WASHINGTON — Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the former shah of Iran, called on the United States to back nonviolent regime change in Iran, rather than pressure the Islamic Republic to cease its support for militant proxy groups, ballistic missile tests and human rights repression at home.
Dressed in a navy blue suit and striped tie, the Maryland-based Pahlavi, 59, told an audience at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy today that it was only a matter of time before Iran’s regime collapses. What he is seeking, he said, is to expand a dialogue with frustrated people inside and outside of Iran and opposition forces to help manage a “controlled implosion” of the old regime and transition to a pluralist, secular democracy, one in which Iran would naturally be an ally of the United States and Israel as well as Arab nations.
“The Islamic Republic cannot be reformed,” Pahlavi told the think tank, which has provided numerous officials serving in the current Donald Trump administration. “A secular, democratic Iran may be achieved only through nonviolent means. The Iranian people will be the principal agents of this change. But international attention and support remain critical.”
The issue is not “whether there will be regime collapse or not. That is a given,” Pahlavi said.
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