Son of late shah urges Iranians to break with Islamic republic

Reza Pahlavi blamed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for having "dragged Iran into a war" with Israel and described the government in Tehran as "weak and divided."

"It could fall. As I have told my compatriots: Iran is yours and yours to reclaim. I am with you. Stay strong and we will win," he said in a statement.

"I have told the military, police, and security forces: break from the regime. Honor the oath of any honorable serviceman. Join the people."

"To the international community: do not throw yet another lifeline to this dying, terrorist regime," he said.

Pahlavi was crown prince in Iran's pro-Western monarchy, which collapsed in 1979 in a mass revolution that quickly brought to power the clerical establishment that declared an Islamic republic.

Pahlavi, who lives in exile near Washington, says he is not necessarily looking for the restoration of the monarchy and wants to use his name to support the movement for secular democracy.

Israel sees the Islamic republic as an existential threat but was allied with Iran under the late shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Reza Pahlavi has also enjoyed warm relations with Israel, which he toured two years ago.

Iranian diaspora pro-monarchists, waving the old imperial flag, have figured prominently in protests in support of Israel since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.

Pahlavi has repeatedly described the Islamic republic as frail, including after mass protests broke out in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by morality police who enforce modest dress on women.