“In Exile Since 1979”: Who Is Reza Pahlavi, Who Called on the Iranian People to Rise Up?
“My compatriots, the Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapse,” said Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on social media yesterday, calling on the Iranian people to rise up.
“What has begun is irreversible. The future is bright, and together we will turn the page of history,” he emphasized.
In a video posted on the social network X, Pahlavi said that “a total uprising is needed to end this collective nightmare once and for all,” according to news agencies.
“Now is the time to rise, the time to reclaim Iran together. Do not worry about the day after the fall of the Islamic Republic. Iran will not enter a period of instability or civil war,” Pahlavi declared amid the Iran-Israel conflict, now in its sixth day – reports Danas.
Who Is Reza Pahlavi?
Reza Pahlavi is the eldest son of the deposed Iranian leader Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He has lived in exile since 1979.
He advocates the principles of freedom, democracy, and human rights for his fellow countrymen.
He is the founder and leader of the National Council of Iran, an opposition group in exile, and is a prominent critic of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to Wikipedia.
According to his website, he calls for the establishment of a secular democracy in Iran and criticizes the oppression of the Iranian people.
He advocates for regime change through nonviolent civil disobedience and supports a free and open referendum on Iran's future government.
He was born in Tehran in 1960. Wikipedia notes that after his birth, the Shah (Persian title for king) pardoned 98 political prisoners, and the government announced a 20 percent reduction in income taxes.
He was officially declared the crown prince of Iran in 1967 during his father’s coronation. He left Iran at the age of 17 to undergo jet fighter pilot training at the U.S. Air Force base Reese in Lubbock, Texas.
Meanwhile, the establishment of the clerical regime in Iran prevented his return to his homeland, and in 1980 he moved with his family to Egypt.
During his early years in exile, he continued and completed his higher education, earning a degree in political science from the University of Southern California.
In his youth, he was an avid soccer fan. Besides Persian, he speaks French and English fluently.
During the Iran-Iraq war, he volunteered to serve his country as a fighter pilot, but the clerical regime rejected him, his website states.
When once asked about his religion, Wikipedia reports he replied, “That’s a private matter, but if you must know, I am, of course, a Shia Muslim by education and belief. I am a man of deep faith.”
He has three daughters with Yasmine Etemad-Amini, whom he married in 1986. As a believer in equal rights for men and women, he declared that Noor, Iman, and Farah are, in that order, his successors.
His wife earned a degree in political science from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and later obtained a law degree from the same university’s law school.
In 1991, she co-founded the Foundation for the Children of Iran, which she led as director for 23 years.
She is an advocate of the democratic movement in Iran and has appeared at pro-democracy gatherings, events, and panels in many cities over the years.
