Shah’s son rejects US ‘regime change’ claim, says Iran still under same rulers despite war
Speaking to the French broadcaster LCI, Reza Pahlavi said, “What remains constant in our struggle as Iranians is to liberate ourselves from this regime.”
Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza was ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, has repeatedly said he is ready to lead a transition if the Islamic Republic falls in the war with the United States and Israel that broke out in late February.
You can follow our live coverage of the West Asian war here.
But he represents only one of several Iranian diaspora groups that are often at odds with each other.
LCI’s Pahlavi was responding to US President Donald Trump, who said last week that the war had achieved “regime change” and that the US was “dealing with different people than anyone has ever dealt with before.”
“What regime change? These are the same people – even if they are perhaps weakened,” he said, after the first day of Israeli-US strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top religious leader since 1989. “There is still the same person in the parliament. There are still the same people in the judiciary. His replacement is Khamenei’s son. For us, this is not a regime change.”
Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran after nationwide protests led to a government crackdown that human rights groups say has killed thousands of people.
The ousted Shah’s son was supported by protesters chanting the family dynasty’s name at rallies against the religious system in January, followed by massive pro-monarchy rallies in Munich and many cities in North America in February.
But he has also failed miserably to win the admiration of Trump, who has never formally met with Pahlavi and has repeatedly expressed doubts about his ability to lead Iran.
Also read: Iranian parliament speaker says three key articles of ceasefire proposal violated ahead of talks
In his Persian speech, also broadcast on his YouTube channel on Wednesday evening, Pahlavi predicted that one day the Iranians would overthrow the Islamic republic.
“The Islamic republic has no way of escape and no chance of survival, and it will fall into your hands, the great nation of Iran,” he said.
He acknowledged that many supporters of the ceasefire were “disheartened” but insisted that theocratic authorities had suffered an “unprecedented blow” in the war.
“We, as the Iranian nation, must deal the final blow to this weakened regime,” he said.
He acknowledged that “the capacity for repression has not been completely eliminated” and that people should “remain patient and protect themselves” and “wait for the decisive moment”.
