Just hours before Israel launched in the early hours of Friday the largest wave of airstrikes against its worst enemy, Iran, Prince Reza Pahlavi posted an extensive statement on his social media addressed to the international community urging them to support the Iranian people to "overthrow the regime that has kidnapped the country". It was by no means the first time that the eldest son of the last Shah called for help to end the rule of the ayatollahs who have ruled ancient Persia with an iron fist since 1979 when the Islamic Revolution ended the Monarchy. But the tone of that message from the current head of the imperial dynasty seemed to anticipate the seriousness of the new episode in the always tumultuous Middle East that was about to unfold.
Most likely, Reza Pahlavi was well aware of the immediate plans of the government led by Netanyahu. Among other things, because the leader of one of the most important opposition factions in exile has very close ties with the current Israeli authorities. In April 2023, the prince made a historic visit to Jerusalem, receiving the highest honors from the Israeli government, treated by the prime minister as if he were a reigning king. Part of the local press and political sectors presented his stay in the country as an example of how good relations between Iran and Israel could be restored if the ancient Persian Monarchy were reinstated. Pahlavi even wanted to pray at the Western Wall, recalling how 2,500 years ago, King Cyrus the Great liberated the Jewish people from captivity and helped them build their holiest Temple.
The Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who indeed had an excellent relationship with Israel during his reign, died in Cairo in 1980, after wandering for almost two years like a true outcast in countries, including the United States itself, that turned their backs on him after his overthrow, despite being his greatest ally - his great puppet, it could also be said - in the region. His eldest son, the crown prince of a homeland he has not been able to set foot in again, would become one of the most emblematic faces of the opposition to the ayatollahs among the huge Iranian diaspora residing in the West. Although it was not until this very 2025 that Reza Pahlavi fully embraced that mission. Thus, in February, during the Summit on Human Rights and Democracy held in Geneva, he delivered a speech in which he proclaimed that he was taking "a step forward to lead the transition movement" towards democracy in his homeland, urging the international community, especially the G-20 members, to act and apply "maximum pressure" on Tehran.
However, the prince has as much celebrity status as he lacks sufficient support among the Iranian opposition. One of the chronic problems of the opposition for decades has been its deep division and irreconcilable divergence between factions that have so far prevented the articulation of any credible strategy that would pose the slightest threat to the ayatollahs' regime and provide some hope to millions of citizens within Iran who aspire to a change in the system. Experts emphasize that the old divisions between left and right, monarchists and republicans, not to mention other cleavages, have only deepened within the diaspora.
After massive protests in Iran over the death in 2022 of young Mahsa Amini - the young woman detained and brutally tortured by the Islamic religious police for not wearing her hijab correctly - monarchists supporting Reza Pahlavi abroad approached center-left opposition groups with a strong presence in European countries like France to create the so-called Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in Iran (ADFI), a coalition that published the Mahsa Charter as a roadmap for a transition to a secular democracy in Iran. That failed project had the support of well-known figures such as Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer who has dedicated her life to the fight for human rights and democracy in her homeland. Ebadi recently lamented that the term "coalition" was used too soon, but insisted that "without unity in the ranks of the opposition, the Islamic Republic will never be overthrown."
Reza Pahlavi, viewed with great suspicion by large sectors of the diaspora who associate him with the worst memories of the Shah's reign - the banning of political parties in 1975 and the strong repression of the notorious secret police of the Crown, the feared Savak, which still stirs controversy - argues that in his fight to end the current tyranny in Iran, he does not seek the restoration of the Monarchy or necessarily to play a future leadership role in a free nation. Pahlavi insists that his purpose is for Iranians to adopt a Constitution that guarantees Iran's territorial integrity, a secular democracy, and the enshrinement of "all principles of human rights," including protection against discrimination based on sexuality, religion, or ethnic origin.
The son of the Shah knows that the ayatollahs' regime is weaker than ever. His prominence has also grown with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. The prince's excellent contacts with prominent figures in the Republican Administration such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, combined with the overt support from the Israeli government under Netanyahu, have emboldened Pahlavi in his aspirations. And they have probably contributed to stirring his anxiety. As if it were now or never. In fact, Trump's unexpected turn at the beginning of April, when he surprised with his willingness to initiate a mediated dialogue with Tehran to reach a nuclear agreement, was a huge disappointment for Pahlavi. The prince was radically against the White House resuming diplomatic channels in its relationship with Tehran and saw it as a new stratagem by the regime to gain time and regain strength when it was most vulnerable.
The Israeli attacks - without U.S. intervention, but naturally with its indispensable consent - once again place the ayatollahs in the most delicate position since 1979. A day after issuing the statement that preceded Friday's military operation, Reza Pahlavi addressed the military, police, and security forces in Iran urging them to abandon Jamenei and his mullahs. It does not seem that neither the son of the Shah nor most opposition leaders among the dissidents have much influence within Iran's closed borders today. Although the Peacock Throne pretender has seen with satisfaction how in recent years the number of Iranians in the country displaying symbols of the lion and sun of old Persia associated with the Monarchy has grown in their protests of defiance against the dictatorship.