WHY THE US–ISRAEL–WESTERN ALLIANCE SEEKS TO UNDERMINETHE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN AND REVIVE THE PAHLAVI MONARCHY

Public Analytical Brief

OFFICIAL MAPIM ANALYTICAL BRIEF

WHY THE US–ISRAEL–WESTERN ALLIANCE SEEKS TO UNDERMINE
THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN AND REVIVE THE PAHLAVI MONARCHY

Issued by:

Majlis Perundingan Pertubuhan Islam Malaysia (MAPIM)

Date: 11 January 2026

Classification: Public Analytical Brief

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

MAPIM assesses that sustained pressure by the United States, Israel, and sections of their Western allies against the Islamic Republic of Iran is not episodic or reactive, but structural and strategic. The objective is not reform or human rights protection, but regime transformation to dismantle Iran’s independent Islamic political model, weaken resistance to Zionist expansion, and restore a regional order aligned with Western hegemony.

The re-emergence of narratives promoting the Pahlavi monarchy reflects an attempt to rebrand regime change under a culturally familiar but politically compliant alternative, despite the monarchy’s historical record of authoritarianism, secular coercion, and subservience to foreign powers.

MAPIM concludes that this project is unlikely to succeed, and that its continuation risks severe regional destabilisation.

1. IRAN AS A SYSTEMIC CHALLENGE TO WESTERN HEGEMONY

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has represented a unique model in the Muslim world:

●Politically independent from Western control
●Economically resistant to IMF-style dependency
●Ideologically opposed to Zionism and imperialism
●Regionally influential through alliances and deterrence capacity

This makes Iran unacceptable to a global order that tolerates Islam only when it is apolitical and submissive.

The Islamic Republic challenges the assumption that Muslim societies must choose between secular authoritarianism or Western liberal dependency.

2. ISRAEL’S STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE: REMOVE IRAN AT ALL COSTS

From Israel’s perspective, Iran is not merely a rival state but a strategic obstacle to:
●Absolute regional military dominance
●Unchecked expansion and occupation in Palestine
●Normalisation of Zionism across the Muslim world
Iran’s support for Palestinian resistance and refusal to recognise Israel’s legitimacy positions it as the central ideological and material counterweight to Zionist ambitions.

Thus, weakening or dismantling the Islamic Republic has become a core Israeli security doctrine, pursued through:

●Covert operations
●Information warfare
●Lobbying for sanctions and military threats
●Alignment with US regime-change agendas

3. THE UNITED STATES AND THE REGIME-CHANGE DOCTRINE
   The US approach to Iran fits a long-standing pattern applied to:

Iraq
Libya
Syria
Venezuela

Key features include:
●Economic strangulation via sanctions
●Political delegitimisation through media narratives
●Weaponisation of internal grievances
●Support for exile figures and parallel leadership claims
●Open threats of military force

The goal is not democracy, but predictability and obedience.

Iran’s refusal to conform to US strategic architecture, especially in energy routes, regional security, and Israel policy, makes it a target.

4. WHY THE PAHLAVI MONARCHY IS BEING RESURRECTED

The promotion of the Pahlavi legacy is not organic nostalgia, but a calculated political move.

The Pahlavi era is remembered for:

●Brutal repression (SAVAK)
●Forced secularisation hostile to Islam
●Deep alignment with US and Israeli interests
●Concentration of wealth and power

Yet it is being repackaged as:

“Modern”
“Stable”
“Pro-West”
“Non-Islamic”

This is precisely why it is attractive to external powers.

The monarchy represents a political structure without Islamic legitimacy, easily integrated into Western security and economic frameworks.

5. MISUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND PROTEST NARRATIVES

MAPIM stresses that:
Economic hardship and public frustration in Iran are real.

Legitimate grievances deserve internal solutions

However, foreign exploitation of protests follows a clear pattern:

●External endorsement escalates tensions.
●Sanctions worsen civilian suffering
●Violence is internationalised to justify intervention
●Human rights discourse is selectively deployed:

■ Ignored in Palestine
■Weaponised in Iran

This double standard exposes the instrumentalisation of morality.

6. WHY THIS PROJECT WILL FAIL
   MAPIM assesses that regime change in Iran is unlikely due to:

●Strong national institutions
●Deep historical memory of foreign interference
●Broad rejection of foreign-installed leadership
●Collapse of Western credibility after Iraq and Gaza
●External pressure strengthens, rather than weakens, internal resistance.
●Iran’s political future, whatever its internal evolution, will not be dictated from Washington or Tel Aviv.

7. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MUSLIM WORLD
   The attack on Iran is not about Iran alone.
   It is about:
   ●Criminalising political Islam
   ●Isolating resistance to Zionism
   ●Enforcing submission as the price of survival

If Iran falls, no independent Muslim state is safe.
Palestine was the test case.

Iran is the next phase.
The Ummah is the ultimate target.

MAPIM POSITION

MAPIM affirms:

■Iran’s future must be determined solely by its people
■Regime change imposed from outside is illegitimate
■The return of the Pahlavi monarchy would represent a reversal of Islamic self-determination
■Muslim nations must reject the normalisation of foreign-engineered political outcomes

STRATEGIC CONCLUSION

This is not a struggle between East and West.
It is a struggle between sovereignty and subjugation.

Between Islam as a living political ethic
and Islam reduced to ritual under foreign dominance.

MAPIM calls upon scholars, civil society, and Muslim leadership to read events with clarity, not fear, and to stand against the recycling of imperial rule under new slogans.

Issued by:
Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President
Majlis Perundingan Pertubuhan Islam Malaysia (MAPIM)