Amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has said that the Islamic Republic is nearing collapse, urging supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.
Pahlavi also claimed that top Iranian leaders were preparing to flee the country and called for a peaceful transition through legal accountability.
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“Islamic Republic (of Iran) is collapsing, (Ayatollah) Ali Khamenei and others are trying to flee Iran… I have a direct message for Ali Khamenei: step down, if you do, you’ll receive a fair trial and due process of law,” he said.
Addressing the international community, he cautioned Western governments against offering political or economic support to Tehran, saying it would only worsen the crisis.
“If the West throws the regime a lifeline, there will be more bloodshed and chaos. Because this regime will not submit or surrender after it has been humiliated. It will lash out as long as it is in power; no country and no people are safe – whether on the streets of Washington, Paris, Jerusalem, Riyadh or Tehran,” the exiled crown prince added.
Read: Israeli strikes hit Iran’s notorious Evin prison, other govt sites
Pahlavi also appealed directly to the Iranian people, offering to help guide the country through a democratic transition. He made clear that he is not seeking personal power, but rather aiming to assist the nation through a period of change.
‘I do not seek power, only to guide Iran towards democracy’: Reza Pahlavi
“I am here today to submit myself to my compatriots to lead them down this road of peace and democratic transition. I do not seek political power, but rather to help our great nation navigate through this critical hour towards stability, freedom, and justice,” he added.
His remarks come at a time of growing regional uncertainty, with Iran’s domestic policies, international posture, and conflict with Israel drawing intense global scrutiny.
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Reza Pahlavi, the exiled eldest son of Iran’s last monarch Mohammad Reza Shah, on Sunday claimed that the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites were a direct consequence of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s “catastrophic pursuit of nuclear weapons” by what he called a “terrorist regime.”
With agencies’ inputs
