Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has watched from afar for weeks as his country has burned and Iranians have been massacred in their thousands. From the beginning of the protests, which erupted nationwide on December 28, the people have been calling his name and that of his family – “Javid Shah” (Long Live the Shah) and “Pahlavi barmigardeh” (Pahlavi will return).
From his exile in the United States, he has emerged as the unified leader of the demonstrations, both because he has a plan and because the people demand him.
“In late December and early January, the Iranian people had already bravely taken to the streets as they have so many times before, braver than ever,” he told The Jerusalem Post this week. “They called on me for leadership and for direction. The regime was weaker than ever, the people more united than ever, and so I called for coordinated action on January 8 and 9, and millions took to the streets.
“It was an escalation of our fight for liberty, and the regime escalated its violence,” he added, arguing that “now is the time for the international community to help them.”
His call for aid from the international community comes amid growing frustration from Iranians that US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have yet to take any military action against the Islamic Republic, despite several assurances.
Trump announced that an additional “armada” of US military vessels is sailing towards Iran during a speech given in Iowa on Tuesday evening, which comes after the USS Abraham Lincoln group, including other US warships, destroyers, and fighter aircraft, had reached CENTCOM waters in the Indian Ocean.
Pahlavi insisted that Iran’s future must ultimately be decided by Iranians, but said the world has a direct strategic interest in helping them bring the regime down.
“My position has been consistent for over four decades: Iran’s future will be decided by the Iranian people themselves,” he wrote. “They are the boots on the ground needed to end this regime.”
But, he argued, the protests are not only a national struggle.
“They are not just fighting for themselves, they are fighting to free the world from this criminal regime,” he said, adding that “not just for humanitarian needs but out of strategic necessity, the world must act to help them.”
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