Iran’s exiled prince urges Israelis to act on regime change, clarifies stance on funding Iran protests

Washington — 

The lad of Iran’s past monarch, exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, utilized a code to Israeli American activists successful Washington connected Friday to impulse them to enactment successful enactment of his run to oust Iran’s Islamist rulers.

In an interrogation with VOA soon aft his code astatine the Israeli-American Council nationalist summit, Pahlavi answered a question astir what benignant of enactment helium wants to spot from Israelis by citing the concepts of “maximum pressure” against the Islamic Republic and “maximum support” for the Iranian people. He said that enactment includes fomenting “civil disobedience movements” successful Iran and said it is “important to fund” them.

After VOA published its archetypal communicative connected Friday, highlighting Pahlavi’s notation to backing civilian disobedience movements successful Iran successful his reply to the question astir what helium is urging Israelis to do, immoderate of his supporters successful the Iranian diaspora utilized the societal media X level to explicit uncertainty astir Pahlavi’s stated position.

Those supporters said they did not judge Pahlavi was calling connected Israelis to supply fiscal enactment to dissidents successful Iran. Rather, they said they believed helium was referring to diaspora Iranians arsenic the radical who should bash the funding.

In a connection sent to VOA connected Saturday, an adjutant to Pahlavi said the U.S.-based crown prince’s remark astir backing civilian disobedience movements specified arsenic protests and labour strikes successful Iran had been misinterpreted successful the archetypal VOA story.

“The crown prince has agelong been a beardown advocator for the constitution of a labour onslaught fund, emphasizing its value successful empowering the Iranian radical successful their combat for freedom,” the adjutant said. “He believes that specified a money could beryllium financed utilizing Iran's blocked assets, asserting that this wealth rightfully belongs to the Iranian people, not the regime.”

The Washington lawsuit astatine which Pahlavi spoke is an yearly gathering of Israeli American activists, their Jewish American allies and different Israel supporters.

Pahlavi drew cheers and lasting ovations from the assemblage for urging Israelis to enactment with Iranians to oust the extremist clerics who person ruled Iran since overthrowing his begetter successful 1979.

The code was his astir high-profile outreach to Israelis since traveling to Israel successful April 2023, erstwhile helium became the astir salient Iranian absorption fig to marque a nationalist sojourn to the Jewish state.

The pursuing transcript of Pahlavi’s interrogation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: In your IAC speech, you urged the assemblage to instrumentality action. What kinds of actions bash you expect to spot from Israeli Americans, Israelis successful wide and the Israeli authorities erstwhile it comes to achieving authorities change?

Reza Pahlavi, exiled Iranian crown prince: There are 2 large components successful this campaign. On 1 hand, it is important to enactment maximum unit connected the regime. Parallel to that is maximum enactment for the radical of Iran. We are trying to foment civilian disobedience movements wrong Iran, ranging from protests to labour strikes. It is important to money them.

Many diaspora Iranians would similar to help. But U.S. sanctions marque it astir intolerable for them to, for instance, transportation wealth backmost home. Many aspects of the sanctions rules person to alteration to facilitate that. It requires a caller U.S. policy.

There besides needs to beryllium an due media strategy to antagonistic the regime's propaganda machinery. All aspects of the run should beryllium coordinated with immoderate cardinal governments that tin help.

VOA: Iran and its main proxy Hezbollah are erstwhile again threatening revenge against Israel for alleged Israeli attacks connected Hezbollah communications devices successful Lebanon this week. What is your connection to the Islamic Republic arsenic it considers its adjacent move?

Pahlavi: There is nary connection to springiness to warmongers who basal against freedom, peace, quality rights and adjacent our nationalist identity. Iranians, by the millions, person shown however overmuch they despise this authorities and privation to archer the satellite that it does not correspond us. Iranians are bid lovers. We privation to person bully relationships with our vicinity — with Arabs, Israelis and the remainder of the world.

This is wherefore I’m not going to discarded my clip telling the authorities anything. At the extremity of the day, the solution is for the Iranian radical themselves to enactment an extremity to this regime. But arsenic I said successful my speech, they person done each of this enactment unsocial truthful far. They request other enactment to person a accidental of success.

VOA: In the audience, immoderate Iranian Muslims waved Iran’s erstwhile Lion and Sun emblem and chanted your name, reflecting the enactment you person successful the diaspora for your relationship toward Israel. But determination besides are immoderate successful the diaspora who impeach you of supporting Israeli aggression toward Palestinians and others successful the region. What is your connection to Iranians who are skeptical of your presumption that they request to clasp Israel to execute authorities change?

Pahlavi: I deliberation a strategical concern with a state similar Israel brings a tremendous magnitude of opportunities for sharing technological knowhow. One of the reasons for my travel to Israel was to research the possibilities of utilizing their expertise successful h2o absorption for agriculture. We are facing a drought and h2o situation successful Iran, truthful we request to person a cordial narration with specified governments.

It is unfortunate that erstwhile we person specified a struggle [like the Israel-Hamas war], determination ever are casualties. Of course, my bosom goes retired to galore victims.

The main occupation is the authorities itself. As agelong arsenic it is there, it volition not let for normalization [of relations successful the region], oregon for stableness and peace. I’ve been insisting for years that arsenic agelong arsenic you don’t destruct the root of the problem, which finances coercion and forces governments to enactment and react, we volition ne'er beryllium escaped of it.

The solution is for this authorities to go. That is what the bulk of the Iranian radical are calling for. And what I’ve been calling for is solidarity. I deliberation governments, including Israel, are precise cognizant of, and cognize the quality between, the radical of Iran and the authorities that has thing to bash with the people’s aspirations. The authorities is lone determination to correspond its ain self-interest astatine the disbursal of the Iranian people.

This communicative was produced successful collaboration with VOA’s Persian Service.