It appears that it might be go time in Iran, as former Lubbock, Texas, resident Reza Pahlavi has called for mass protests against the Islamic state.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-us-israel-war-nuclear-economy-ebddd998fbe7903e70ca62127250ebcb

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Iran's government cut off the country from the internet and international telephone calls Thursday night as a nighttime demonstration called by the country's exiled crown prince drew a mass of protesters to shout from their windows and storm the streets...

The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran's civilian government and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CloudFlare, an internet firm, and the advocacy group NetBlocks reported the internet outage, both attributing it to Iranian government interference. Attempts to dial landlines and mobile phones from Dubai to Iran could not be connected. Such outages have in the past been followed by intense government crackdowns...

Pahlavi had called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. local (1630 GMT) on Thursday and Friday. When the clock struck, neighborhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to the Islamic Republic!" Others praised the shah, shouting: "This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!" Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out.
"Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication," Pahlavi said. "It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals.

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Yeah bring back Persia. I want the US to have nothing to do with it, however.

Cue Bevis and Butthead voice:

Vipers are cool. Yeah yeah vipers kick ass.

Uhhhhh....T-38 Talon

Neither!

Nazanin Boniadi For the win!!

Looks like the protests have been turned up a notch. Maybe Lubbock's Prince of Persia will be heading there soon?

The regime cut off all communications earlier today country wide. No Internet.

I wonder if Trump will ask Elon to open up Starlink to the Iranians?

I'm praying the Iranian people can bring this to the finish line. I worked with many Iranians during my O&G career and they were great folks. Dad taught many of them to fly T-38's many moons ago.

Doubt there are many starlink dishes inside Iran.

AtticusMatlock said:

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Doubt there are many starlink dishes inside Iran.

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Depending on whose estimate you believe, anywhere from 20,000 to more than 100,000 active in the country already.

Boy I would have that thing under something that was transparent to signals but not eyeballs. You know they mullahs will want to hunt those down.

From what I read over past few days I am reasonably sure Khameini is done. Not as clear who will be the new leader there but I wouldn't bet against the exiled Crown Prince right now . That could be dynamic tho.

txags92 said:

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Pinochet said:

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Ozzy Osbourne said:

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Yeah bring back Persia. I want the US to have nothing to do with it, however.

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Bring back hot Persian chicks.

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A new trend has emerged among Iranian women. pic.twitter.com/G038L2URrd

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 8, 2026

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Double smash.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Reza in Lubbock:

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I was going to make an Iron Eagle T-38 joke, but my Google search says they didn't use it in the move.

Hezbollah and Iraqi 'militia' members cross into Iran to serve as foreign mercenaries for the regime. Khameini laments 'foreign elements' in the protests, but is shuffling the Iranian gold reserve to Moscow and importing (Arab) terrorists to beat/kill his own people.

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Iran offers its citizens 7 dollars monthly in subsidies due to the severe economic crisis.
Meanwhile, each Hezbollah terrorist receives 800 dollars monthly from Iran.
Now do you understand why they're fed up?

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But Hezbollah and the militias are apparently repaying that debt by crossing the border into Iran to carry out the dirty work of intimidation, assaults and execution in an attempt to preserve the regime's power that the Iranian military suddenly seems incapable of protecting.

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WATCH: Iran’s state TV aired footage of the aftermath of last night’s Tehran protests, the only source posting so far amid the internet blackout. pic.twitter.com/0pthEMFyYl

— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 9, 2026

Turkish Airlines has canceled all flights to Iran. Jpost coverage.

we have rule here!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's just their deployment phase, they don't stay spaced out as such. Great the beams are being maintained though. Supposedly over 100K receivers in Iran, probably the source of most of the images of protests.

Good news (and some comical replies):

guess i will have to postpone my vacation to all-inclusive resort Casa Khameini for a few weeks

— Sunny Jim (@sunnyjim4) January 9, 2026

The open question is really whether the flight cancellations reflect notification to the airlines of pending (presumably Israeli) airstrikes. I'm skeptical, I think it is probably that they have poor communications with their staff/airport in Tehran etc. (due to the regime cutting off the internet) so have deemed it unsafe to continue scheduled flights for the time being.

ktownag08 said:

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This would be huge for the Shah to come back into power, and I'm hopeful it happens.

It's hard for me to imagine a more Western Iran from back in the 70s, but it would be incredible to see their society flourish and have a more stable middle east.

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In May 2025 when I traveled to Saudi Arabia to visit my old hometown on vacation, it was hard for me to imagine a Kingdom where women could drive and didn't have to cover any longer.

Having grown up there in the 1970s and 1980s, these new freedoms were crazy.

But for Iran, they already did all that stuff in the 1970s and had it taken away.

I'm sure the old people and all the Persians in Los Angeles remember and could revert back to the 1970s Iran without too much trouble.

It would be the younger people probably between 20-45 years old who would struggle. I'm sure the younger GenZ Iranians would adapt quickly.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Reza in Lubbock:

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I'm sure you would have had a few Iranians in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets during your time.

I've looked through some old Virginia Military Institute yearbooks ("The Bomb") with my VMI daughter and there were quite a few Iranians who went through VMI in the 1970s.

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I'm sure you would have had a few Iranians in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets during your time.

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None in my class, I forget what year they started showing up, maybe class of 78 or 79. I seem to recall they disappeared in one or two years.

Maybe too much culture shock, maybe the regime already falling apart.

Always felt sorry for them, the Corps is hard enough for Texans to assimilate into, much less a culture like theirs. Then they get sent home, and either have to escape Iran or join the Muslim extremists. I can't imagine things went too well for them.

CanyonAg77 said:

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I'm sure you would have had a few Iranians in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets during your time.

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None in my class, I forget what year they started showing up, maybe class of 78 or 79. I seem to recall they disappeared in one or two years.

Maybe too much culture shock, maybe the regime already falling apart.

Always felt sorry for them, the Corps is hard enough for Texans to assimilate into, much less a culture like theirs. Then they get sent home, and either have to escape Iran or join the Muslim extremists. I can't imagine things went too well for them.

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Yeah, if Iranians didn't show up until at A&M until 1978 - 79, then they probably would have disappeared quickly as the Ayatollah showed up in 1979 and their funding would have been cut off.

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Yeah, if Iranians didn't show up until at A&M until 1978 - 79,

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Class of 78 or 79.

Which means they were fish in 1974 or 1975

CanyonAg77 said:

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I'm sure you would have had a few Iranians in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets during your time.

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None in my class, I forget what year they started showing up, maybe class of 78 or 79. I seem to recall they disappeared in one or two years.

Maybe too much culture shock, maybe the regime already falling apart.

Always felt sorry for them, the Corps is hard enough for Texans to assimilate into, much less a culture like theirs. Then they get sent home, and either have to escape Iran or join the Muslim extremists. I can't imagine things went too well for them.

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Grad school we had an undergrad (I was TA) "CJ" short for Camel Jock". Great guy. Wonder how he fared.

Another student in the Corps roommate was Persian and had to take off when it all came down. Tossed his roomie the keys to his car and said good bye.

The owner of Shiraz flew F-14s for the Shah back in the day. There's a picture of him and his jet near the register.

Rex Racer said:

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The owner of Shiraz flew F-14s for the Shah back in the day. There's a picture of him and his jet near the register.

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Wonder if it was the one Tom Cruise used to escape with Rooster?

Lots of Iranian presence in Beeville, Texas in the late 70's. NAS Chase Field was turning out aviators for the Shaw.

Anyone with memories of Iranian cadets at A&M, chime in on the Military Board

https://texags.com/forums/63/topics/3590983