After backing Israel, Iran’s self-styled crown prince loses support

Hours earlier a ceasefire took effect betwixt Israel and Iran connected June 24, the lad of Iran’s past shah, Reza Pahlavi, held a televised quality league successful the French capital, Paris.

Dressed successful a grey suit and bluish necktie with his hairsbreadth combed back, the 64-year-old exiled (and self-styled) crown prince of the monarchy that Iranians overthrew successful 1979 urged the United States not to springiness Iran’s authorities a “lifeline” by restarting diplomatic talks connected its atomic programme.

Pahlavi insisted that Iran’s Islamic Republic was collapsing. “This is our Berlin Wall moment,” helium said, calling for mean Iranians to prehend the accidental afforded by Israel’s warfare and instrumentality to the streets, and for defections from the subject and information forces.

But the wide protests Pahlavi encouraged ne'er materialised.

Instead, galore Iranians – including those opposed to the authorities – rallied astir the emblem successful a infinitesimal of onslaught by a overseas force. It appears that Pahlavi, who said successful his Paris code that helium was acceptable to regenerate Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and pb Iranians down a “road of bid and antiauthoritarian transition”, had misread the room.

While helium was consenting to align with Israel successful achieving what helium perceives to beryllium the greater extremity of overthrowing the Islamic Republic, the bulk of his compatriots were not.

If anything, Pahlavi whitethorn person squandered the small enactment helium erstwhile had by choosing not to condemn Israel’s dense bombardment of Iran, which killed much than 935 people, including galore civilians, said Trita Parsi, an adept connected Iran and the writer of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States.

“He has – successful my estimation – destroyed overmuch of the marque sanction [of the shah] … by going connected TV and making excuses for Israel erstwhile it was targeting our flat buildings and sidesplitting civilians,” helium told Al Jazeera.

Pahlavi’s bureau did not respond to requests for remark from Al Jazeera.

A antheral holds an Iranian emblem by an Iranian Red Crescent ambulance that was destroyed during an Israeli strike, displayed successful Tehran [File: Atta Kenare/AFP]

Generational appeal

The level of enactment for Pahlavi is disputed, but galore experts uncertainty it is extensive.

Still, what enactment helium does person – peculiarly successful the Iranian diaspora – often emanates from absorption to the Islamic Republic and nostalgia for the monarchy that predated it.

Yasmine*, a British-Iranian successful her precocious 20s, said that members of her ain household enactment Pahlavi for the symbolism of the pre-Islamic Republic epoch that helium represents, arsenic opposed to what helium whitethorn really basal for, adding that she believed that helium lacked a wide governmental vision.

“He truly symbolises what Iran was [a authorities that was secular and pro-West] anterior to the Islamic Republic, and that’s what those who are asking for Reza Pahlavi want back,” she told Al Jazeera.

Her aunt, Yasna*, 64, near Iran conscionable months earlier the 1979 gyration to be assemblage successful the United Kingdom. While she supports Pahlavi for the reasons her niece mentioned, she besides believes Iran volition nary longer beryllium a pariah to the West if helium returned to regularisation Iran.

“He’s idiosyncratic from my generation, and I person a wide representation of increasing up successful the days nether the shah … he’s besides truthful affable with America, Europe and Israel, and we request idiosyncratic similar that [in Iran],” Yasna said.

Analysts explained to Al Jazeera that the deficiency of a salient alternate to Pahlavi – owed to the Iranian government’s crackdown connected governmental absorption – was portion of Pahlavi’s appeal.

They besides pointed retired that enactment for Pahlavi is tied to the distorted representation that immoderate person of his grandfather, Reza Khan, and his father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Reza Khan was wide credited with creating an ethno-centralised authorities that curtailed the powerfulness of the spiritual clergy and violently cracked down connected opponents and minorities. That repression continued nether Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

However, Yasna speaks fondly of the Pahlavi household and hopes Reza Pahlavi tin soon carve retired his ain legacy.

“Reza’s gramps brought information to the country, and his begetter helped america determination forward. I present deliberation Reza tin unite america again,” she said.

Family history

The Pahlavis were not a dynasty with a agelong and storied past. Reza Khan was a subject serviceman who seized powerfulness successful the 1920s, earlier being replaced by Mohammad Reza successful 1941.

Foreign powers had a relation to play successful that, arsenic they did successful 1953, erstwhile the US and the UK engineered a coup against Iran’s then-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had nationalised the assets of the Anglo-Persian lipid company, present known arsenic BP, successful April 1951.

“The British thought it was their oil,” explained Assal Rad, a historiographer of Iran and the writer of State of Resistance: Politics, Identity and Culture successful Modern Iran.

“They had nary designation of the assemblage past that allowed them to forcefully instrumentality the resource, nor designation of Iran’s close to instrumentality the assets for itself,” she told Al Jazeera.

Prior to the coup, Rad explained that the shah was engaged successful a powerfulness conflict with Mosaddegh, who openly criticised the shah for violating the constitution. The erstwhile wanted to support his control, particularly implicit the military, portion the second was trying to mould Iran into a law ideology with fashionable support.

The coup against Mosaddegh was yet successful, starring to different 26 years of progressively much repressive Pahlavi rule.

According to a 1976 report by Amnesty International, the shah’s feared quality bureau (SAVAK) often bushed governmental prisoners with electrical cables, sodomised them and ripped disconnected their digit and toenails to extract mendacious confessions.

“At the extremity of the day, the shah’s authorities was a brutal dictatorship and non-democracy,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.

Economic inequality betwixt the affluent municipality classes and the agrarian mediocre besides grew nether the shah, according to a 2019 Brookings Institute study by Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an economist astatine Virginia Tech University.

And yet, the shah appeared detached from the plight of his ain radical passim his reign. Rad referenced a lavish enactment that the shah threw successful 1971 to observe 2,500 years of the Persian Empire.

The luxurious enactment brought unneurotic overseas dignitaries from crossed the world, adjacent arsenic galore Iranians struggled to marque ends meet, highlighting the country’s economical disparities.

“He was celebrating Iran with thing Iranian and nary Iranians invited nor involved, and helium adjacent had pupil protesters arrested beforehand due to the fact that helium didn’t privation incidents to hap portion helium was doing this,” Rad said. “The enactment was 1 of these monumental moments that led to the disconnect betwixt him and his ain people.”

The erstwhile shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, during a quality league successful the location of the erstwhile Panamanian ambassador successful Washington, Gabriel Lewis [File: Getty Images].

Coupled with authorities repression and rising poverty, the Persian Empire solemnisation was 1 of the factors that yet led to the 1979 revolution.

Reza Pahlavi was successful the US erstwhile the gyration erupted, grooming to beryllium a combatant pilot.

He was conscionable 17 years aged and has ne'er returned to Iran since. Instead, a beingness successful exile began, with the eventual extremity ever remaining a instrumentality to his location state – and power.

As the eldest of the shah’s 2 sons, loyalists to the monarchy recognised Reza Pahlavi arsenic heir evident aft his begetter passed distant from crab successful 1980.

He has since spent the bulk of his beingness successful the US, mostly successful the suburbs of Washington, DC.

Initially focused connected restoring the monarchy, Pahlavi has shifted his rhetoric successful the past 2 decades to absorption much connected the thought of a secular ideology successful Iran. He has said helium does not question power, and would lone presume the throne if asked to bash truthful by the Iranian people.

Opposition outreach

Pahlavi’s effort to broaden his entreaty came arsenic helium besides reached retired to different opponents of the Iranian government.

Some person outright refused to enactment with him, citing his royal background. And others who person worked with him person rapidly distanced themselves.

One of the astir important examples of this was the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom successful Iran, formed successful 2023, successful the aftermath of antigovernment protests that began the erstwhile year.

As good arsenic Pahlavi, the conjugation included Nobel Peace Prize victor Shirin Ebadi, women’s rights activistic Masih Alinejad, quality rights activistic and histrion Nazanin Boniadi, erstwhile footballer Ali Karimi, and the writer Hamed Esmaeilion.

But problems emerged from the precise gathering organised to signifier the conjugation successful February 2023.

According to Parsi and Sina Toossi, an adept connected Iran with the Center for International Policy (CIP), Pahlavi rejected immoderate connection to collaborate with the different attendees astatine the gathering successful Washington, DC’s Georgetown University, either by agreeing to marque decisions based connected a shared statement oregon done immoderate benignant of bulk vote.

He alternatively wanted each attendees to defer and rally down him arsenic a person of the opposition.

Another contented that followed the Georgetown gathering was the behaviour of Pahlavi’s supporters, galore of whom were against anyone associated with left-wing politics, and defenders of the actions of the shah’s regime.

“The monarchists [his supporters] were upset that Reza was enactment connected par with these different radical [at the meeting],” said Toossi.

The conjugation soon collapsed, with Esmaeilion referring to “undemocratic methods” successful what galore perceived to beryllium disapproval of Pahlavi.

Israeli connections

Two months aft the Georgetown meeting, and arsenic the recently formed confederation rapidly collapsed, Pahlavi made a choreographed sojourn to Israel with his woman Yasmine.

As Al Jazeera antecedently reported, the sojourn was arranged by Pahlavi’s authoritative advisor Amir Temadi, and Saeed Ghasseminejad, who works astatine the US right-wing deliberation vessel the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), which often publishes analyses that telephone connected the US to usage subject unit to deter Iran’s determination power and atomic programme.

During the visit, Pahlavi and his woman took a photograph with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his woman Sara.

Yasmine and I were precise pleased to conscionable with @IsraeliPM and Sara @netanyahu. We expressed appreciation for Israel’s continued enactment for the Iranian people’s antiauthoritarian aspirations and emphasized that, arsenic the children of Cyrus the Great, Iranians aspire to person a authorities that… pic.twitter.com/lInuy4lwdC

— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) April 19, 2023

The travel highlighted Pahlavi’s adjacent ties to Israel, a narration that had been cultivated for years, adjacent if it was little publically acknowledged initially.

During George W Bush’s archetypal word arsenic US president successful the aboriginal 2000s, Pahlavi approached the almighty American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) – a almighty lobby – to talk astatine their yearly conference, according to Parsi.

The connection was rejected, with AIPAC members explaining that helium would wounded his ain marque arsenic an Iranian nationalist if helium were to talk astatine their yearly conference, Parsi explained.

“AIPAC had told him that possibly it wasn’t a bully thought due to the fact that it could delegitimise him, which tells you thing astir however disconnected [Pahlavi] was from the realities of the Iranian diaspora,” helium told Al Jazeera.

But, astir 10 years ago, during US President Donald Trump’s archetypal term, Pahlavi besides began to situation himself with advisers who person agelong called for person ties betwixt Iran and Israel and for the US to proceed its “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Iran’s government, according to Toossi.

Trump’s maximum unit run wounded communal radical much than the Iranian government. It resulted successful crisp ostentation and large depreciation of its currency, making it hard for galore Iranians to spend basal commodities and life-saving medications, according to Human Rights Watch.

According to Toossi, Pahlavi appeared somewhat alert of the economical hardships brought connected by sanctions, which whitethorn explicate wherefore helium supported US President Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) successful 2015.

The JCPOA ensured planetary monitoring of Iran’s atomic programme successful speech for much-needed sanctions relief.

However, Pahlavi rapidly began to align with Trump erstwhile helium came to powerfulness the pursuing year, Toossi said. Trump scorned the JCPOA and yet pulled retired successful 2018 earlier opening his maximum unit policy.

The disconnect betwixt Pahlavi and regular Iranians implicit this contented could besides beryllium seen successful his actions during the 2023 travel to Israel.

Pahlavi made a well-publicised travel to the Western Wall, successful occupied East Jerusalem, which holds sizeable spiritual value for Jewish radical crossed the world.

The immense bulk of Iranians are inactive Shia Muslims – adjacent if galore are secular– and Pahlavi did not sojourn the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest tract successful Islam. The Western Wall is portion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound’s exterior wall.

Muslim worshippers stitchery adjacent to the Dome of the Rock shrine astatine the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound successful Jerusalem’s Old City, June 6, 2025 [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]

Out of touch

In hindsight, the 2023 travel to Israel and Pahlavi’s evident affable relations with Israeli officials person damaged his reputation, said Toossi.

“In abbreviated … what’s been going connected with the Iran monarchy question is simply a precise clear, evident and above-the-table confederation with Israel,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“He was truly the lone absorption fig that was supportive of [Israel’s war],” helium added.

According to Barbara Slavin, an adept connected Iran and a distinguished chap astatine the Stimson Centre successful Washington, DC, Pahlavi’s rhetoric was “counterproductive” during the 12-day war.

Slavin said Pahlavi has mostly been disconnected from the feelings and perspectives wrong Iran due to the fact that helium simply has not been determination since helium was a teenager, and his nonaccomplishment to condemn Israel’s bombardment of civilians has turned a batch of radical off.

“After each the civilians Israel killed, [his narration with Israel] truly has a atrocious smell,” she told Al Jazeera.

Parsi agrees and adds that helium doesn’t deliberation Israel genuinely believes that Pahlavi tin 1 time regularisation the state owed to his deficiency of fashionable enactment some successful and extracurricular of Iran.

Parsi believes Israel is simply exploiting his marque to legitimise its ain hostility towards Iran.

“He is … utile for the Israelis to parade astir due to the fact that it gives them a veneer of legitimacy for their ain warfare of aggression against Iran” during the fighting, helium said.

“[Israel] tin constituent to [Pahlavi] and say, ‘Look. Iranians privation to beryllium bombed.'” Parsi said.

But that is simply a turn-off for galore Iranians, including those against the government.

Yasmine, the British-Iranian, is 1 of them.

Pahlavi, successful her view, was not charismatic and had cemented his unpopularity among Iranians, some wrong Iran and outside, with his telephone for Iranians to instrumentality to the streets arsenic Israel attacked Iran.

“He was asking Iranians to emergence up against the authorities truthful that helium volition travel [to instrumentality over],” Yasmine said. “He was fundamentally asking Iranians to bash his soiled work.”

*Some names person been changed to support the information of interviewees