaturist Nikahang Kowsar said in a tweet.