Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s final shah, has stepped up efforts to transition to secular democracy in his dwelling nation, and believes a change in management in Tehran will assist stabilize the Middle East and past. It claims to be the one solution to go.
“The world wants to return to the conclusion that so long as there may be an Islamic regime in Iran, the world’s issues is not going to go away,” stated Pahlavi, 63, who was Iran’s crown prince till the 1979 Islamic Revolution. . he stated in a current interview with Kyodo News.
Pahlavi stated Western international locations must considerably change their strategy towards Iran to start to deal with points resembling Iran’s help for Middle Eastern militant teams, its crackdown on human rights, and the nuclear menace posed by Iran.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s final shah, speaks to Kyodo News in Washington, February 28, 2024. (Kyodo News)
“So so far as the West is worried, the one choice is to lastly perceive that the answer is just not a change in regime conduct, however a change in regimes,” he stated.
“This is essentially the most elementary flaw in Western evaluation and the Iranian regime’s expectations,” he added, as different international locations resembling Russia and China advance their pursuits on the world stage.
Pahlavi argued that forcing the regime to return to the negotiating desk was unrealistic, including that whereas it will put “most strain” on Iranian leaders, it will additionally provide “most strain” to provide the Iranian individuals an opportunity. expressed help for a dual-track strategy to offering “help.” To change the present scenario.
Pahlavi, who has been in exile for the reason that revolution and now lives close to Washington, stated Iranians are “uninterested in the Iranian regime and can’t sit again and wait a number of extra years.”
The help he claims consists of offering web entry and funding labor strikes. He stated such efforts require cooperation between main governments within the Western world and the area.
“I’ve all the time stated that any overseas interference is just not a crimson line, however we’d like overseas help,” he stated.
More than 45 years in the past, Iran was a regional chief by way of financial prosperity and modernity, he stated, and was as soon as slated to change into the “Japan of the Middle East,” however as an alternative Iran grew to become “North Korea.” He stated that it’s a nation that has change into area.
He stated his private security was “a continuing subject” whereas making an attempt to unite rebels inside and out of doors Iran, and whereas touring from the United States to different international locations to fulfill with officers and specialists. “We are below surveillance” by the administration, he stated. The hit listing is clearly not a secret. ”
But so as to fulfill his “patriotic obligation” to Iran, the person seen because the final inheritor to Iran’s monarchy stated that going into hiding was not an choice. He has come to just accept safety dangers as a reality of life, and the better the affect, the better the hazard.
Pahlavi is likely one of the regime’s hottest critics, however he insists he has no intention of presenting himself because the nation’s future chief.
“I’ve been very clear from the start that my solely goal is to see a easy transition from the present authorities to the long run final secular democratic system,” he stated. “I’m not doing it for the place for myself.”
“But I acknowledge the truth that individuals have a number of belief and confidence in me, so I’m prepared to make use of this political capital to handle this transition for them, to steer this course of, and to take action in essentially the most clear means attainable.” “We are utilizing the democratic course of to find out the way forward for the nation to make sure one of the best coverage attainable,” Pahlavi stated.
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