Now is the time to rise’: exiled Crown Prince calls on Iranians to topple Tehran
Reza Pahlavi, exiled crown prince and son of the last Shah of Iran, urged Iranians to rise up and overthrow the Islamic Republic on Tuesday.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, visits Yad Vashem in Jerualem on Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) on, April 17, 2023. Photo by Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS
In a video address, he declared the regime’s collapse “irreversible” and described the current moment as a historic opportunity to reclaim the country’s future.
“The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing,” he said. “Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation.”
Pahlavi, 64, who lives in the US, has long championed a secular, democratic Iran.
“All it takes now is a nationwide uprising to put an end to this nightmare once and for all,” he said as he called on citizens to take to the streets. “Now is the time to rise; the time to reclaim Iran.”
Pahlavi said plans were underway for a post-war government. “Iran will not descend into civil war or instability,” he said. “We are prepared for the first hundred days after the fall, for the transitional period, and for the establishment of a national and democratic government—by the Iranian people and for the Iranian people.”
Speaking directly to Iran’s military, police and government workers, Pahlavi said, “Do not stand against the Iranian people for the sake of a regime whose fall has begun and is inevitable,” he said. “By standing with the people, you can save your lives… and take part in building the future of Iran.”
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and his family went into exile during the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
Reza Pahlavi leads the exiled National Council of Iran and is a key figure in the democracy movement and a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic.
In 2023, Pahlavi made a landmark visit to Israel, where he visited the Western Wall, joined Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations, and met with Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and daughters were murdered in a Palestinian terror attack.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Iranian people to seize what he called a historic opportunity to topple the Islamic Republic, saying its end is near. “A light has been lit—carry it to freedom,” he told London-based Iran International.
“These dictators fear you even more than they fear us,” he said. The Prime Minister vowed Israel would continue targeting Iran’s military infrastructure and leadership until its threat is neutralised.
Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Friday, citing intelligence that Tehran had reached “a point of no return” in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. According to Israeli defense officials, Iran has developed the capacity to rapidly enrich uranium and assemble nuclear bombs, with sufficient fissile material for up to 15 weapons.
Israeli intelligence also exposed a covert program to complete all components of a nuclear device. The strikes mark a dramatic escalation in what officials describe as a broader Iranian strategy combining nuclear development, missile proliferation, and proxy warfare aimed at Israel’s destruction.
