In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Pahlavi declared: “The Islamic Republic has come to its end and is collapsing. What has begun is irreversible. The future is bright, and together we will turn the page of history. Now is the time to stand up; the time to reclaim Iran. May I be with you soon.”
The eldest son of Iran’s last monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Reza was named Crown Prince in 1967 during his father’s reign. He fled Iran in 1978 at age 17, shortly before the Shah’s downfall and the 1979 Islamic Revolution that swept in a new era of clerical rule.
Now based in the United States, Pahlavi leads the National Council of Iran, an exiled opposition group. A longstanding critic of the Islamic Republic, he has previously advocated for a peaceful transition to a secular, democratic government—one that would protect civil liberties, reintegrate Iran with the international community, and modernize its economy.
His latest statement comes amid a spiraling conflict. Last Friday, Israel launched its largest airstrike campaign against Iran, citing imminent threats linked to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, denies pursuing nuclear weapons and maintains that its program is for peaceful purposes.
The timing of Pahlavi’s message is striking. With speculation swirling around U.S. and Israeli support for possible regime change in Tehran, the exiled prince’s hopes for a return may seem more plausible than at any point in the past four decades.
The monarchy’s fall in 1979 followed growing unrest over corruption, westernization, and the sale of Iran’s resources to foreign interests. The revolution led to the end of the Pahlavi dynasty and the rise of the Islamic Republic.
Now, with Iran facing deep internal and external pressure, Reza Pahlavi is once again positioning himself as a potential figurehead for a post-Islamic Republic Iran.
