Prince Reza Pahlavi: Count Only on the Iranian People, Not Negotiations and Military Attacks

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

Prince Reza Pahlavi, during a television interview with Israel’s “Channel 14,” expressed his opposition to attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and negotiations, and instead spoke of supporting the Iranian people by world governments to overthrow 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 Iranians and Jews have. When asked on Channel 14 whether he believed the Ayatollah regime would soon fall, Reza Pahlavi said: “The Iranian regime today is in its weakest position throughout all these years for multiple reasons. The first reason is that this regime has completely lost its legitimacy among the Iranian people, and the vast majority of the people do not accept this government at its foundation. For years, there was a belief that the regime was reformable, but now most people, including those who were previously reform-seekers, believe that the time to move beyond this regime has come.

The slogan ‘Death to the Dictator’ is constantly chanted by the people in Iran, which shows they are fed up. Therefore, I think we are very close to change, and what we are seeing is more fissures within the regime. More of them are collapsing, all of this is evidence showing that the regime has become increasingly vulnerable and a real opportunity for change will soon come.”

Prince Pahlavi also responded to the moderator’s question about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities by the Trump administration, negotiations, military attack, or better options for overthrowing the regime, saying: “I do not agree with any of these. Because diplomacy has effectively failed with this regime, and all the basis of Western diplomacy until today has been focused on changing this regime’s behavior. This means they have not yet understood the nature, composition, and essence of this system. If you are looking for peace, you must find partners to achieve it and look for 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 from it was wrong from the beginning.”

He also added regarding his opposition to military attack: “We should not resort to military conflict. For this reason, I have raised the proposal: why after 46 years aren’t the Iranian people 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 entering 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 an element that can be the basis for building stability and lasting peace in the region. 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. Iran that, unlike this regime which hates you and wants to wipe you off the face of the earth, appreciates the value of our relations.

A relationship that, if you think about it, is unique and exclusive 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. That is what makes this relationship unique.”

The Prince in his interview about the “Cyrus Covenant” alongside the “Abraham Accords,” which he had also spoken about during his visit to Israel, continued: “I say again that when such a relationship exists, then a strategic partnership exists. Let me put it this way: when we are aligned, 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 of Iran only in terms of oil and gas, but Iran is not just that. We are a country that could be one of the world’s 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 are no limitations 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.”

In response to the final question about Iran-Israel relations and whether it is possible that this relationship could be as good as during his father’s time or not, he said: “We think this relationship will be many times better, for various reasons. The first reason is because the phenomenon that led us to understand the importance of these relations was rooted in religious prejudices or religious beliefs. So naturally these relations will be more fruitful and stronger than before, because we have passed that era.

We were forced to experience religious governance, a theocratic dictatorship that today has caused Iranians to understand how important it is to have a secular system of government, meaning the separation of religion from government. And as a fundamental prerequisite for democracy and respect for human rights. In this context, there is no place for antisemitism, 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 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 sit in peace and enjoy life without worrying about a missile hitting a building in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, or another bomb exploding on a 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 this is the lesson we have learned in the free world.”