A year later, in early 1753, Ali Mardan together with a former Afsharid diplomat and a son of the former Safavid shah Tahmasp II (r. 1729–1732) had returned to Iran and began assembling an army in Luristan, and received the support of the Pashtun military leader Azad Khan Afghan. Some months later, they marched into the domains of Karim Khan, but Tahmasp II's son, who had been announced as Sultan Husayn II, began revealing himself as an unfit candidate as Safavid shah—this hindered their march, and resulted in the desertion of many of their men.