Prince Reza Pahlavi: Count Only on the Iranian People, Not Negotiations or Military Strikes

Prince Reza Pahlavi, in an interview, spoke out against negotiations and military strikes, and instead called for counting on the Iranian people.

Prince Reza Pahlavi, in a television interview with Israel’s “Channel 14,” expressed his opposition to attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and negotiations, and instead called for world governments to support the Iranian people in overthrowing the Islamic Republic.

In an interview he had with the same channel last week, he had spoken about the relationship and friendship between Iranians and Jews, stating that no two nations have a 2,500-year-old bond like that between Iranians and Jews. When asked in the Channel 14 interview, “Do you believe the Ayatollah regime will soon collapse?” Reza Pahlavi said: “The Iranian regime today, for multiple reasons, is in its weakest position in all these years. The first reason is that this regime has completely lost its legitimacy among the Iranian people, and the overwhelming majority of the people do not accept this government from its foundations. For years there was a belief that the regime was reformable, but now most people, including those who were previously reformists, believe that the time has come to move beyond this regime.

The slogan ‘Death to the dictator’ is constantly chanted by people in Iran, which shows people’s frustration. Therefore, I think we are very close to change, and what we are witnessing are greater fissures within the regime. More of them are crumbling, all of this is evidence showing that the regime has become increasingly vulnerable and a real opportunity for change will soon emerge.”

Prince Pahlavi also responded to the host’s question about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities by the Trump administration, negotiations, military strikes, or better options for overthrowing the regime, saying: “I don’t agree with any of them. Because diplomacy has effectively failed for this regime, and all of the West’s diplomatic efforts until today have focused on changing this regime’s behavior. This means they still haven’t understood the nature, composition, and essence of this system. If you are looking for peace, you need to find partners for achieving it and seek peacemakers. The Iranian people, who are not represented by this regime, are those peacemakers.

We can be the solution to this problem, not this regime. Ayatollah Khamenei is not someone you can count on as an individual who can solve this problem for you. No agreement with them is possible. This is one of the reasons for the failure of diplomacy, because such an expectation of it was wrong from the beginning.”

He also added about his opposition to military strikes: “We should not resort to military confrontation. This is why I have proposed this suggestion: why, after 46 years, are the Iranian people not given the opportunity to prove that they can bring about this change before you are forced to resort to military attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities?! Whether by the Israeli army or any other force, or enter into a campaign of confrontation and conflict.

We currently have a golden opportunity before us where the world can stand alongside the Iranian people as the agent of change and the element that can build stability and lasting peace in the region based on them. That is, a win-win situation, both for the Iranian people and for the free Western world and certainly for our regional partners, especially Israel as a strategic partner for Iran. An Iran that, unlike this regime that hates you and wants to erase you from the face of the earth, understands the value of our relations.

A relationship that, if you think about it, is a unique and singular relationship throughout the world. The relationship between Iranians and Israelis and Jews is rooted in the Bible. This relationship goes back 25 centuries. No other country on Earth can make such a claim. This is what makes this relationship unique.”

In his interview, the Prince continued regarding the “Covenant of Cyrus” alongside the “Abraham Accords,” which he had also discussed during his visit to Israel: “I say again that when such a relationship exists, then there is a strategic partnership. Let me put it this way: when we agree, it is based on our mutual interests. Including regional stability, which helps improve economic relations and means creating opportunities, development, and many other things. Everyone thinks about Iran only in terms of oil and gas, but Iran is not just that. We are a country that can be one of the greatest tourism destinations, and this industry has enormous potential. Imagine possible investments in Iran for the development of the entire Persian Gulf region, from natural resources to ecotourism and so on. In fact, there is no limit in this regard.

But as long as this regime is in power, Iranians cannot achieve these dreams, and the world will not have the opportunity to invest in our country.”

When asked his final question about Iran-Israel relations—whether this relationship could be as good as it was during his father’s time—he said: “We believe these relations will be many times better, for different reasons. The first reason is because the phenomenon that has led us to understand the importance of these relations had its roots in religious prejudices or religious beliefs. So naturally, these relations will be more fruitful and stronger than before, because we have moved beyond that era.

We were forced to experience religious rule, a theocratic dictatorship that today has caused Iranians to understand how important it is to have a secular system of governance, meaning the separation of religion from government. As a fundamental prerequisite for democracy and respect for human rights. There is no room in the midst of this for anti-Semitism, anti-Arabism, or any other form of discrimination. We have lost great opportunities. They (the people) understand what is happening. They know what events are occurring in the outside world, they are intelligent.

Ordinary Israeli citizens, when they heard that I had traveled to Israel and probably followed this news in the media, came to me. Some had tears in their eyes and said how much they hope to see this change because they know how different our world will be. That you can sit in peace and enjoy life without worrying about a missile hitting a building in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, or another bomb exploding on the street. The current regime in Iran is always financing terrorism, and this is our great difference. In the end, this is about people and their power. No country can be stopped if its people are determined to succeed. If they are alone, the path is probably more difficult, but ultimately they will succeed, and that is the lesson we have learned in the free world.”