Son of the Last Shah. Who is Reza Pahlavi, whose name is shouted by Iranian rebels

Photo: Reza Pahlavi's Instagram

Shahzadeh ("son of the shah", crown prince) Reza Pahlavi was prepared from childhood to ascend his father's throne when the time came. But in 1979, the Islamic Revolution took place in the country. Reza Pahlavi was 19 years old then, and he was studying to be a military pilot in the USA, writes BBC.

From that American distance, the prince watched as his deposed father, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, fled the country, sought refuge abroad, and soon, in 1980, died of cancer in Egypt.

The Crown Prince and his family were instantly left stateless, in exile. There was nowhere to expect help from. They were surrounded only by monarchist compatriots and sympathizers, whose numbers gradually dwindled.

Over the next few decades, the Shah's family experienced tragedies twice. Reza's younger sister and brother committed suicide, and he remained the sole symbolic head of the dynasty, which many thought had definitively become a part of history.

But now, 65-year-old Reza Pahlavi has once again found hope to play some role in shaping the future of his country.

He lives in the USA, in a quiet suburb of Washington. His supporters say he lives quietly but very openly: he often visits local cafes, often with his wife, and without visible security.

When he was asked in 2022, during the previous wave of protests in Iran, if he saw himself as a leader of the protest movement in his homeland, he and his wife Yasmine answered in unison: "Changes must start from within!"

Reza Pahlavi was born in October 1960 in Tehran. He was the Shah's first son: the monarch's previous two wives were unable to bear an heir. Reza was raised from childhood as the heir to the throne.

At the age of 17, he was sent to the USA, to Texas, to study to be a military pilot. There he was caught by the revolution and his father's overthrow.

Since then, Reza Pahlavi has continued to live in the United States. There he studied at university and received a bachelor's degree in political science, there in 1986 he married Yasmine, a doctor of jurisprudence and also an Iranian refugee, and there their three daughters were born: Noor, Iman and Farah.

But recently, the tone of his statements has become more decisive. After Israeli strikes on Iran last year, Reza Pahlavi declared at a press conference in Paris that if the Islamic Republic collapses, he is ready to lead a transitional government. After that, he outlined a plan of action for this transitional government for the first 100 days.

Pahlavi explains that this increased self-confidence of his is based on the lessons he learned living in exile, and on the desire, as he claims, to continue his father's work.

"It's not about returning to the past," he told journalists in Paris. "It's about ensuring a democratic future for all Iranians."

Disputes about the Shah's era

In exile, Reza Pahlavi remained a symbolically important figure for Iranian monarchists all these years.

For many Iranians, the Pahlavi era was an era of modernization and close ties with the West. Others remembered it as an era of censorship and repression by the Shah's secret police, SAVAK.

In 1980, Reza Pahlavi held his own coronation in Egypt and declared himself Shah. This ceremony had little practical significance, but now Pahlavi's opponents claim that the coronation raises doubts about the sincerity of his current statements about democratic reforms.

Павялічыць

Reza Pahlavi and his wife Yasmine, photo from the Shah's Instagram.

Reza Pahlavi has repeatedly tried to form a coalition of the Iranian opposition in exile. For example, in 2013, he announced the creation of the National Council of Iran for Free Elections. But these coalitions, as a rule, were torn apart by internal disagreements and had little influence inside Iran.

At the same time, unlike some other Iranian organizations in exile, Pahlavi has always rejected violent methods and distanced himself from groups such as the left-wing radical People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran.

Pahlavi has repeatedly called for a peaceful transfer of power and the organization of a referendum on the future political structure of Iran.

In recent years, the Pahlavi dynasty has been increasingly mentioned in Iran. At protest demonstrations in 2017, people chanted the name of Reza Shah — Reza Pahlavi's grandfather.

In the autumn of 2022, the killing of Mahsa Amini by the morality police triggered a wave of protests across Iran, and Reza Pahlavi's name reappeared in the headlines.

He tried to unite the fragmented Iranian opposition, which attracted some foreign attention, but ultimately failed to capitalize on the moment.

Reza Pahlavi's opponents say that in four decades in exile, he has failed to create either a viable organization or an independent Iranian mass medium.

In 2023, he visited Israel, where he attended a Holocaust memorial event and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This visit rekindled controversy: some Iranians saw it as a pragmatic attempt to build relations with Israelis, while others considered such a gesture would alienate Arab and Muslim allies.

After recent Israeli strikes on Iran, Reza Pahlavi had to answer difficult questions.

Laura Kuenssberg of the BBC asked him if he supported Israel's strikes on Iran, given that innocent Iranians could have been caught in them.

He stated that innocent Iranians were not targets of the strikes, and that anything that weakens the Iranian regime is welcomed by many, including within Iran itself. Heated debates flared up again around these statements of his.

Supporters and critics

Now Reza Pahlavi positions himself not as a monarch awaiting return to the throne, but as a figure around whom national reconciliation can occur.

He says he wants to help lead Iran to free elections, the rule of law, and equal rights for women — and the decision of whether to restore the monarchy or create a republic, he believes, should be made by Iranians in a referendum.

His supporters consider him the only internationally recognized figure in the Iranian opposition who advocates for peaceful transformations.

Critics argue that he is too dependent on foreign support, and that the population of Iran is unlikely to trust a leader arriving from exile.

How popular Reza Pahlavi actually is in the country is impossible to determine now: there are no independent polls in Iran. Some still respectfully recall the Pahlavi dynasty, while others dislike the idea of replacing one unelected leader with another, even under democratic slogans.

Reza's father is buried in Cairo. Monarchists hope that someday he will be ceremoniously reburied in his homeland.

Whether the son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi will live to see that day, or to the day when Iran becomes free — the country, still grappling with its past, has no answer to that question yet.

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