Son of ousted shah says Iranians still need to topple 'regime'

The son of Iran’s ousted shah said Wednesday Iranians still needed to free themselves of their religious rulers after Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week ceasefire.

“What remains constant in our struggle as Iranians is to free ourselves of this regime,” Reza Pahlavi told French broadcaster LCI.Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza was brought down by the 1979 Islamic revolution, has repeatedly said he was ready to lead a transition if the Islamic republic fell in the war with the United States and Israel that erupted in late February.

He however represents just one of several Iranian diaspora groups, who are often bitterly at loggerheads.

Pahlavi on LCI responded to US President Donald Trump, who said last week that the war had achieved “regime change” and that the United States was “dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before”.

“What regime change? They’re the same people — even if maybe weakened,” he said, after Israeli-US strikes on the first day killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s number one since 1989.

“We still have the same person heading parliament. The same people are still in the judiciary. It’s Khamenei’s son who has replaced him. For us, this is not a regime change,” Pahlavi added.

Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran after nationwide protests sparked a government crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.

The ousted shah’s son was boosted by protesters chanting the name of the family dynasty during January rallies against the clerical system and then vast pro-monarchy rallies in February in Munich and several cities in North America.

But he has notably also failed to win recognition from Trump, who has never officially met with Pahlavi and repeatedly expressed scepticism over his ability to lead Iran.

In a Persian-language address to Iranians broadcast on his YouTube channel also on Wednesday evening, Pahlavi predicted that one day Iranians themselves would overthrow the Islamic republic.

“The Islamic republic has no path of escape and no chance of survival and it will fall at your hands — the great nation of Iran,” he said.

He acknowledged that the ceasefire had “disheartened” many of his supporters, but insisted the theocratic authorities had suffered an “unprecedented blow” in the war.

“We the Iranian nation must deliver the final blow to this weakened regime,” he said.

He acknowledged that its “capacity for repression has not been entirely eliminated” and people should “remain patient and protect yourselves” and “await the decisive moment”.

AFP