Reza Pahlavi, heir to SCI deposed by the Ayatollah regime, spoke on Rg5: A democratic Iran would change the world. Nuclear power is not for us. And relations with Israel would lose all hostility
We publish the text of the interview TG5 conducted with Reza Pahlavi, the heir to SCI who was deposed by the Ayatollah regime and exiled to the West 43 years ago.
Reza Pahlavi, you propose yourself as mediator for a democratic transition in Iran. What is different about the protest movement after the death of Mahsa Amini?
These are not protests. This is a revolution. the first revolution in history led by women. Just as women were the first victims of the Khomeinist revolution 43 years ago and have since been treated as second-class citizens, protests have been going on for years, but now people really can’t take it anymore. Iran in misery, prices are rising, the value of the currency is collapsing. And while the regime fills their pockets, the people starve. The totalitarian, racist and fascist Islamic regime. However, some continue to engage with them in hopes that they will grow up to become civil rights-loving Nice Guys. That’s why the protests continue and people are ready to die. That is why, on the streets and behind bars, while awaiting execution, people are praising freedom. Now that the world says enough.
What role does it play in this process?
I’ve been there from the beginning, but I’m not aiming for an assignment. I don’t want to belong to any state apparatus. I just want to keep standing by my people and by their side. Because I believe that building institutions is the guarantee for a lasting democratic order. A democratic Iran would change, it would revolutionize the world.
Had you contacted the administration of US President Trump? And what about the Biden administration?
We want to sensitize all governments, the English, the French and the Italian. Today Biden will be in the White House and tomorrow everyone will be. Everyone in Riyadh, in Jerusalem, in Tel Aviv understands that a democratic Iran would be an element of stability for the world. Just look at the axis of Iran’s complicity with Russia, what’s happening in Ukraine, the rise of radicalism, the spread of terrorism, and god knows what else. All of this would disappear immediately once the Iranian regime becomes a democratic government.
Would it stop Iran’s nuclear program?
The decision would not be mine, but who would go to the government. However, I believe that nuclear power is only suitable for Iran in a seismic area. There are other technologies like solar energy that can be invested in that would bring more work to the country. The world depends on energy and Iran would be an excellent resource for everyone. Instead of scaring the world and our neighbors with the nuclear threat, we could say that Iran has enough natural gas, at least for Europe, to avoid suffering Putin’s blackmail every winter.
Would you reconsider your relationship, Iran’s relationship with Israel, which is a fundamental building block?
The relationship should not be reconsidered as there is a connection that goes back 25 centuries as Cyrus the Great’s name is invoked in Jewish prayers every Shabbat. The Iranians know it and the Israelis know it too. Why should there be animosity between us? I suffer when I hear that the problem is Iran because it is that regime that created the problem, not the Iranian people.
January 28, 2023 (change January 28, 2023 | 15:11)
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